Yu's Lost Tales

Semaj

POV: Antonio Perfecto

Nova Heroes are supposed to be invincible. Heck, most of the time, we feel like we are, and yet there are some, few, and far in between moments where we feel weak.

This was one of those moments.

I always find it frustrating- being dubbed an all powerful, multidimensional hero, and yet still somehow able to be reduced to this: A stunned, dazed teenager speckled in his own blood and snot. In a haze, I summoned my Infinnite blades, gripping them with what little strength I had left. While they slowly refueled my Aura, and while my body adapted to its weakened state, I had to take time to wrap my head around whatever just happened.

The team and I had suddenly been told to go down to Aethelesh's Chamber. When we got here, we were greeted by an organized attack of Desolates, and a Rift that lead them straight to Aethelesh. We found ourselves in a savage fray, with the instruction to keep them away from Aethelesh until Kurt could get there. Austin was holding the final line with a massive barrier to block the colossal Aethelesh, who hung in the very Chains of the Cosmos. Even Kava had constructed a full on fortress wall, complete with artillery controlled by Damon. Kava himself still had the spunk to be on the front line, along with Benji, Paris, Kameron and myself.

"Great job!" I shouted over the comms, "Let's keep up the pressure! Kurt should be here any minute!"

"Well I could really do with 'any second!'" Came Kava's response, just as he came soaring over my shoulder from behind to smash straight through a Desolate, Gauntlets first. I looked back to see Benji rolling his shoulder, as if he'd just thrown Kava like a football.

"And Honestly?" Benji said, "He's like, the strongest being alive, so WHATS TAKING HIM SO LONG!? What could be more important than the Chains of the Cosmos!?" 

"Come on guys, focus! There's another wave coming!"

We'd been defending against wave, after wave of Desolates, each getting harder than the last. Eventually we started slipping into our Aura Bonds out of necessity, but sooner or later it would start to take a toll on us, even kill us. But the extra boost was enough to drive the Desolates back. For a second it felt like we'd won, and without Kurt's help, at that. But then Damon's voice came on the Comms.

"Um, fearless leader? Something's happening to the Rift..."

I remember the Rift starting to crackle and grow, it's deep purple slowly changing into an intense, somehow sinister orange in the midst of us driving the Desolates back. I only had an instant to wonder what was happening before it pulsed so violently that it shook the ground under our feet. Streaks of orange electricity struck at random until the entire Rift emitted an orange wave of violent Aura, like a tsunami of orange HellFire.

"Heads up!!"

From behind us, Austin jumped into the air and threw his arm forward, causing the Barrier that was blocking off Aethelesh to rush forward, on path to collide with the opposing energy. It passed by us effortlessly before starting a sumo shoving match with the orange wave of Aura, pausing for just a moment before both forces exploded into a violent shockwave.

My vision went black, my body started to ache, and my Aura was going on the fritz. Any AuraBound or higher would know that sometimes your Aura has a way of... telling you things. Not quite in words, but as feelings that can come across like words. Right now mine was screaming, over and over:

"He's here, He'S HEre, he's here, HE'S HERE..!"

As I looked over the aftermath of the explosion in front of me- over the rubble, the dust, the vigorously shaking Chains of the Cosmos- I saw the Rift once more.