Red Hawk

Chapter Twelve: Ruins and Revelations

Odin let out a sigh, having just finished conversing with Kai. His vision was starting to blur, a pounding in his temples. Sabrina had a saddened expression, "Do you require your medicine?"

"I'll be fine," he lied to her. His attention turned towards the moon lingering outside his window, a rising crescent. "The time of liberation is nearing," he spoke as he stood from his desk. Sabrina was confused by what he meant by that, but kept it to herself. Odin made his way through the guild hall, heading down to the basement level. A place only he had ever been allowed to go, a rule he broke that night. Accompanying him into the basement were Sabrina and Loki.

The basement was not what they had expected it to be. It was a small room, no larger than a standard walk-in closet. But when they were all inside, Odin opened a panel in the wall. Sitting within was a strange glass pane, one he lowered his face to. A green light escaped from behind the pane, scanning his face. It recognized him, causing the entire floor to sink. It had been an elevator of some sort.

After a bit of darkness, they found themselves looking through glass at a city in ruins. High above the city, they saw what seemed to be highly advanced vehicles, much more complex than anything the world could produce. Towering structures were crumbling apart, but none of this should exist, especially beneath their guild hall.

"W-What is this?" Sabrina asked taken aback by the sight. Her voice almost sounded frightened.

"This is an illusion right?" Loki grabbed Odin's shoulder. "None of this is real, you're using some kinda magic aren't you?" Odin was silent as they made their way down, stopping within what appeared to be a rundown train station. Something about the structure seemed familiar to them.

Sabrina figured it out, "This is Elrosa Station! But, how?" Loki froze in place when she said this.

A faint smile appearing upon Odin's face, "Quite right you are. Welcome to your future, but my unfortunate past." He started to walk off, the others following close in quite awe. Nothing they saw made since to them. There was even a sky overhead, though dyed a sickly yellow with greenish clouds scattered throughout. "What you are seeing is the end result of a powerful spell, Ragnarok. The truth of this world, and a force of destruction." Odin then slammed his cane upon the ground, a wave of white energy emitted from the tip. They watched as all life returned to the city around them.

"You see," his face went bleak, "our world once was near devoid of magic at all. Our planet possessed only two forms of magic. Ragnarok, and the orange eyes clan."

"Orange eyes clan?" pondered Sabrina, "You mean like Kai and his father?"

"Very so," Odin was pleased by her observation. "There was a time when many had those very eyes, but when the world reset, the trait was greatly diminished to protect it. The Red Hawk of this world traveled the stars, using highly advanced technology to do battle with criminals in an attempt to bring peace. Until, Ragnarok was found." The world around them shifted into the inside of the Red Hawk guild hall, but not the one they knew. They watched as a younger Odin and a fully organic Hibiki were arguing. But they heard none of it.

Odin looked away from this image, "Upon finding Ragnarok, Hibiki wanted to use the power to try and reset the environment. His intentions pure, however I protested due to the unknown nature of it. We argued for months upon the matter, leading to our guild master taking my side. Hibiki left the guild at that moment."

"Why are you in our world if you come from the old one?" Loki questioned, his voice finally found."

"A good question," chuckled Odin, "but we have not reached that part of the story yet." Once more their surroundings shifted, now Odin was in his office, on his knees as if begging to a mysterious figure seated at his desk. The figure stood, walking out of the shadows to reveal Kai.