BLACK HALO

ALLIANCE

CHAPTER 16

~ALLIANCE~





Aurelia's eyes opened slowly as she felt a cold breeze blow over her face. Her eyes opened completely, then widened at the sight of large red flames burning wooden buildings and numerous dead bodies lying randomly across the ground. She let out slow, soft breaths as she saw the horrifying scene-a scene she hadn't seen in a very long time.


A gust of wind blew by, carrying her beautiful white locks forward. She was shocked to see that her hair had become white again. She passed her fingers over the strands and stared at them with curiosity in her eyes.


Suddenly, a young man rushed before her. She stared in silence as the sound of his flesh being torn by a long blade echoed in her ear. She watched as he dropped to the ground, bleeding profusely out of an open throat. His eyes were open in shock, and his heart rate dropped rapidly as he lost more and more blood.


"Michael... MICHAEL!!!" Aurelia yelled with shock written all over her face.


She fell on her knees and placed her palms on his chest, shaking his body to get him to wake up, but it was to no avail. Tears poured out of her eyes, dropping slowly onto his shirt and making small splashes. Aurelia's sadness slowly turned into anger-she clenched her teeth tightly and folded her fingers into a fist. Her white aura slowly seeped out of her body, and her bright blue eyes glowed even brighter than they naturally did.


She was about to get back on her feet when Michael suddenly placed his palm on top of hers. Aurelia turned to him quickly, and he spoke with a hoarse voice.


"No... Aurelia. Don't... Let the darkness consume you. Do not let her have what she wants."


Aurelia stared at him, her face contouring in confusion. The large flames suddenly disappeared, and the entire scenery changed. Michael also vanished, and all that was left now was the large tree-the hope of the oasis.


Aurelia stared at its beautiful crystal-like petals from afar. She lowered her head and found a cloaked person standing at the bottom of the tree. She couldn't see her face, but the shape of her body revealed that it was female.


Aurelia got back on her feet and slowly walked toward the strange female standing beneath the glowing tree. She moved closer and closer, but after each step, it got even more difficult to move forward. It was like a forcefield that prevented her from going any further.



"Find the race of fallen angels; they hold the answers you seek." The cloaked female spoke with a whisper that echoed loudly.

After her voice faded out into complete silence, Aurelia was catapulted backwards by the forcefield and was instantly flung back into reality. She let out heavy breaths like she had been running for miles, but it was Imande who had just thrown a pail full of water into her face.


Aurelia's breaths became less frequent and more silent. She tried to move but noticed that her arms were tied behind her back and her legs were tied to the legs of the seat she was on. Now, completely drenched in water, she raised her head to face Imande and asked between breaths, "What are you doing?"



"I'm waking you up from your nap; what does it look like I'm doing?" Imande replied, then turned to one of the women who was with her in the wooden room they were in. "Get her some fruit; she must be really hungry," she said, and the young woman rushed out of the room.


Imande turned back to Aurelia and asked, squinting her eyes. "So, tell me, what exactly are you?"


"What is that supposed to mean?" Aurelia asked, sounding a little puzzled.


"Well, every mystical being that exists currently is a product of elves and humans having sexual intercourse and a lot of other interracial breeding, but you had your magic even before the elves came into this world about a hundred years ago.

You don't have pointy ears or look like an elf at all; you don't even speak like them. But earlier, Azela was talking about you being sent by the elf father to conquer the world or something. So, I'm very confused. What are you?"


"Okay, firstly, I know nothing about being sent by an elf father to conquer the world. I mean, how could that be possible when I lived twelve thousand years before the elves came?

After my father was killed, I was cursed by heaven-knows-what to be chased around by Angelings every 100 years for reasons I can't even figure out. And there's always this Halo thing floating above my head every time I start to feel strong emotions.

I've lived 12 thousand years, trying to figure out what in hell I am, but every single time I get close, the Angelings attack and take everything away from me.

So, how could I possibly be related to some stupid elves who arrived on this world a hundred years ago?!" Aurelia yelled, her voice slightly trembling and her eyes becoming glassy.


"Hmmm. These Angelings, what are they?" Imande asked curiously.


"I don't know that either. They are like ghosts of faceless men and women who are really skilled at combat and are impossible to kill except you're using my sword. My hair was once white, but after I fought against them, it was like a piece of my innocence left me, and my hair turned black. I fell down into a pit of fire afterwards and woke up somewhere around Seth-Healm 100 years later," Aurelia explained, staring at the ground.


She shut her eyes as more tears gathered, "I saw so much blood before then. So many people died because of me, and so many villages were destroyed at the hands of those ghosts. Their screams haunt my dreams every night. I tried so many times to kill myself, but it was to no avail. Honestly, I don't blame your mother for running away that day-100 years ago, I always did the same until I had enough of their nonsense."


"But if you killed them, doesn't that mean they won't come back this time?" Imande asked.


Aurelia remained silent for a moment. Images of Michael flashed in her head. The fact that he was reincarnated again meant the complete opposite. She was sure he was bound to die again.


Aurelia raised her head to face Imande. "They always come back," she said with a chilling tone.


Imande turned around and told the other women to leave the room. As they left, she shut the door, dragged a seat from a corner of the room, and sat in front of Aurelia.

"You know... My mother lied to me, saying she left you in the shed in search of a better home for the two of you. But she also told me that she regretted leaving you alone when you needed her the most, and if it were possible, she would rewind time itself so she could fix that one mistake. She lived with that guilt until the day she died," Imande said.


"I'm sorry to hear that," Aurelia replied softly, still staring at the ground.


Imande stared at her for a moment, then said, placing her hand in a large pocket on the baggy trouser she wore. "She gave me something to return to you. She said you would recognize it if you saw it."

Aurelia raised her head and saw Imande pull out a glowing gem like an apple out of her pocket. The apple had a mixture of different radiant colors, with bright red and pink being mostly dominant, and a light pink crystal-like leaf sat on top of the apple's stem.


Aurelia stared at the apple for a moment, and the image of the tree she had just seen in her dream flashed in her head. "That's a fruit from the Hope of the Oasis tree. Araya planted this tree a long time ago, but it never grew because of the harsh weather conditions. How?" she said, turning to Imande.



"My mother told me that your magic made it grow. When you started to glow, the tree sprouted from the ground and continued to grow until it was fully mature. It was beautiful and was the last thing she saw before she left the village forever.

She claimed that you were the true hope of the oasis. She claimed that your divine magic is the only thing that can bring back the oasis we lost to the gap." Imande said with a downcast expression.


"But... the elves. I only heard her faintly, but she said, If you try to kill their beasts again, they'll murder everyone in your kingdom," Aurelia said with worry in her voice.


"Yeah. The only way I can achieve my goal of returning the oasis is by getting rid of the elves. There are two ways I can bring back the oasis. One is to get you to turn the beasts into their life forces so we can use them to feed the earth. The second is closing the gap," Imande said, placing her right leg over her left.


"How do you intend to close the gap?" Aurelia asked.


"Theoretically, the only way to close the gap is to drive everything that came out of it back into it. Clearly, that is impossible, given that the elves are ridiculously powerful and feared by all the other kingdoms. That's why I had to turn to the easier way, but the elves do not like the idea one bit," Imande responded with her arms folded against her chest.


"So... What are you going to do now?" Aurelia asked.


Imande went quiet. She turned to Aurelia, stared at her for a few seconds, then said, "I want to plead with you on behalf of the kingdom of Gunnlad and on behalf of all the other kingdoms that are suffering because of the drought. Please, help me remove the elves from our realm for good. Help me send them back to where they came from."


Aurelia was stunned by her sudden change of attitude. Imande had suddenly become softer for the first time.


Imande got off her seat and went down on her knees. "I'm pleading with you because I know I can't force you. You are far more powerful than me, and you are the only one who can actually face off against the elf king and take over ElvenLand.

You want to protect the monsters and the people, right? This is the only way to do it: send them back to where they came from. If you help me do this, I will forever be in your debt," she said, her fists tightening and gently pressing against her thighs. Her face neither showed sadness nor weakness as she pleaded in what she considered a humiliating way. Rather, she was strong-willed and determined to get Aurelia to help her.


Aurelia smiled at her, then let out a soft sigh. "I wasn't there to help your mother when the elves arrived, so I'm going to do all I can to make sure I make things right. The elves will be sent back into the gap," she replied with a stern tone.


Imande smiled back at her, then replied softly, "Thank you."





~ElvenLand, Central desert~


ElvenLand was the largest kingdom among the Septagon Order. Its buildings looked almost completely metallic, painted with only two distinct colors: silver and gold. The buildings were as tall as the clouds, and the overall structure of the city almost looked futuristic. The roads almost looked like gray marble, and the bridges that connected the buildings were made of thick, colorful glass.

A large structure stood at the center of the city-it was a cylindrical building painted with silver and a gold strip spiraling around it from top to bottom. The gold strip extended above the top of the building, spiraling into a golden cone. This building was the king's palace.


A large green garden sat at the bottom of the building, and elves walked back and forth around the city. Four elf soldiers stood at the entrance to the building, and each of them held a large lance.



Azela walked steadily through a large passage, the clunking of her metal boots echoing through the hall for a few seconds. She had a cold look in her eyes, making her face look like she had never smiled in her entire life.

She stopped before a large curtain and gently went down on one knee.

"Father, my mission is complete," she said with a stern tone.


"Very good. Destroying her palace should teach her to know her place. The closer she gets to bringing back the oasis, the more hope she'll give to all the other kingdoms. We cannot have that at all. We can't have them start a war against us now." The man behind the large curtain spoke with a bold voice.


"But father, we're elves, and they're all mere maggots. Even if they all come at once, we can easily finish them off once and for all," Azela said.


"Azela, we may be much more powerful than all the other kingdoms individually. But hope can be a very dangerous thing if used properly. They know that removing the elves from their realm will bring back the oasis, but they refuse to come together and do so because they are selfish and greedy. Once one person gifts them hope and shifts their minds from those distractions, we might as well be doomed." The man replied.



"Then why don't we just kill them all-destroy the kingdoms one by one until there are none left?" Azela suggested.


"Patience Azela. First, we have to properly instill division and hatred among the kingdoms. Our first step is to call a Septagon meeting. Send letters to all five remaining leaders and tell them to gather at the meeting hall in the north-western desert by the next two moons," the man replied.


"Understood, father. I'll do that immediately," Azela said, then got back on her feet. She was about to walk away when the man's voice sounded again.


"I know you clashed swords with your sister at Gunnlad."


Azela tightened her fist and clenched her teeth. She turned around and said with a low, angry tone, "She is not my sister. I would have killed her if it wasn't for Cathalaya."


"Do not let that petty victory deceive you. Aurelia is far more dangerous than you think. After all, how could you call it a victory if she wasn't intent on killing you?" His voice came again.


Azela tightened her fist even more, then turned around and marched away, her blood boiling with anger. She had always trained all her life and was the best among her father's soldiers, and yet he refused to notice her talent. She had to find a way to prove to him that she was better than her sister, and she had to do it quickly.