Shattered Remnants of a Dream

32. Eyes of the Abyss

Vance, Eden, Cliff, and Azuka stood on a hill overlooking a flat, barren expanse surrounded by nothing but gnarled mountains. Some rock formations looked as if they had been ripped apart, and others cleaved by some unseen force.

Vance struggled with an unseen weight that had fallen on his shoulders. "Where are we?"

Azuka turned to face her students. "Sagacia. This dimension has a rather colorful history, you see... Somewhere along the line, a technological empire that set up a nation of factories and laboratories on the planet. Taking advantage of Sagacia's abundant natural resources, they sacrificed a great number of animal and human lives in order to try to create cutting-edge bio-weapons. They'd remove body parts from humans and study how they adapted. They'd meld humans and animals together to see if it would enhance their bodies. The list goes on and on."

"Who destroyed them?" Vance asked.

Azuka smirked. "It was none other than the Dark Zodiacs."

"What?!" Eden shouted. "They destroyed the whole planet?!"

"Who knows," Azuka replied. "You'd have to ask them. Perhaps if we come across them in Enmetropolis. The reason we know they destroyed the facilities is because of Xarles Klavier Van Kaen."

The face of the Dragon instantly returned to Eden – the stitches that lined his entire body, those razor-sharp claws, as well as the rage he had ignited within her.

Azuka continued. "He was reported as being on the front lines. To this day, he's still the only Dark Zodiac who's voluntarily revealed his identity in multiple dimensions. For whatever reason, he doesn't mind making himself known – perhaps he even revels in it. There were most likely other Zodiacs who contributed to the destruction, but we never found any more information until you three started stepping on their tails."

"They're cowards," Cliff growled. "They've never once had the guts to come at us head on."

"Be careful what you wish for, Walden," Azuka said. "Judging from how things have gone, a combined attack from the Zodiacs would leave us decimated."

"Well then," Cliff said with a deep breath, "we're going to need to train extra hard then, aren't we?"

Vance snorted. "But if this place is deserted, then how are we gonna eat?"

"That reminds me," Azuka said. "You three are also prohibited from returning to the Guild for the duration of our stay."

Vance groaned yet again; Azuka ignored him. "I'll make nightly trips back to the headquarters, not only to gather food for you all, but also to receive updates from the Seneschal. I will never take any of you with me, no matter how badly you wish to go. I will also bring you extra clothes when I see fit, so we should never have to speak about this issue again."

"Wait a minute..." Vance raised his voice as he kicked the rocky terrain. "Aren't you forgetting, you know, beds, or blankets?! Don't tell me we're gonna have to sleep on this hard crap!"

"Don't worry. You won't be sleeping that much." Azuka winked, then leapt off the cliff.

Cliff sighed. "Here we go..."

"What?" Eden looked to Cliff with concerned eyes. "What does that mean?"

Cliff shook his head. "I hate it when she gets like this."

"Like what?" Eden asked. "What does she get like?"

"I respect her like no one else," Cliff said gravely, "But when it comes to training...she can be a real bitch."