Legend of Mautau: Angelorum Lux

Ch 35: Remnant of the Forgotten Past

        Suddenly Reaper was pierced by the blade of a sword, a blade which seemed to grow longer and longer, carrying Reaper through the air until it found itself pinned against the glass cylinder hanging in the middle of the room. Looking over to where the blade had come from, Alexander saw Serius holding an incredibly long sword, and with a grin he said, “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen that sword…” Serius channeled EDE into the sword and a sonic shockwave exploded from the tip of the blade, tearing Reaper in two as Serius cried out, “Scream of Heaven!” Then the blade began to retract as the halves of Reaper’s body fell down into the chasm. The sword’s blade about four feet long now, there was a curve in the blade near the tip, and the hilt was black and white with a yellow gem in the bottom of the handle. The guard looked like a pair of spreading wings, and something of an otherworldly glow seemed to radiate from the blade. Cutting Alexander loose, Serius said, “Indeed. I have not drawn Aer Dominus since that day. Holding it reminds me of him, and the great responsibility he left us with.” With a solemn look, Alexander said, “Forgive me Serius. If it weren’t for my brother and I, Amanus would still be…” Turning to leave, Serius said, “Fool. His death is not your burden to bear. Grey has begun to let go of his past, you should as well. I’ve sent them ahead, let’s hurry and catch up.” Rising to follow him, Alexander thought, “Not my burden to bear? You once said the same thing. Amelia, how I miss you…”

        Rushing through the dungeon corridors, Serius and Alexander struggled to catch up to Grey and the others. Yet as they made their way through the dark hallways, they quickly found themselves lost. Suddenly spying a staircase down one of the hallways they passed, Serius said, “This way!” Rushing down the hall towards the staircase, they barely made it through just as the walls came alive and blocked off the passageway behind them. A mad cackling filled the air, signifying Reaper’s return. They reached the top of the stairs and found themselves to be in what appeared to be a large dining hall. As Serius and Alexander started to take in their surroundings, an eerie voice called out, “Who disturbs the sanctity of my citadel?” At the far end of the dining hall, upon a raised seating area no doubt reserved for royals or officials, sat a lone figure whose face was shrouded in darkness. Walking slowly towards the reserved seating area, Alexander called out, “Your citadel? Excuse me sir, but just who are you? This citadel and the city itself have long been little more than forgotten ruins. No one has ruled over this place in six hundred years…” The man laughed and said, “Alcedonia is very much alive with the lingering spirits of the forgotten…” Raising an eyebrow, Alexander said, “Lingering spirits?” Stepping forward, Serius asked, “Do you mean the anomaly known as Reaper?” Shaking his head, the shadowy figure said, “He is the jailer of the damned souls that remain bound to this place. Many years ago, he refused to pass on, and used the power discovered within the Great Seal to reanimate his body and trap the souls of the dead here with him. Now he feeds upon their strength to restore his own.”

        Reviewing these words in his head, Alexander felt as though he’d been given the missing pieces of a puzzle, and he said, “The power discovered within the Great Seal… We transported all the major human cities here using Origin’s power, and I’m quite certain that room with the reactor in it must have been built afterwards. Yet since there should have been no sources of EDE on Teramis to power them, it seemed strange that there would be such ancient technology powered by an EDE reactor beneath these ruins, unless…” Finishing his sentence, Serius said, “Unless they had discovered one of the seals and began draining EDE from it.” Nodding, Alexander continued, “If the seal became damaged by whatever process they used to move it here, then all of them would have followed suit, and over the course of several hundred years, the damage reached the point that the Cataclysm of Noctivagus occurred. Then Alastor broke free shortly after… All because of humanity’s reckless pursuit of power…”