It had been a long, long time since he had seen those golden wings that shone so brightly for just a few moments only to be dounced out like dying firelight in a chill wind. He knew something major was happening inside of the human boy within the Dredge— and he had some part in it, as well —but yet he wasn’t 100% sure what was happening. At the sight of the wings, he felt a rush of fear sweep through his body and soul, felt something catch in the back of his throat. Something was not right here, either with this kid or himself, yet Chryarnth did not know what to do next. So he merely sat and watched from the comfort of the shadows beyond, trying to shut off the flashes of memory racing through his head.
The security guards had taken Kaori away, screaming and crying to go to Hisoka in the wreckage. As he watched the scenes unfolding before him, he noted to himself to watch out for that girl in the future. She seemed to have a strange aura about her that was seemingly familiar, somehow inhuman. This time was a very alarming period for Chryarnth, the first time that he did not fully understand the things going on around him. These uncertain feelings and questions did not frighten him as much as they angered him. He had been so with it in the past, why would these occurrences escape him now? Unless, even these events were far out of his reach to manipulate.
Gulabel stood staring at the huge mass of broken glass and metal, his eyes wide and vacant. Perhaps Kaori was right. Maybe the boy was still alive, even if he clung onto life just barely, it would be enough. He and the other scientists could extract whatever power from his dying body and then Gulabel could finally achieve his long sought after dreams. This thought pierced through his mind and heart like a cold stare. He felt anxious and yet depressed all at once. Even if there was a slight possibility that the boy was still alive, Gulabel would not allow himself to experience another let-down of the same proportions.
Standing aside, turning toward the other guards and scientists that had gathered beside him, Gulabel yelled at them with a deep boom blasting through the room. “Clean this mess up. This is driving me mad.”
“Sir,” said one of his leading scientists in the bio-mechanical field, “There may still be a chance that the subject is alive.”
“Yes, we could still perform the experiment,” said another.
Another scientist from the other side of the room agreed. “It is worth a look, isn’t it, sir?”
Yes, it was worth a look. It was worth much, much more than that. Why would he have given up his dreams so easily, without even a seconds though otherwise? Perhaps it was because he wanted this one dream to come true far to much to be denied it in the end. But who would deny him this second chance, a second stab at his glorious destiny! It would be his, and he would claim it as his own. Now.
Without another look or word to the others around him, Gulabel stepped up toward the fragmented pieces of the Dredge. It was unbelievable how all these broken pieces one made the gigantic take, a machine of the latest technology. Its destruction was a grand scientific misfortune. But none of that would matter if the subject that was inside of the take was still alive!
Sifting through the debris, Gulabel searched the rubble for any signs of the boy, but he found nothing. He wanted to call the others behind him to help search the area, but he wanted to find him first. He would have every last ounce of credit for rescuing him from the wreckage and he would be the first to set hands on the kid’s innate power. Lifting plank after plank of metal from the area, he finally discovered something that made his eyes gleam darkly. It was a hand, bashed, cut, and bruised from the glass and sheer weight of the machine. Many large piece of the machine still lay over the body of the boy, hiding him almost completely from sight. Gulabel nearly froze completely at the sight, not knowing whether to rush in right away and dig him out or to cautiously wait and lift the pieces one by one from the area. If the kid was still alive, even just slightly, then he wanted to get him out now! Reaching a shaking hand down to the wreckage, Gulabel touched Hisoka’s hand.
Chryarnth saw it, too, the bloody hand sticking out of the broken corpse of the Dredge. He saw it and instantly wished that he didn’t. It was almost as if time had stopped, everything suddenly grew dark all around him, darkly black and unfeeling. Was this some sort of dream? If it was, then it mustn’t be terribly difficult to wake up from, but then again, Hisoka’s nightmares were severely difficult to wake up from… Would this be another trap, an endless trench through hell?
He wanted to escape this silent world of the dead— the world around him was exactly the same as it had been a few seconds ago, but everyone around him was still. Leaving his comfortable hiding spot in the lab, Chryarnth stepped forward to stand beside Gulabel. The man was just about to touch the hand that stuck out from the thousands of broken pieces of the Dredge, just about to steal Hisoka’s life out from underneath him. And for some reason, this frightened Chryarnth to no end.
Why? Why was he so concerned all of a sudden for this boy’s well being? Chryarnth was the one who wanted the kid to suffer and eventually die. Why did he fell so compelled to save him now? Maybe it was because of his silent abhorrence for the fat man who so carefully sought after becoming a god. True, he could not stand the sight let alone the putrid smell of him. He had put up with him for such a long time, it was about time to say goodbye. But then the area around Chryarnth grew darker still.
Looking about in every direction, Chryarnth suddenly felt a wave of a nautious feeling sweep over him. He sickly fell to his knees, gripping tightly to his stomach. What was going on? Why was this happening to him? Why now?
That was when he saw it again, the same flash of golden light, the same divine spread of angelic wings, the same look of the man he had come to hate. No longer did he stand in the PCM experimental lab. The environment melted away into some ancient sort of place, an empty field, an apparent battlefield. There was nothing alive on this plain of disaster. However many trees lived her now stood as charred statues. There was something that looked like a stone arena off in the distance, its stone pillars nearly collapsing from the degree at which they were slanting. Chryarnth knew this place, he knew it very well. This was the place of testing, a test of will, strength, and determination. He wasn’t supposed to be here, but he came anyway, to watch his brother complete his test.
Aurien was a strong fighter in every area. He carried a virtuous air whenever he walked by, and he would never draw his sword unless it was absolutely necessary. Chryarnth envied this man, this holy god of the sky. He envied his brilliantly blue eyes, his majestic angel wings tinted with gold, his uniquely colored hair of red outlined in white. But most of all, he envied his ability to let anything he wanted live or die. It was a power that he had always dreamed of, and yet he knew he could never obtain because of his birth rite. Chryarnth was a human, took pity on by the gods and reincarnated as a demi-god. The goddess of light, Aurien’s mother, took the human boy’s soul up in her hands and gave life to him anew, calling him Gedeon. Now, Chryarnth could have the potential to become just like his half-brother and possibly outrank him in the end.
This is how it all began, with sibling rivalry. Aurien and Gedeon were close brothers. Aurien, who was a born a demi-god from birth, accepted his brother who had once been a human without confrontation or hesitation, however, Gedeon always looked after the opportunity when he could surpass his elder in any way. It became a habit, a need, a wicked desire, and this desire was what brought Gedeon to watch Aurien’s fated battle in the arena.
Every demi-god knows that the arena battle is what determines one’s role in existence. Whether you win or lose does not entirely matter, but in order to get a more pleasant eternity, one must strive against all odds to win at the arena. Not many have succeeded in this task, but those who have became the leading deities of heaven, and many of those who have failed became nothing but a fading memory. That is why Gedeon came to watch his brother fight, to watch his future being spelled out before him.
But something did not exactly go as he had planned while he sat on the side of the hill a good distance from the battlefield. As he watched Aurien fight with his fifth opponent, which appeared to be minotaur, Gedeon couldn’t imaging that Aurien would ever lose. With only seven matches total, Aurien was well on his way to achieving a glorious record that would put everyone’s arena battles to shame. And he wasn’t even out of breath.
It wasn’t until the seventh and final match that things began to unfold. The scene was so exciting, Gedeon had to cautiously move closer to the battlefield without being noticed. This match was unlike any of the previous battles. Instead of a solid one-on-one setup, this match was a unfounded five-on-one. To make things even worse, these five opponents were the strongest of the last matches: a mage, a draconian, a dark knight, a minotaur, and an illusionist. Had he fought an illusionist before? No, that wasn’t right. The Illusionist must be the real seventh opponent in the arena. With his ability to transform into any creature or being, he was truly the best of the best.
At the beginning of the battle, things were going smoothly for Aurien. He first focused his physical attacks on the mage, dodging its magical spells of fire and ice and everything in between as well as the furtive attempts of the other four opponents. Finally, the mage gave in to his ferocious blows, then he turned on the draconian and the dark knight. The draconian, with its scaly skin and armor, would be difficult to attack with just physical attacks, so Aurien’s first exchange with the being was a combination of physical and magical attacks. He set his sword on fire with a slight motion of his hand over it, then smashed it harshly across the beasts chest area. It was his first and last attack for the draconian.
At this point, Gedeon was becoming bored with the fight. Aurien hadn’t even received any damage from the other monsters yet. He couldn’t believe it. But then, while he was recovering from using such a powerful fire spell over his sword, the illusionist materialized out of no where in front of him and smacked his face with its jeweled rod. Then suddenly from behind, the minotaur charged at full speed, rearing its two horns like an angry moose about to ram its rival. Aurien dealt the illusionist a devastating blow to its neck area; if it were just slightly higher and more forceful, his sword would have completely severed the being’s head from its shoulders. But there was not enough time to dodge or parry the attack that came from behind. The minotaur dove its horns deep into Aurien’s back and side, cutting through his golden armor and slicing right through one of his wings. Gedeon couldn’t believe his eyes! Aurien was such a good spell caster, but he used far too much to dispatch the draconian in one blow that he left a window of opportunity for the other three to attack. The minotaur raised its head high in the air, lifting Aurien up off his feet, then jerked its head quickly to the right so Aurien would fling off of his horns and into the dark knight that was waiting for his turn.
It was like a downward spiral from such a minor mistake, but it cost him dearly. Aurien landed harshly on the ground and couldn’t feel his legs or even move for several seconds. Then he finally raised his head to find the dark knight standing directly above him. The dark knight held a short sword in one hand and a wicked looking black dagger in the other. Aurien tried to jump to his feet and out of the knight’s range as quickly as he could, but just as he stepped out of the knight’s close range, he threw his dagger with a small ice spell enhancing its capabilities. Aurien took the blow to his left shoulder, about three inches above and to the side of his heart. Again he stumbled awkward on his feet from the attack. Wrenching the blade from him, he glanced at it, feeling his own warm blood trickle through his fingertips. He would have to correct this sudden descent of his position in this match or else there wouldn’t be much left of him afterward.
Perhaps the reason why not many people have made it to the seventh match and have survived to claim their new future was due to one thing: all the other matches utilize a magical spell around the two fighters so that no one can die, however in the seventh match, that spell is removed indefinitely to heighten both the difficulty and strengthen the opponent’s will and strategy. At this point, Aurien couldn’t use his special technique with the use of his golden wings, a technique that could potentially tear apart anything within ten feet. He couldn’t use any more magic because he had nearly used up all endurance and concentration for the blade attack earlier, plus he was in no physical condition to muster any more excess spiritual energy to power a purely magical attack. He couldn’t move his left arm because of the dagger wound, so he wouldn’t be able to parry a counter attack. All that he had left was his sword.
Gedeon was having too much fun. The arena match was like watching a movie where the ending could change any number of times to create an entirely new ending. Sneaking closer to the battlefront, his tight, shiny red shirt and pants wrinkling as his muscles contorted to keep absolutely silent. Not only would his mother yell at him, but he could quite possibly be kicked out of heaven for obstructing with the arena matches. Jumping up on one of the arena’s pillars, he laid down on his stomach and peered over the edge and looked on down at the fighters below. The corpse of the draconian was nothing but a green smudge against the whitish-blue of the stone arena. The only remnant of the mage was its crimson robe that lay in the far corner of the arena. Then as Gedeon looked on to the remaining contestants, he saw the minotaur bobbing its head up and down in some sort of angered fit and the dark knight rushed onward to engage in a close-up confrontation with Aurien. The last contestant, the illusionist, was no where to be seen.
At last Aurien was again picking up speed, and from Gedeon’s perspective, it seemed like he had gotten the glint of battle back in his clear eyes. He was angry and in great agony from his accumulated injuries, but he knew that he would not survive this match if he didn’t give it his all. And he was determined to do just that.
He parried the dark knight’s first couple attacks easily, then cut in a few of his own slices of his sword. The knight defended the first blow, but tried to make a comeback too early and received the full force of Aurien’s leading attack. Coming back into play to allow the knight time to recover, the minotaur raised its gigantic spiked club and brought it crashing down onto Aurien. Falling back into a solid defense stance, Aurien raised his sword to block the attack. He didn’t receive the full force of the blow, but the energy still shook throughout his limbs as he fought to hold the parry. The monster’s red eyes glared down at him and huffed a breath in his face. He wouldn’t be able to hold this parry for much longer.
That was when the excitement became too much for Gedeon, watching from high above on an arena pillar. With his mind so engrossed in the battle below, he forgot exactly where he was and fell from the pillar and landed on the dark knight below, knocking the knight out. He was so shocked that he didn’t know what happened or where he was once he regained his senses. Then once he realized where he was and what he had done unintentionally, he drew back slowly to the edge of the arena. The sound of him crashing to the ground and into the dark knight broke the parry between Aurien and the minotaur. Aurien jumped back a safe distance from the minotaur and looked back to find his brother standing on arena grounds, a forbidden place unless one was competing. Gedeon had never seen such a look of shock and disbelief in his brother’s eyes before. It was a look of disbelief with the hint of anger glinting brightly in his eyes. At that moment he knew he was caught breaking a divine rule, and he didn’t even want to begin thinking of the consequences.
As if forgetting completely about him, Aurien turned back to the minotaur, who was still intently watching Gedeon, and slid his sword straight through the monster’s huge gut. He then removed his blade and kicked the minotaur to knock it to the ground. Finally no other opponents stood in his way. Aurien sheathed his sword and stepped over to where Gedeon stood.
With an angered look, Aurien yelled, “What are you doing here? Do you even know the extent of what you have done here?”
“Hey, listen, I was just watching, that’s all,” Gedeon replied.
“Yeah, until you fell from who knows where and knocked one of my opponents out cold.”
“Look! That was an accident!”
“But you’re here aren’t you? Even that is a forbidden law! Gedeon you know how much trouble you could get into…” The angered look on Aurien’s face subsided as the grip of pain increasingly intensified over him. Suddenly feeling lightheaded, he stumbled and had to lean against a pillar to regain his balance. It was then did Gedeon finally realize how horrible some of his wounds really were. How he still managed to stand, he did not know. “Gedeon, just get out of here before somebody sees you here.”
“But what about you?”
“I’ll be fine… I won the last match, so the magic of the arena should heal me.”
Gedeon glanced around the arena and remembered the illusionist disappearing from sight. “Wait a minute, there’s still one more!”
At that moment, a gigantic blue dragon materialized in the center of the arena. Shaking its head and tail, showing a huge gash down it’s neck, the dragon slowly stepped to the edge of the arena where the two stood, causing the ground to quake with each step.
“Get out of here now!” Aurien yelled at his brother.
The dragon whipped its tail at them both; Aurien quickly jumped out of the way, but Gedeon took the full force of the attack and was sent flying a good fifteen feet away. As Aurien regained his footing, he was almost glad the dragon attacked his brother— at least now he was out of the arena. Now he had to make sure he stayed out. As the dragon stood sluggishly in front of him, Aurien summoned all of his magical power to form a barrier around the arena, making it impossible for Gedeon to set foot in the arena again. Shortly after, Gedeon came running back to the edge of the arena, ran face first into the magical barrier, and was again flung backwards.
“Wha-what did you do!?” Gedeon yelled at his brother.
How foolish he was to use the last of his strength to form a useless barrier just to keep Gedeon out of the arena. Such an action would surely cost him his life. And Aurien knew it, too. He hardly had any strength left to stand. He looked up at the dragon before him, saw the gouge on its neck, and grinned. Even the handful of arena monsters didn’t want to die. Who had the right to tell who can live or die? Suddenly the entire arena battle system, its code and rules, became worthless, pointless, and tainted with evil. Aurien had been fighting match after match, killing the monsters that came in contact with him for what? For the chance to live a better eternity? Is that all? Match after match these arena souls would die just to better someone else’s life. How utterly selfish that was. Those that fought in the arena had just as much right to live than he did. And once Aurien realized that, he unsheathed his sword and tossed it at the dragon’s feet. For a moment, the dragon stopped its advance, wondering if this gesture was a trap of some sort, but then it gained its confidence back and began to advance once more, stepping on Aurien’s sword. All Aurien did was glance up at the dragon’s deep blue eyes, and felt something peaceful within them.
“What are you doing! You’re going to lose the match! You’re going to die!” Gedeon yelled, pounding on the force field that sparked with golden light every time he struck it.
“I… I cannot fight any more,” Aurien said, slowly falling to his knees. “I don’t want to fight any more.”
“Aurien! You have to!”
Tilting his head to see Gedeon at the side of the arena, he replied, “Do I?”
Just then, the dragon swiped its short forearm against Aurien’s golden armor, tossing him into the only solid wall of the arena. The entire structure of pillars seemed to feel the impact as some shook and fell. This was the end, and Aurien was welcoming it with open arms. Why? Why would he fight so hard just to give it up in the end? Gedeon didn’t understand it. Still being partially human, Gedeon retained his old fears and desires of his childhood on earth, and he remembered how much he wished to have power like Aurien, power to protect himself from harmful people like his abusive father. He hated that man, that wicked being. Maybe that is why he couldn’t stand Aurien just giving up at the face of a much larger foe. He could almost see the face of his father superimposed over the grotesquely beautiful face of the dragon. He couldn’t sit back and watch whatever happen. He couldn’t! Because if he did, then it would be just like he was giving into his father all over again…
“No… No…” Gedeon repeated, the reflection of light fading from his eyes. He felt a breeze of energy spread through and around him, changing him. His red clothing turned a midnight black and two leathery black wings appeared on his back from the swirl of energy all around him. The energy was too much to keep inside; he had to expel it somehow. Without ever thinking, he gave into that energy and exploded into the arena, cutting through the barrier like it didn’t even exist. Just when he again set foot into the arena, the dragon was bending down over Aurien’s crumpled body against the far wall. The bluish-purple swell of power that surrounded Gedeon still floated about his body with such energy. At the sight of the monster reaching down for Aurien, Gedeon finally lost it and became a demon himself. He screamed loudly and everything exploded in an expanding bubble of white. The form of the dragon disintegrated in the light and left nothing behind. The bodies of the dead and physically unable arena fighters disappeared as well. When the bright light died down, only the two of them were left. Gedeon had used all of his energy to destroy the dragon and any other threat in the area; so much energy that he collapsed unconscious.
That was sibling closeness was about. Protecting one another, breaking rules to do it. But how far could power change a person if at all?
And that was the end. Right when Gulabel reached out for Hisoka’s hand sealed his fate. Chryarnth stepped from the darkness, his form melting away in the shadows into his true demi-god form. With is black wings poised anxiously on his back, he tilted his head toward the sky with his hands upraised and screamed silently.
A wave of energy ripped through Gulabel’s body, tearing it to shreds, to absolutely nothing. It spread throughout the rest of the room, injuring some of the workers and slaughtering the others. It was a blast of power that could not be seen, but it could be heard. The few remaining scientists and guards scattered all about, trying to run away. Their cries were both out of pain and utter terror from seeing their leader and many colleagues get ripped apart before their eyes. Finally, they all escaped from the area.
Hisoka was safe again, safe from that monster. Gedeon stepped toward the wreckage of the Dredge, waving a hand over the broken pieces to telepathically move them to free Hisoka from under it all. When he finally saw his face again, he felt both sorrow and happiness, but never abhorrence, at least not in this moment. He bent down and took Hisoka in his arms, holding him tightly as if he was his entire world, that everything depended on this one man’s survival.
Turning back from the Dredge, Gedeon walked to the far wall of the lab, raised a hand, and blast a big enough hole in it to escape from. He was certain that if any of the scientists saw him in this form, he would become their next experiment. So, with Hisoka in his protective arms, Gedeon, the cursed demon, jumped out of the hole and glided across the dark sky.