Oblivion, A Timeless Void

Chapter 14: The Forsaken One

Since time immemorial, Wisteria trees have symbolised the eternal passage of time. Of course, they symbolised other things as well—love as well as transformation. And for a girl who embodied the concept of time, no eye colour was more befitting.

Sparks flew in the far horizon, and loud explosions resonated in her ears every once in a while. Somewhere along the way, she'd lost track of the rest of the Elementals and was now isolated in the middle of the levelled city. The girl thought to herself that these must be battles taking place between the Elementals and the Commandments – it made her just a little worried.

Both about being stranded by her lonesome and about having them fight the highest-ranked demons. But she knew they'd be fine. They defended the Earth for years upon years—they could stand their ground and hold their own.

Perhaps it was due to the horrors she'd witnessed in those memories that did not belong to her, but the absolute devastation around her did little to faze Alcestis. It resembled the blood-red skies and gruesome death she'd relived over and over again in her nightmares, far more than she'd like. With a hand over her racing heart as if to calm it, she drew in a deep breath.

That's right. This is no shocking sight for her. She'd seen it aplenty.

The corners of Alcestis's mouth twitched upwards as she came to realise the thoughts swirling in her mind. She fought back the small smile creeping up on her face. Self-deprecation? Self-pity? Perhaps even pleasure? The reason wasn't entirely clear to her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she witnessed a pillar of magma shoot upwards and into the heavens. She knew it wasn't Deyanira's power. So, the only other logical answer would be either Alvaro or Ruina. The behemoth of flames remained in the sky for a few seconds, tongues of fire thrashing about.

Unwillingly, Alcestis's mind dragged her back to that day over a decade ago.

The flames swirling about reminded her of that day when aspersions had been cast her way, blaming her for the unruly act. Unconsciously, her body began to shake. She identified the emotion causing her to act that way as fear.

Fear of a threat that no longer existed.

Shaking her head violently and slapping her own cheeks, she buried those memories right back into the recesses of her soul. Now was not the time to dwell on the past or even just recall those ugly memories.

"Mom!" she called out after finding her voice once again. "Dad!"

No one heeded her any reply for a long while. She clicked her tongue and used her hands to cup her mouth, intending to call out to the rest.

"So loud and for what, Allie?"

The familiar voice echoing behind her forced Alcestis into a still-stop. With all her movements ceased, she didn't look back to identify the person. And perhaps, in those slightly widened wisteria eyes of hers, there loomed a semblance of insanity.

"...I didn't expect you to come here yourself..."

She finally whirled around to look at her opponent but, in the end, came face-to-face with the sharpened blade of a pitch-black scythe. With a low gasp, she jumped backwards, escaping with only a small cut on her cheek. Her wisteria eyes narrowed as they came in contact with her opponents' crimson red ones.

"...Adira."

The silver-haired Vinmeen smirked, and it soon turned into a huge, spiteful grin. At her lack of reply, Alcestis drew her weapon: a double-bladed sword. Adira spared her no more words as the scythe swung down mightily once again.

This time, Alcestis was prepared and skillfully blocked the incoming strike. Attacks came one after the other in a relentless barrage, and she deflected all of them. Just as Deyanira had taught her. Unconsciously, the girl began gritting her teeth.