Chapter The Sea of Light

It had been over a month now, since the fall of Terrana, the light had seeped into every corner of the city, and it had begun to deteriorate beyond all repair. Una Academy was different, almost as if an unknown energy was keeping the light from overtaking the once bustling school. The hallways of the school stood empty, looking the same as they did the day of the attack. Sebastien and Andre were stood in the old dining hall, Andre was taking some samples of a shard of a broken light crystal.

Sebastien stared out of where the huge floor to ceiling windows had once stood, he watched as one of the once tall skyscrapers crumbled into dust, to leave the boundaries of the school would be lethal to any normal person now. Sebastien however was no longer a normal human, Andre had gifted Sebastien a slither of the Dark Crystal’s power, which would enable him to fend of the light.

“I wonder if everything is still okay back in Ishtall?” Sebastien sighed as he walked away from the window and back toward Andre “It must have been like... three months now right?”

“It’s only been one” Andre corrected, as he stood up and sealed the sample of the shard of the light crystal in a vial and placed it in a case lined with a dark crystalline finish.

“Oh, I’ve kind of lost track of time, I guess” Sebastien shrugged.

“Easily done, since night is now a distant memory” Andre patted Sebastien on his shoulder “We’re leaving Terrana today, I’ve set up wards to protect the light from encroaching any further onto the school, and the temple below, with any luck we will be able to discover the location of the Earth Crystal and place it back here when we’re done.”

“It’s not going to be as simple as that, I take it?” Sebastien laughed half-heartedly.

“Indeed” Andre nodded, he made his way toward the front of the school, to leave the city, they would have to travel three miles through the unforgiving light. Andre’s magicks were strong, but they were not without limits, he knew that Sebastien would need to push himself further than humanly possible.

The two headed out into the courtyard, the air was stale, but there was no smell, no taste to the air itself, nothing. Only very few signs of life remained in the city, in a few days, even those would be history.

It was mid-Septembre now, and the nights had begun closing in early in Ishtall. At Wynd Academy, Roisin and Logan were training with the combat instructor. Word of the twisted beasts near Terrana had spread, and it was likely that soon, students may need to be called on to protect nearby settlements.

“Focus, Ros!” Logan shouted as he went to attack her with the training weapon, Ros deflected his swing, and took Logan by surprise by doing a leg sweep, Logan fell backwards and laughed.

“Looks like you are the one who needs to focus, Logan” The combat instructor teased “If either of you ever hopes to have the ability to call upon your Celestial Weapons, you need to think outside the box, Crystalliam enables you to defy the laws of reality that may bind your enemies, even defy gravity itself, with enough training”

Roisin and Logan nodded and went for another round, Dex and Ashe were sat in the stands near the training field watching, Dex was drawing in his art book, it was a drawing of Roisin and Logan fighting.

“Hey! That’s actually really good!” Ashe smiled.

“Oh, so you thought fighting was the only thing I was good at?” Dex raised his eyebrow.

“Uh... no, well, um... ahhhh” Ashe panicked, Dex burst into laughter.

“I was just teasing you” he grinned “It’s what I do when I need to calm myself down, I just usually put on a pair of headphones and draw away.”

“I wish I had an outlet like that, I usually just hit something really hard” Ashe shrugged.

“Hmm, is there something you enjoy doing? Something that when you’re doing it, you feel as if nothing else matters?” Dex sat up and put his art book away.

“I... don’t laugh, but I’ve always enjoyed singing” Ashe admitted before covering her face.

“Hey, don’t be down on yourself, I’m sure you’re a great singer!” Dex smiled.

“I’ve been told I am, but I’m just so nervous when it comes to expressing myself, like I feel as if everyone is laughing at me behind my back” Ashe sighed.

“That’s understandable, but it takes courage to put yourself out there, something that any potential idiot who would make fun of you doesn’t have” Dex said enthusiastically. He stretched and had a huge grin on his face “I actually have dabbled in a bit of singing myself.”

“Really?” Ashe was taken aback by Dex’s admission.

“Yeah, I wasn’t that good, but I enjoyed doing it, so who cares what anyone else thought” Dex laughed.

“I suppose you’re right, thanks Dex” Ashe smiled and hugged Dex’s arm.

-

Sebastien and Andre were now nearing the edge of the sea of light, the sky had begun to grow dimmer and dimmer, Andre was having to help Sebastien to walk, as his blood had begun to thin from the over exposure to one element. A couple of minutes later, the two exited the sea of light and Sebastien took a few minutes to regain his energy while Andre stood watch.

They didn’t have much time to recover, as before they knew it they were surrounded by a dozen overgrown crows, their wings all carrying different elements; fire, water, steel, wind, dark and light.

“Keep back kid” Andre said as he reached his hand into the air, in his hand a huge purple and black Katana formed, and in one fell swoop, the creatures were defeated, Sebastien gasped in shock.

“What was that... and what were they?” He said looking at Andre.

“That was my Celestial Weapon, and they are animals, broken by the elemental imbalance” Andre said, surveying the area.

“...will that happen to the people?”

“Perhaps eventually, however, it would take the fall of many more cities before that happened, we’re safe for now, as are animals like dogs, cats and livestock, as they have spent enough time around man to attune to our aether” Andre explained.

“I... see” Sebastien nodded as he got to his feet “Let’s get moving, we’re heading to Avadey, deep down to the south, as what is known as the South Pole of this star, that is where my Academy calls home.”

Sebastien nodded as the two walked into the wilderness, a welcome break from the hell they’d endured for the last few months.

-

Meanwhile, in the Crystech Ishtall HQ, in the Wind Crystal lab, Richard Pyre was examining the progress on the project. The crystal part of the crystal was now nearly formed, all that they needed to do now was to infuse the Crystal with pure Earth aether, which seemed like an impossible task. The doors to the lab swung open, an Imperial Emissary walked into the room, dressed in royal looking garb, and wearing a gold and burgundy shawl.

“The Crown Prince has denied your request for aid, I am afraid” The Emissary bowed.

“What?! Surely even he must see the importance of restoring the element of Earth!” Pyre shouted.

“I’m afraid the Crown Prince is no longer in a position to make any commands now, though” The Emissary grinned.

“Huh?” Pyre was taken aback by the Emissary’s words, it was very unlike the Empire Officials to speak ill of the royal family.

“The Crown Prince of Aranei had a terrible incident, including a horrific fall onto his own sword! The Crown Prince is dead... long live the Empress” The Emissary removed their shawl, he was wearing the armour that had once belonged to the Crown Prince, he was a young boy, no older than 20.

“My mother now sits on the Imperial Steel Throne and has deemed your request for aid worthy...”

“Thank you!” Pyre sighed with relief.

“Just... one small caveat, if you would permit, of course” The Emissary interrupted “We would like to set up a small base here in Ishtall, on Crystech property, you understand, just to... keep a watchful eye on the project” The Emissary smiled.

“Uh...” Pyre backed away, The Emissary pulled out the Crown Prince’s sword, which was stained with blood... likely the blood of the previous owner... “Please don’t make me ask again” The Emissary grinned a blood-curdling grin “I do so hate having to ask twice”.

Pyre nodded, the Emissary put his blade away, and brushed his raven black hair to the side.

“Since we are working together, you may call me Rory Ferras... but your minions must call me a more suitable name, hmm, something like Admiral Ferras would suit my needs” Rory grinned as he walked out of the door. Pyre broke down in a panic attack, knowing he may very well have doomed Ishtall to Imperial rule.