Lore/Story Angels And Demons: Chapter 22

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Chapter 22: To Find My Past
~Marvin~


I look down at my hands. They were shaking, which I didn't understand. Did the vision Nicolas saw affect me? Why? That made me emotional? But after Amilda's death, I....

I look at Nicolas's broken form beneath me. I genuinely felt sorry for him: he has gone through so much, and yet how I acted and kicked him... it was just cruel.

But then, I was cruel. People already know that. Ken and the Resistance know. Nicolas and his friends know. Grace and Jon know. The whole world knew that I was a cruel, merciless vigilante.

"Marvin..." Grace walks up to next to me and touches my arm. I'm sorry, Grace. I think.

I turn around from Nicolas. "Grace. Jon. We're leaving." I start to walk away.

"You're going to leave us here?" Nicolas gasps behind me. I bite my lip.

"Help from Nemract is coming." I say. "They should be here soon."

"Why, Marvin?"

I'll assist you, brother.

I sigh deeply. "I hope that we do not meet again, Nicolas." I say.

I knew that we would meet again someday. It is because Fate is cruel. I really wished Nicolas will recover from what harm I have done to him. The people of Nemract should take good care of them, because they have saved their captain's son.

Fate really is cruel, huh?

She weaves the world into what was, what is and what will be. I knew that she made it so me and Nicolas would meet again.

But as enemies.

Jon touches my shoulder, and we disappear from the site.



~Few days before~



After the battle with the Purifiers in Ragni, Jon and Grace were finally reaching their limits. They have been fighting non-stop with me, and now they were so tired, they allowed themselves to get cut by those Purifiers. So I sent them back to the base and I set out alone into the streets of Ragni.

That's when I first saw the Resistance looking at the scenes of our battle. Five mutants, all young and healthy. The black hair and the redhead were exceptions though: I knew they were older than they looked. They had those look in their eyes. Looks I knew, those eyes were those which have seen many horrors during many years of captivity. Those scars never left someone. I met many mutants that I rescued from the Purifiers that had the same look.

I was far, far away from them when I first saw the Resistance, because I heard from rumours that one of them was a psychic. But I saw with my enhanced visions that they were heading eastwards, towards Detlas. And very much in a hurry.

It was an interesting sight, and without Jon or Grace, I didn't want to be involved in a full-on fight, because whenever I fight alone, I unleash too much power. So of course I followed. That's how I came to see the Resistance meeting with three Wynn soldiers, Fruman recruits from their looks. They were talking for quite a long time, and when the Resistance went out, I saw the three soldiers coming out and going to an inn inside the city. It was already getting dark, and even though I could spend a night awake, I was tired from fighting so much. I hurry out of the city just before the gates close and the guards come back on duty.

As I walk down the Southern road, I think back at the three Ragni soldiers. The warrior out of the three caught my attention. He had this aura around him, which contained so much power, and yet it was sealed away by a powerful, ancient spell. Also, I found his presence unnervingly familiar.

I feel oddly uncomfortable, like I am forgetting something extremely important. I shake my head. I didn't know him, I've never seen him before. And yet...

I quickly make my way outside the town, before the gates close for the night. The sun is setting, and I needed a place to camp for the night. It was too dangerous for me to sleep inside a town. The steady rhythm of my feet hitting the ground bring me far from the town. I do not use the path, instead, I go towards Southeast around the field surrounding the Black Roads.

The mushrooms around know better than to mess with me, so they keep their distance. I quietly settle under a large tree, where I would be hidden from most sights. I close my eyes and spread my Aether magic around me, making the ground sensitive to whatever steps on it. Then I close my eyes, confident that if something came close to me, I will already be ready to fight.

***

Crack.

I bolt up. All around me, the air shimmer with green light. I swear. Somehow, something bypassed my sensor and was attacking me. I leap up, and raising my hand, shout, "Varogunn, Aether!"

Spikes of Aether energy spread into every direction. I feel some of them sink into flesh.

I jog away from the tree, and look around me. At least two dozen Purifiers were around me, their weapons drawn. Around ten of them were dead on the ground, from my attack. Something about these Purifiers were different from the lowly ones I fight in the streets: they were strong, and had powerful magics.

No matter. I raise my hand, which starts to glow with red power. The air around me vibrates. I aim it at a cluster of Purifiers and release it.

A shape drop in front of me just as I release the Aether magic. A green light shine in my face, and the ball of energy I created explodes. The full force of my power explodes into my face, which damages me a lot. I stagger back. A humanoid figure rise before me.

He is a villager around the end of his twenties or in the beginning of his thirties. He is half a head shorter than me, and has a pair of unnaturally green eyes. The villager wears no armour, but wears black suits. The suits seems to be made of a strange material, which looks both flexible and hard. He wears a large pendant with a symbol of an eye.

The villager looks at me and smiles. “Aether.” He says. “It has been a long time.”

I point my sword at the villager. “I don’t know you.” I growl.

“Oh?” The villager lifts his chin. “I think you do, Marvin.”

He whistles, and five figures walk out from the Purifiers’ group. I look around, and see that they are young: There were kids around Nicolas’s age, and some as old as me. They were different armours, which, from their looks, are magical relics. They each hold an enormous weapon, which are as long as themselves. They wear similar suits that the villager in front of me wears. Two of the newcomers are villagers, whilst three are humans. Four male and a female.

“You are surrounded by the strongest warriors of the Purifiers.” The villager with green eyes says. “We six will be able to kill you easily.”

“Who are you?” I ask calmly. No point of getting angry now. “Who is your boss?”

The villager laughs, and the five warriors snicker around me. “I am the boss.” The villager says, his eyes flashing. “I am Amadel, leader of the Purifiers group.”

No way. Was that how he was able to deflect my attack so easily?

I charge at him with my sword. Amadel folds his arms, and jumps. My blow misses the villager, and I stagger forward. I see a flash of light as I whirl around. In his hand is a long, thin blade. He brings it down, and it connects with my blade. A jolt goes up my arm, and I take a step back.

“No scars after so many fights.” Amadel says. “It will be a shame to make one now.”

He then kicks me in the chest. The kick was beyond power of anything that lived could’ve done, and I feel some of my rib cage crack. I gasp and fall down.

“Therefore I will only leave you a bruise.” Amadel grins. The villager place his foot on my chest, and push down. I cry in pain. I spit blood to the side.

"Why aren't you killing me?" I gasp. Yellow dots come into my vision.

"Because you are one of us, Marvin." Amadel says.

"I'm not one of you, you filth!" I shout. I focus my Aether magic and send it up to my hands. I grab at Amadel's foot and transfers the energy. Amadel growls and jumps back. I stagger and stand up to face Amadel. "You have taken everything from me!" I shout. "My family, my life..."

Amadel raises his hand. The symbol of the eye on his pendant glows.

My vision goes black.

I blink. I look around, and see an old villager standing on a large, rocky platform with his arms spread wide. His mouth moves silently, as if he is chanting a spell. I stand in a huge cavern, decorated with red lanterns and torches. I find that I am floating in the air.

The platform has many runes and symbols carved in, which forms a large pentagon at the centre. Three figures stand before the platform: One is a man, another is a woman, and the other is a young boy around the age of six. Both the man and woman have their arms around the child.

I hear every whisper they trade to each other in my head. I float down to stand behind the parents and son.

The boy looks up at his parents and whispers, "I don't want to do this."

The man smiles down at the boy, and pat him in the head. "Marvin, you were born for this. Accept your fate."

The woman hugs the boy hard. "Be strong, Marvin. Don't give in to him."

The old man inside the summoning pentagon shouts, "The spell is ready! Bring the boy!" His voice creaks, but it rings with power.

The couple give their son a little push. The boy looks back at his parents, then face the old man and starts walking. I knew something was wrong. The parents had called the boy Marvin. That boy was me?

Marvin steps onto the pentagon and walks up to the old man. The villager walks back to the edge of the pentagon. The boy stations himself directly in the centre of the pentagon. He takes a deep breath, then shouts: "Awake, Arîfen, lord of power, God of Aether! Come forth through this gateway!"

Marvin stops. For a few seconds, nothing happens. I can hear my heartbeat getting faster.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba--

A force of red energy roars upwards from the platform, covering the entire pentagon and the boy inside. I hear the boy scream from inside. "No, let go of me, please... No!" The red energy is held back by an invisible wall created around the pentagon.

An explosion shakes the cavern. Dust fall from the ceiling. From inside the swirling of Aether energy, a scream comes out again. "Noooo!"


The scene changes. Now I stand before Marvin's parents standing around a table. I walk around them, and see that the boy lies on the table. His parents whisper softly to him.

There is a bang of doors banging onto a wall. I look around, and see a middle aged villager, a younger villager, and a few men in lab coats hurry inside.

The boy's father face the villager and bows. "Lord Amadus." He says. "It is an honour. What brings you..."

"You know well, Hans." The villager, Amadus, says curtly. "Your son. He has successfully merged with a deity."

"You can't possibly take him away!" The mother shouts. Her husband warns her, saying, "Don't, Haila.."

Amadus snorts. "Amadel, please." The villager says to the younger villager behind him. I realise with shock that this boy is a younger version of Amadel.

Amadel nods and raise his hand. Marvin's parents suddenly freeze. Green energy flow around them, which comes from Amadel's palm.

Amadus motions towards the boy with his hand, and the other scientists rush at the boy and lift him up. Marvin starts to argue, but one of the scientists punch him at the back of his head, and the boy goes limp. Amadus, Amadel, and the scientists turn away, towards the door.

Amadus looks back at the two frozen humans. "By the way, we are taking your other child."

They exit the room. As they leave, Hans and Haila becomes unfrozen. Haila sinks to the floor, sobbing. Hans look at the door with a furious expression.

"A...Amadus." He whispers.


I blink, and now I stand amidst chaos. Bodies lay all around, all of them dead. People in armours run towards the centre of the huge room. In the middle, a young boy around seven stands alone. His hair is white, his pupils white and his eyes black. White energy circle the boy. As the men gets nearer the boy, the white energy shoots towards them, and pierce through them. The men falls to the ground, blood splattering everywhere.

Across the room, an older boy kneels in front of two bodies. I realise with shock that this boy was Marvin from my other visions. He bends over the two bodies of his parents. Marvin looks up, his eyes starting to glow red.

The younger boy in the centre of the room slowly turns towards Marvin. He takes a step forward, and white orbs start to emerge out of the ground.

Marvin stands up, too. He looks much older, around thirteen. The young boy lifts his hand, and the shapes zip at Marvin. Marvin lifts his hand, and a wall made from Aether energy appears. The white orbs explode on contact.

"Nicolas!" Marvin screams. The Aether wall shatters.


I gasp. I find myself on the ground the grass beneath me wet with blood. I groan and try to get up. I look around, and find myself back into my body, surrounded by Purifiers. I look up at Amadel. "What did you do?" I gasp. I stagger up, then shout, "What did you do?"

Amadel smiles. "I showed you your past." He says. "Not the fake illusion about the murder of your parents and seven years in Troms. Your true past."