Crown

Rȳ Jēda Se Ābrar-Through Time and Space

It seemed like forever before the light finally disappeared. It took a few moments for Tekina and Kaito to shake free of their daze. When they did they took a moment to asses their surroundings. A huge barrier around the tower and inner town had been cast. The earth beneath them had stopped shaking. Within the barrier, the darkness was unable to reach them. While it wasn't a definitive solution, it at least bought them some time. Now that they had some steady bearings, it was easier to observe their surroundings. Tekina's eyes landed on Deya. He was short but handsome. The way he remained composed and dignified despite the ordeal at hand told her that his serious expression was of the norm. The sun and moon Masters seemed rather reserved as well. Her eyes slowly traveled to Ventus who was cheering loudly and flipping himself in the air as he levitated. All it took was one look to figure out which one of them was Illya's favorite. 

Sora took note of their arrival and made his way over to them. "The barrier will won't hold out indefinitely. Ein is in the void, searching for Illya as we speak." He explained.

Erebus opened his mouth to say something but shut it and raised his hand, motioning for everyone to hush. Silence fell upon them as everyone turned to Erebus, eager to figure out what it was he had picked up on. In the distance, the vague sound of slow, rhythmic thumping could be heard. Everyone began looking around to see where it was coming from. That's when the thumping became louder and more frequent. Soon, the entire perimeter of the barrier was flooded by unfathomable creatures who threw themselves at the barrier repeatedly in an attempt to smash through it.

Ventus huffed. "It's just one thing after another today."

He floated into the air, exiting the barrier. His eyes flashed in an impish green glow as he summoned a flurry of sylphs. With his command, the sylphs darted down towards the beasts in a ferocious attack. While their attack took down quite a bit of monsters, there seemed to be no end to then. As soon as several died, more appeared. Deya took to action as well. He summoned a sword made from his own scales in his right hand and with the wave of his left, created a wave of water that took him outside the barrier and flooded the ground beneath him, effectively drowning out the monsters. On the other side of the barrier, Tah Min had decided to use her martial arts expertise to aid Sora in battling them off as well.

Solace and Abaddon had long since joined the fight. Tekina and Kaito exchanged glances. They had never battled such monsters before. They had fought great opponents but never something of this scale. The pair seemed to silently come to the conclusion that many more occurrences such as this would arise if they were to stay with the Mad Queen. So they may a well get used to it. They left the barrier themselves to join the fray, leaving the remaining priestesses to maintain the barrier around the tower.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Ein managed to use his covenant with Illya as a guide to find her. It was as if it served as his tracking device. He managed to break through to where she was, only to see her limp body, struggling against Henaer's shadowy constraints. Her eyes were glowing the same iridescent blue on Henaer's runes and her body became paler and paler by the second. Henaer on the other hand seemed to be growing stronger. Her shadows spreading further, her body glowing due to the sudden influx of pure shi. Before Ein could even reach out to Illya, he was flung back.

"Stay out of my way lap dog. Be a good puppy and SIT!"

Henaer's voice was distorted and nothing short of demonic. Ein lay in shock, his muscles refusing to listen to him as the impact of his fall temporarily stunned his body. His vision blurred as he witnessed Henaer fully absorb Illya into her body. Then using the remainder of Illya's shi, Henaer broke through the void and completely connected her darkness to the over world.

"Finally." Henaer stepped out of the void, embracing her new found freedom. A bitter laugh escaped her lips. "LOOK AT THIS BROTHER! I'M FREE! I'M FREE TO DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU LOVED SO DEARLY! YOU CAN'T STOP ME NOW SALEM!" She yelled hysterically.

The fighting beneath the tower ceased. They watched in horror as Henaer descended onto the land. The monsters that were attacking them stopped and turned. They began to march towards Henaer, ignoring them completely.

Sora went pale, fearing the worst had happened to his beloved. "....Illya...." he whispered.

Henaer looked down at him and smiled. "Fear not. She is safe within me. I have absorbed her shi. Now she resides within me. She has become part of my darkness. As will all of you!" Henaer raised her hands. "Soon you will all become part of my darkness! You will hope for nothing, fear nothing, feel nothing. All you will know is the everlasting bliss of life beyond death, a transcendence within the Twilight."

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

The darkness had now completely covered most of the sky. It was painfully visible to the villagers in Solaria that something was happening. Sin was going through the village along with Ea and Ri-is trying to keep them calm as Hayate worked to evacuate the citizens to the neighboring country of Meer.

Astrid watched from the palace alongside Tobi, who was begrudgingly instructed by Sin to watch over her for the time being. "You don't think...my mom is..."

"Dead? No. I learned my lesson where that's concerned. I'm sure your mom will be fine." Tobi reassured her.

Astrid sighed and gazed impatiently at the broken sky. "Even if she can't die...I'd hate for her to be injured."

Tobi rubbed the back of his head, questioning how on earth he even ended up in this situation. "From what I can tell based on my interaction with her...she's incredibly calculating and arrogantly proud of her ability to always come out on top. Even if she finds herself in a bind, I'm sure she'll figure out a way to beat the odds." He inwardly groaned upon remembrance of their first meeting.

Astrid's glum expression diminished ever so slightly and the corners of her lips curled into a small smile. "I hope so."