Memoria Di Morte [story]

It was just like every other Aeon Ritual, except this one was my own. I thought it would be simple, having the once unreachable power of your familiar sealed inside you, but with every rune that was etched into my skin, I felt the heat of a white-hot flame pierce my skin. While I went through the rite, so too did my familiar, Shichi. Unlike me, he went through the rite without any movement. This was natural though, seeing that though he resembled a giant bat with an elongated tail and sharper face and ears, he had skin as hard as stone and tolerance to match. He was no bigger than my head, but yet I felt as if he were much more powerful than I.

Upon the completion of the ritual, a rune was placed on my right hand, something I have never seen done before. The rune was one I had only seen once before, it was the rune of judgment. With that single rune I knew my life was likely to be short lived, and that I would soon be faced with an even greater trial than even the Trial of Nightmares, which must be passed to undergo the Aeon Ritual.

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It was the dusk of he first new moon since I had undergone the ritual. My skin felt cold as ice now, though for the first 3 days I could still feel the burning of the runes. Now the runes had faded, invisible to the eye...that is, except for the one on my right hand. Even when asked, the
elders only said that the rune was proper, and that I should not worry about it further. I knew this
wasn't true; I had seen many go through the ritual, and never had the hands been marked, nor has
this particular rune been placed. As I think of it, I cannot remember where I had seen the rune before. Dawn came and went, but still I could not recall it.

"Something troubling you?" I heard Shichi ask me. "If it is about that rune, perhaps we
could take a look in the forest ruins. That is where we met if you recall." He seemed closer to his
memories than our conversation.

It was worth a try. Even if we found nothing, it never hurts to visit the place of good memories. "You may be right Shichi, the ruins are full of mystery and probably contain vast amounts of knowledge." I began preparing my bag with herbs, food, and the like. "Besides, we could use a break from this busy town anyway, right?"

"This is quite as I would expect from you." Shichi smirked. "Jumping at the first chance for
adventure that you can get." He starting trailing off, perhaps distracted by a speck of dust. He continued, "As I was saying, you take every chance for action you can. Why that is how I met you...You must have been 7 or 8, running towards the forest ruins with a friend or two, but on the way you got attacked by wolves, and actually tried to fight them! So I came in and did away with them, thus revealing myself, and our bond, to you."

"yes, how could I forget something even more frightful than the wolves saving me?" I taunted as I reached for my lance. A mage with a lance, one would think this impossible, and everyone in the village thought it too, but I made it possible. I went to the ore mines to the South of our village, retrieved a good sized piece, and with great care I carved the blade of a lance from it. With this ore, I have the ability to concentrate magick, as well as slice apart virtually any creature that walks the forest. With one last look at my supplies I asked, "Shall we be off?" We left soon after.

Hours went by as we traversed the forest. Occasionally we were forced to stop, so that we could fight off any unwelcome company. We were nearly there when a large figure blocked out the sun; a cave ogre. We realized how out of place it was to see such a beast here, but that didn't matter to us, not then.
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"Stand back," Shichi warned. "You are no match for such a beast. Hell I might not be either..." After those words, Shichi had begun clawing at the monster. But the ogre grew tired and with one fell swing of his club, Shichi was motionless on the ground.

"Dammit!" I felt immense rage build inside me as I lunged my weapon into its eye; blinding it. Blood trailed down the lance as I pulled it free, which caused a small crimson shower. The beast, however, was still alive and angrier than ever. Like a madman it swung its weapon; so fiercely that everything it touched shattered before it, even the air seemed to thin.

"What should I do?" The question rang inside me with no end. All I could do was run, which was done until I reached the ruins. The ogre still followed; frenzied by my scent. It seemed to snarl broken words of hate, but these were not in a tongue that I knew.

As the ogre continued to attack everything, I hid inside a small hole in the ruins; this shelter wouldn't last and I knew it, but what else was I to do? The pounding of the club hit my defenses without end; slowly they crumbled away. When I had given up all hope of survival, I heard a faint roar; Shichi was alive. But how was I certain? This roar to fierce to be from one his size.

"Your fight is with me," shot a snarl that sounded as if the very ground would be crushed by it. Sure enough it was Shichi; a flash of black and blue that collided into the ogre; sending it into a thicket of trees. "Are you alright?" I was, and I wanted to tell him, but he was just so different from the Shichi I knew...

Before me stood a feral wyvern. Wings rearranged to serve as arms as well. Sharp spinal spikes from head to tail. The hind legs of a monstrous wolf. Though he had arms, he walked on all fours; that is, when he has not flying around the ogre to tear away its flesh. His face was that of a demon; a thirst for blood could be seen in his eyes. This horror wouldn't have been as bad if there was not an eiry blue light about him. The light must have been the runes, which must have meant he achieved this form by tapping into his new powers.

After the fight ended, he turned to me; lunged for me. "Are you mad?!" I roared, "I am your friend, not foe!" This did not halt his advance. I had only two options, to stay and die, or fight my own Aeon. With this realization I quickly climbed up the ruins to the roof; this was roughly three floors. Here I blocked blow after blow of his saber-like claws using only my lance. I couldn't keep this up. His next attack shattered the shaft and sent me backwards; falling through a hole in the ruins and onto a pile of bone, and here an idea struck me. If it failed, I would die.

Like lightning, Shichi was above me, ready to deliver the killing blow with the point of his tail. Feeling power build inside me, I held up my right arm and as I did, the rune on my palm began to shine brightly. A white light filled the room and when it left I did not see Shichi.

After calling for him several times, I noticed that something had landed on my shoulder. The creature was a black puff of fuzzy fur with fuzzy bat-like wings; the size of one's fist. It made minuscule noises, but if one listened, they would have heard it say "Here I am, I am Shichi."

How could we have known what was happening? By now we were deep underground in an area that seemed like it could collapse at any time. Back at the village, there were flames, the flames of a rebellion. This rebellion was not over bad conditions, but rather for power.
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Several of the elders and Aeon bearers had formed an underground force some time ago; unknown to all but them. They only had to wait for a perfect time to strike. That time was now. The village was quickly engulfed in fire; Aeons were fighting a small war with power unimaginable. It was a fight to save a home, to protect what was dear, to gain power, and much more; each had a different reason.

This mini war would last for nearly 3 days. The village was charcoal and cinders; nothing stood that wasn't stone. the few stone structures, including the shrine, were the refuges of the nights that were somewhat peaceful; the shrine being the refuge for the rebels.

During the day everyone that had an Aeon fought; the awakened Aeons causing the most damage to the village and the forest around it. many lives were lost, and many more saved as small groups escaped into the mountains.

During the night people slept, that is, except for those standing watch and those who had powers that could extinguish the fires and regrow some of the forest. These attempts to keep damage to a minimum were actually done in cooperation with both sides' quite a sight it was to see new-found enemies working together, but what else was to be expected? After all, it was the home of both forces.

In the end the rebellion had won. Those who opposed them were all either dead or were able to flee to the mountains or similar. With the battle won, what were their plans? This slaughter must surly have a reason to it.

Though the people that remained were killed, their Aeons were sealed within the Aeons of the Rebels, which increased their powers even more. With this power though, they became corrupt beings. Being which were driven mad with the constant battles for control over their own mind and body. These Aeons rampaged the ruins of the village, the little that remained. The rebel whose Aeons went mad were in constant pain from their runes, and so they took action to seal their Aeons in crystallized form and prevent further despair.

What awaited us in the ruins was more than we imagined. We knew we would find what we were looking for, but the condition of it was unknown even to us.
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The ruins were quite dark; to see we had to rely on a torch. Since we entered, a smell of decay filled the air, but even with the dim light of the torch we couldn't see why.

"Be careful Saibankan, in my current state I cannot aid you." Shichi advised as we walked through a number of narrow corridors. "Wait! Listen!" Listening to what Shichi said, I soon heard a rustling sound, no...a chewing sound.

"The sound is small, but numerous. If I lead whatever it is out here I should be able to handle it with a single spell, right?"

"Correct you are. Be careful about it though. You can't die yet."

Slowly, we entered the horror-striking room. Inside were dozens of giant spiders feeding upon the decaying remains of everything they caught. Their feast consisted of a number of people, wolves, deer, and even a small ogre. To get their attention I picked up and dropped a large rock. Quite the attention i got as the thousands of legs sped across the floor.

Rushing out into the hall, I took out my lance and readied myself for their appearance. Soon I saw them and I started. The runes on my body glowed a faint red, as did the tip of my lance. Pointing it at them, the lance gave off an inferno that flooded the hall with flame and heat. When the flames died down, the spiders were gone, but now the smell of char accompanied that of the dead bodies.

"Nice work Saibankan, now let us make haste. the place i remember shouldn't be far after that room of death." Hearing those words gave me a jolt of hope and so we entered the room of carcasses.

In the room the smell was intense. Carefully we stepped over and on the bodies. Bones crunched and shattered under my feet. The sound was dreadful. "Shichi, you should be lucky you dont have to walk."

"...And you should be lucky you don't have the senses that I have. Imagine every sense tenfold." Shichi said in obvious annoyance to my stupid comment.

Before we knew it...we were there. On a wall with many runes were placed two torches that appeared to have not been lit in centuries. I quickly lit these and the runes on the wall appeared in full. Larger than the rest was one that never left my mind recently, Judgment.

"Shichi, this is it. Our answer is here." I began to read the writing, but i just couldn't figure out what it said through the build up of mildew and dust. I wiped this off with a rag and tossed it aside. No sooner had i done so that they began to glow with the same eerie blue light Shichi had. The wall collapsed into rubble and before us stood a chamber that appeared to have been sealed to the point that not even air entered as it was void of mold and even dust.

"Well...that's unfortunate, isn't it? who would have thought that trying to read would turn a wall to dust!" Shichi joked.

"No, not unfortunate...It seems to me that this was meant to be. Let us advance into the room." I was quite right, it was fate that the wall had revealed this chamber to us. Inside was empty, but yet filled...

We entered the room; a perfectly circular marble room with pillars long since crumbled. Engraved on the ground was a circle of runes, and in the center was the rune of "fate". What we found in this room were answers...but not all answers come without burden...
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As we walked into the room, a faint breeze seemed to emit from somewhere. "Shichi, stay where you are. This is meant for only me; return to the previous room." I said feeling what was meant to be as if I had done it before.

"Are you absurd?! We came here together seeking the same answer and you want me to just standby?!" Shichi said in displeasure.

"Look...I know we came here together...but I feel like this is how it is meant to be...I must go on while you stay and make sure I return..." I did not break pace to the rooms core.

"Sai...You...You have my word. I will ensure your return and wait here." Shichi seemed to understand that this room was unnatural and altogether unsafe. Shichi began to leave the room. "Just...don't die before I find you..."

"Thank you..." In truth it was not for my own safety I sent him away...It was because i knew that if he entered this room...his life would come to a close.

Once I reached the heart of the room, the entrance disappeared, and in total darkness I found myself. This darkness was soon abolished by light that shot up from the runes. The light was blinding; too bright for my eyes I had no choice but to shield them. When the light finally died down, the room was transformed. White marble surrounded me, the pillars were standing tall, and the runes were engraved gold. And in this renewed room there was a presence...the presence of something far beyond understanding.

"Who are you?" I called, trying to not let fear escape me. But...what had I to fear from something that wasn't even there? Or was it there? I may just be insane...

"I AM A MEANS TO AN END, I AM THE DESTROYER, I AM ATOMOS." A echoing voice filled the room; the golden runes glowing in sync with each word. "SAIBANKAN, OFFER UP THAT FEEBLE WEAPON TO THE SEAL. ONLY THEN MAY YOU STEP FORTH AS JUDGE OF THIS WORLD."

"Atomos, I seek not to judge this world, I merely seek knowledge...And if you cannot give me that, then I have no business with you."

"FOOLISH MORTAL BEING! YOU CHALLENGE A GOD WITH THE NAIVETY OF A NEWBORN?!" The golden light had become crimson and the entire room shook. "IF YOU WISH FOR KNOWLEDGE, YOU ALSO SEEK THE BURDEN OF JUDGE!"

I had no choice but to accept these terms, this was what I had sought...answers. "Very well, I have come to with these terms. I shall be judge and you shall bring me answers." Knowing what I was doing, I would keep my ace until the end.

"VERY WELL, PLACE THE LANCE INTO THE CENTER OF THE FLOOR AND YOU SHALL RISE FORTH AS MY SERVANT; AS JUDGE OF THIS WORLD."

At this I laughed. "Surely you realize that I hold the key to how this ends. I will become what you ask only after you give me what I seek. After all, I am stuck in this room so I'll have to do so in the end." I just hoped he didn't know of what I planned...

"YOU ARE WEAK, BUT FEARLESS. THE TERMS ARE ACCEPTED." The emitted light became gold once more as Atomos began to speak: "THE MARK OF JUDGMENT BELONGS TO THAT WHICH IS MEANT TO PROTECT THE WORLD, NEVER CHOOSING A TRUE SIDE. THE JUDGE IS A FIGURE THAT ALONE MAY SHAPE THE WORLD INTO A GOLDEN ERA, OR BRING ABOUT ITS DEMISE. YOU WERE SELECTED AS THIS FIGURE BY FATE ITSELF."

"So, I am to act as a balancing force and act as a god?! I'm sorry to say, but I am only human, there is no way that I can do what you ask. To control the flow of time itself is unreasonable of a gift, and altogether unfathomable."

"YOU HAVN'T A CHOICE IN THE MATTER FOR YOU HAVE ALREADY AGREED. BUT FEAR NOT FOR YOU ARE BUT A PUPPET AND I CONTROL THE STRINGS." The voice seemed to mock my very existence as but a toy to be used.

"So you will have me be your tool?!" I felt growing hatred for Atomos the longer I heard him speak, and now I knew why. "I shall not be controlled by any being that cannot even show himself!" At these words, a whirlwind began to surround me, covering the walls completely, and leaving only the circle untouched.

The runes began to glow red again and I knew Atomos was speaking, but nothing could be heard over the howling winds. One thing was certain though...He was enraged. And before I knew it, I had passed out.

Later Shichi, back as his original self, informed me that he had broken through into the room and took me out from the howling winds.He didn't ask anything about what happened inside so I assumed he already knew. It was dawn now, and we were back at the entrance to the ruins.

Tomorrow we would head back to the village.