Reawakening from a long slumber, Aletha's eyelids parted, revealing the same ceiling she saw two days ago.
The memory of that dream continued to unfurl in Aletha's mind, capturing every moment. Cold amethyst eyes, a rising mountain, and an elusive dragon flashed in her vision.
"Sergil…" She mumbled.
Aletha felt her entire body sore from the ruthless training. Her arms, legs, and head all felt a painful pressure. This, combined with the reveal of the mysterious king, caused her to panic.
"Alaunus. Prophecy…." She muttered,
Aletha felt a warmth pressing against her as she slowly held her forehead. She tried to get up from the bed, collapsed for a moment, then staggered to her feet again.
Aletha scanned her empty room. Stretching, she felt bones crack, reminders of her training. The haunting dream lingered in her mind.
Cyan lightning. Shifting plates of rock. Dragons. These elements of chaos shadowed in the back of her mind. But then, she heard the birds chirp a heavenly song. Aletha thought to herself.
(What did I see? Who is Zargon? Who is Alaunus? Was that the past?)
A dozen questions circled her thoughts. The night felt overwhelming. Standing up, she saw her trembling gray iris in the mirror. The house shook like an earthquake.
She couldn't help but control this tremor. It was as if fear had completely enveloped her.
Noticing that Alai and Ubel were missing, Aletha hurried outside to find them.
The sun, a molten orb earlier in the morning, was now veiled by a thick, bruised sky, the vibrant blue replaced by a creeping, ominous grey.
Aletha's face paled in horror as she saw a gigantic funnel of clouds extending downwards to a forest in the distance. Her eyes then caught a group standing in front of Alai and Ubel. Not only a group, but also a familiar face.
A young woman with sulky dark hair and pale green skin approached the group. Aletha's eyes broadened in size, screaming as the tornado grew closer.
"Emine!"
Following her was none other than the mint-haired girl, Pridia, and a familiar face carrying a scarf, his brown hair swaying..
"Phthonus? What are you guys doing here?" Aletha asked, breathless from the training she endured.
"We are here because we need help." Phthonis inquired as his face turned to the brutal winds. "I heard that you are going to participate in the Linuxian Footrace. Not only that, but I noticed the tornado is coming straight here."
Hair whipped by the wind, they all turned to face the destructive vortex dominating the wilderness.
"I appreciate the help," Ubel said as he equipped his claws. "But I require no assistance.
"Same here," Alai said as she clenched a stone blade.
"You suckers know how to get into trouble," Pridia said as she snapped her fingers, her smile beaming. " I'm not afraid of the simple wind."
Impressed by the confidence, Phthonus and Pridia shook their heads, then readied their weapons in preparation for the coming attack.
Loud growls echoed from the vortex, revealing it was more than just a tornado. From the swirling winds emerged monstrous figures, their bodies twisted and amorphous, like shadowy phantoms given form. These creatures were grotesque, with elongated limbs ending in sharp, claw-like appendages. Their skin glistened with a dark and slimy texture, hues of black interlacing with sickly purple. Eyes that burned with a dull, eerie luminescence dotted their malformed heads, casting a sinister glow amid the storm, adding an ominous depth to the chaos that surrounded them.
Aletha paled as magical energy swirled violently around the wind funnel. Trees tore apart, grass ripped away, and hearts raced.
"Alai, what are you doing? Why are you grabbing your sword?" Aletha asked with a trembling voice.
"Didn't you hear the growls?!" Alai replied. "That isn't just a tornado!"
"-just a tornado?" Suddenly, the moment her gaze fastened on the upside-down funnel, a recollection dawned on her: the incident that had happened in Linuxinia City; the same tornado, covered in magical energy, had now come here. She then asked, "The same one?"
Ubel and Phthonus shook their heads.
They answered in unison.
"Yes."
Sounds of roars suddenly echoed across the landscape, with screeches sounding like monsters shilling their ears.
Silhouettes of goopy beasts arose from the walls of wind, terrifying all of them.
"W-What are they?" Aletha asked as she was put into a corner, defenseless.
"The Ending's Monsters!" After Alai yelled, she quickly ran to a room filled with weapons and tossed a wooden sword to Aletha. She said as everyone's stances rooted into the dirt. "Take this! I should have taught you how to fight with a weapon, but I was too late."
Phthonus squinted at her and mumbled.
"You're training Aletha?"
Alai discarded her uncertain expression and forced a bright smile, muttering quietly.
"We'll talk about it later. Now is the time to fight."
. . .
The silence that had reigned over the plain was shattered, replaced by the cacophony of the rising wind, the groaning of the earth, and the chilling whispers of the impending storm.
A confident smirk played on her lips. Alai quickly jolted upward and slew a couple of beasts, puncturing through their goopy bodies in a flash.
Quick, decisive, Alai's movements spurred the others. Phthonus cast an orange light that melted the beasts' skin. Pridia unleashed destruction on a four-legged creature. The crew fought in their own way.
"Just a few more. Aletha, remember your training."
Gripping her blade, Aletha recalled her arduous training: lifting, running, climbing. It burned, but paid off. In less than two days, she changed.
Even Emine, Pridia, and Phthonus saw her progress. Their recognition pushed everyone to fight harder.
The sky turned a sickly green as clouds swirled into a malevolent vortex. Ubel used his claws in combat, each nail shredding the goopy surface of the creatures.
Aletha managed to get a hit on one of the monsters before Pridia unleashed her "cartwheel of action". In moments, her footsteps turned into searing green flames, burning the monster's skin.
More grotesque monsters emerged from the vortex—fluid, shifting, with black and purple hues, repulsive texture, and horrifying fluidity.
"There are too many of them!"
"No."
The air itself screamed as the monstrous funnel cloud ripped through the landscape, and the onslaught of the monsters came in waves, each more terrifying than the rest.
Then, from the very bottom, humanoid creatures corrupted in pink luminance chanted out callings.
"Hear ye the words of truth. The ultimate plans of the Owners of this world shall be impeded."
Aletha's wooden sword became a blur of motions, slicing and dividing the monsters whole. Her history of wielding a sword flickered in her movements.
(I can do this. I have to do this.) Aletha thought.
Then her gaze adjusted her focus on Alai, who was fending off the creatures. She could hear the inner chaos surrounding her, gripping in one foul swoop. As she came and fought, Aletha felt an uneasy pressure in her stomach as she witnessed the battlefield.
The Ending's initial assault was overtaken. Arising from the ground, a wave of slimy tentacles, razor-sharp legs, unsettling gurgling sounds, and a magical tornado came into being.
Alai's silver sword flashed as she cleaved through the monsters' gelatinous flesh. She had nearly deflected a slimy tentacle aimed at Aletha.
"There ya go." She said as she unsheathed her sword from the chest of a tantalizing being. "Just a few more."
Emine shook her head, stunned by the attack. Lacking confidence in her own powers and almost powerless in the chaos, she chose to defend herself and the crew from the edge of the battlefield instead of fighting up front.
The fight was a chaotic ballet of steel and goop, a desperate struggle for survival amidst the swirling fury of the tornado.
Their efforts failed; they were overwhelmed by monsters and a tornado. Battered and bruised, exhausted, they needed a plan to survive.
"ALETHA!" Alai screamed, "Watch out!"
The ground buckled beneath their feet, and the tremor escalated into a full-blown earthquake. It wasn't just wind; it was a physical manifestation of raw, untamed power, a living, breathing entity intent on destruction.
"It's… almost over." Alai muttered, her arms powerless, "The Ending can't get us from here."
A sonic assault from the tornado threatened their ears. The wind howled as the creatures chanted.
"Hear ye the words of Ending. Ash and dust shall return, and the Owners shall have no control."
Magical powers from all directions scattered as Phthonus, Emine, and Ubel. And Aletha. Alai quickly collected a red luminance and then summoned exploding blossoms that spanned over the training grounds and Alai's house.
But then, as they were surrounded, Aletha spoke fearfully, as recollections of the dream flooded her vision.
"Linuxinia." She muttered, "Alaunus…"
. . .
The moment she uttered those two names, before the tornado could rip the house into shreds, the tornado and the monsters swiftly retreated back into the wilderness, vanishing into the thick patch of fog.
The storm left before it came.
Alai, Ubel, Phthonus, Aletha, Emine, and the crew couldn't believe it.
The vortex retreated into the horizon,leaving nothing but silence in its wake.
"We… We did it?" Alai questioned as the sky grew clearer, dropping her blade in exhaustion.
"No… there's more," Phthonus said as he approached a cyan luminance floating in the sky. "It's…"
Left amongst the tornado's tracks was a giant, floating, ancient writing, plastered in pink and cyan luminance. Following it, streams of green luminance tried to pull it down before..
"Allow me to handle this," Pridia added as she kicked the roots off the text. "This… "
All of them except Aletha fell into shock and disapproval, especially Alai. Her crimson eyes broadened at the reflection of the ancient text plastered into the air.
As the people's concerned faces shrouded in a cyan glow, Aletha squinted her grey eyes at the text and read it aloud.
("The Owners shall make their endeavored return to this world and…")
"It's…" Alai fell to her knees and read it aloud. "...the prophecy."
Above the text was a symbol of a tear and a giant circle, followed by the last text of the message.
("...shall wipe the tears of this world dry.")
. ..
After each one of them read the prophecy, it vanished into nothingness and shattered into a million pieces.
Their hands quickly dropped to the ground, their energy depleted quickly. The peaceful silence returned, followed by the chirping of birds and the sounds of morning doves.
The emerald sky returned to baby blue, trees reformed in exaggerated amounts, and puffy clouds stretched across the breeze-bathed plains after the tornado and "prophecy" departed.
It was as if the storm had never hit them in the first place.
. . .
Afterward, Alai fixed the wreckage around her house and sorted out her swords in the weapon room. Ubel retreated his claws, and Aletha gave her her wooden sword.
She then rested on a couch, with Ubel, Phthonus, and Pridia, all recollecting about the prophecy.
"The Owners? Who are the Owners?" Phthonus asked them as he fixed his scarf.
"I don't know. I have never seen anything like it." Emine said with wide eyes. "But I probably think it's important. Aletha, what have you said to scare them?"
As Aletha felt her limbs tear and reform from the inside out, she briefly stated.
"Alaunus," Aletha whispered as the silhouette of a dragon appeared in her gaze. "Who is Alaunus?"
Ubel, having caught Aletha in a daze, stepped forward and brushed the dust off the sofa. He plucked a stand of his silver hair, took a deep breath, and began to articulate the recent events.
"Aletha," He said, "When and where did you hear that name?"
Aletha sneered at Ubel, scratching her head, replying begrudgingly.
"Alaunus?"
"Yes, that name," Phthonus replied while clicking his tongue. "When and where did you hear it?"
Aletha tilted her head, confused.
"Umm, I heard it… in a dream."
"Dream?" Ubel uttered back. "What dream? How do you know about her?"
After Ubel and Phthonus had asked Aletha about her dreams, she began to carefully articulate all the events that had occurred in her dreams to Ubel.
Starting from the barrage of fire arrows, to the magical being protecting citizens, to the lightning bolts and angels, to the warheads and weapons. Aletha recollected it all and shared it not only with Ubel and Phthonus but also with Alai and Pridia.
Hearing this, Alai gazed at the bruised body of Aletha, staring at her in concern. Slowly, she rubbed her knees and grabbed a cold beverage.
After she placed the steamy drink in front of her, Alai sat down with Ubel and discussed.
"What are you two talking about? Sorry, I was finishing cleaning the place. Luckily for me, though, nothing got harmed. Just a few trees and hills."
Phthonus commented with an exasperated voice. "Aletha… tell her what we saw. Tell her about your dream."
"We saw a prophecy." She muttered beneath her breath. "And Alaunus."
"Alaunus?!"
. . .
Alai stepped back at the sound of the name. She shook her head in disbelief.
"You're t…talking about Alaunus?" Alai expressed with a fearful gulp. "T…The mighty dragon that wrote a thousand prophecies around the world and nearly ended the planet?"
Aletha intervened in the discussion, asking…
"Wait, you KNOW about Alaunus?"
"Of course I do!" Alai replied while scratching her head. "Alaunus was an ancient dragon predating the beginning of this world. She was the one who chose to guide humanity during the War of the Wish and several eras back."
Alai began her explanation.
"The War of the Wish was a pivotal period, marking a significant struggle between the forces of creation and destruction, as well as between kings and queens. It was a time when humanity, under the watchful eyes of Alaunus and her prophecies, fought valiantly for the right to shape their destiny. Alaunus's guidance was instrumental in leading humanity to emerge victorious, paving the way for the flourishing of civilizations."
Alai shook her head, grieving at the thought of that mighty dragon.
"Alaunus…" The ruby-haired girl added with a serious tone," It was because of her strength that humanity began to flourish under the might of her prophecies."
"So what you're saying is that prophecy…" Emine stopped at her words.
"There can only be one explanation," Pridia grunted as she struggled to clench her skirt. "The writing that WE saw scared those monsters."