[Archives of the Teller] A Reaper's Phoenix

Chapter 2 - Second Encounter

A few days later, Kiara and Alex came back to the Northern Phoenix Military Camp. "Welcome back, you two." A man wearing similar colours under a leather vest greeted. Kiara didn't greet him. They were all boring. Concerned only by politics and their thirst for conquest. She was only interested on getting to know the woman who guarded the Underworld's gate. "Heh, Kiara, you alright?" An officer asked. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just lost in my thoughts." Kiara put on a fake smile. "Well you better get on with your training. Alex said you got hit by a Shinigami down there. "I wouldn't if he helped me." Kiara looked away. "Yeah, true. But even in a team, phoenix should be able to handle things on their own." The officer lectured. "Fine, fine. I'll go and train." Kiara groaned and went to her tent.

Meanwhile, in the central tent stood the queen of the Phoenix Tribe and her generals. "According to Kiara's reports, there is only one guarding the gate." One of her generals said. "An obvious trap. There must be more staying out of site." Another said. The queen stood up. "If what Melina says is true. Then we must mobilise our troops immediately." She said. "But my queen, it must be a trap. A competent leader never leaves their front unguarded, especially with their numbers!" The other general protested. "Maybe they are lacking competent leadership? A situation where the enemy is suffering from a purge is ideal." Melina said. "Melina has a point. We must strike now before they recuperate. Sound the horn! Mobilise a battalion! We break through the gates in a week!" The queen announced. "Yes, your highness. Courier, send word to everybody that we will be attacking the Underworld in a week. Oh, and Natsuki, have your army ready." Melina said. Natsuki nodded reluctantly and went outside to find Kiara. "Kiara, are you here? May I come in?" She asked. "Yeah, sure. I'm just getting dressed." Kiara replied. "I think I'll wait here instead." Natsuki said, quite embarrassed by Kiara's response, and wrote on a piece of paper.

"So, why'd you come here?" Kiara opened the tent. "Here. Take this." Natsuki handed her a piece of paper and left. She opened it and read quietly:

Queen Lanah madness must come to an end. She wishes to strike the Underworld's gate. We know our strengths but not the enemy's. I wish to delay the advance until we gather enough intelligence, but I need your help. You're the best warrior we've got and you hold a lot of sway in the royal court. Maybe you could persuade the queen? Or perhaps team with the Underworld to slow down the advance? It's your choice, but you can really save a lot of unnecessary casualties, should you choose to help me.

Kiara, hid the paper beneath her belt and took  her sword and shield with her. She waited until it got dark and went out of her tent. She was confident in her sneaking, part of the reason why is because she had memorised every guard's patrol route. "Hey, you'd think Kiara would like me?" A guard whispered to another. "Stop dreaming, I think she has her eyes set on Alex." Another said. The first guard shrugged and sighed. "I'd never choose both of the options you said." She whispered under her breath as she sneaked out of the camp.

As she got into the outer walls of the camp, she saw Lanah conversing with Natsuki. "Are your troops ready?" Lanah asked. "It will take three days to get here, reports say that they've finished putting out the rebellion in the Reyna region."  Natsuki said with a stiff posture. "Then they will come as reinforcements. I've already sent my private army on its way." Lanah said, with a malevolent smirk. "Forgive my rudeness, but I don't think sending your army alone without reinforcements is a good idea." Natsuki said. "They'll be fine. They're just there to poke at their defenses. To determine if it's a trap or not. Now come, let's go." Lanah walked away with the general.

A couple of days later, Kiara reached the gate and encountered a pile of ashes, and a panting woman, holding a bloodied scythe. "You!" Calliope shouted, hooking Kiara's shield away and pulling her closer to her face. Kiara blushed. "You're the one who told the others about this place?" Calliope asked, holding her up by the neck. Kiara struggled to get out of her grip and said, "I-I didn't know they were going to attack!" Calliope, fueled by anger, threw Kiara down to the ground and beheaded her. "Eh?" Calliope's eyes widened as Kiara's ashes formed itself immediately. "Death-sensei, you need to see this." Calliope called out. The blue sky turned into a grey hue, crows flocked to their location, and their in front of them, stood Death himself. "She's royalty, just like from the books." Calliope said. Death slowly looked Kiara in the eye, "What's your name?"
"Takanashi Kiara." She said. "Takanashi? Hmm, yes, you bear the family crest. My dear apprentice, escort her to my room. You may have found the key to my problem. I will let Kenji handle your post in the meantime." Death disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "You heard what sensei, said. Get up and let's go." Calliope pulled Kiara up and tied her hands using a metal chain. She's so close, I could almost touch her if it weren't for these chains, she thought.

Upon descending down to the deepest part of the underworld. They were greeted by Death again, this time holding a dusty tome and three cups filled with wine. "Take these and I will start the ritual." Death said impatiently. "W-what ritual?" Kiara asked, her mind filling with fantasies of marriage. Calliope glanced at her and to the cup. "Drink now." Death said, emptying the cup as a faint light glanced over a central crystal. The two followed.

The ground shook. The walls cracked. Reality broke as darkness came pouring in, swallowing everything that made light. "Sensei, what is happening?" Calliope asked, quickly drowning in the black substance.

There were three in the dark. Following a bloody path to peace. One seeking answers. Another seeking peace. And the other seeking liberty. Along a peaceful path went the souls of the damned. Paved by failures did the second path reveal. And the third path, paved with love and salvation, led to cruelty and damnation.

Calliope and the others awoke in a different place. "Quickly, this way." Death said walking briskly along the endless hall. They passed the river of blood and the pillars. Kiara looked around, scared. She clung to Calliope's arm. Calliope didn't notice this, she was trying to process everything she's seeing. Soon, they came upon the chained man, hovering over them. "It has only been one week, Death. You are early." He said. Death kneeled, "Forgive me, but your first prophecy, it may be the key!" The Chained Man laughed. "My first prophecy? Ah yes, the one where eternal death meets eternal life? Hmm, yes. I understand. You bring two people here. Calliope Mori, daughter of the Mori family, your first apprentice. And Takanashi Kiara, second daughter of the current royal Takanashi dynasty. One symbolising eternal death, and the other, a royal phoenix, vaguely embellishing the picture of eternal life. Of course, it makes sense, to a degree. Very well, we shall go with this." The chained man said, his chains tightening around his wrists. "But for this to succeed you will need an old tool of mine. I call it the shard of Aster. Unfortunately, it has been lost. Passed from one unsuspecting man to another. Find the priestess of the east and she will guide you to the oracle of the sea. There you will find my lost archives. In there, will be a device to track down the shard of Aster. I'd help if I could, but as you can see, I am chained here. Chained by my... it doesn't matter. What matters is you get the shard of Aster before the Phoenix tribe destroys the Underworld, unleashing death and destruction to the Stellarian world." The chained man grinned goodbye as black substance rose from the river of blood, drowning them again.