Chapter 9: Elysia Starnova
Minutes later, Jaden stepped into a Mannihilator city for the first time. Awe struck her at how different the living conditions the Mannihilators were going through. They live mainly in large, concrete homes which are unlike the tall buildings she was used to seeing back at her home planet. The buildings were smaller, broader and lacking any variety; most of them look the same. The entire city was walled off by a tall concrete wall, forming a perimeter around it. Plant life was littered all over the place, almost as if the Mannihilators refuse to remove them. Qurrentine is heavily urbanized and seeing a large number of plants in the same spot was a rare sight, hence Jaden was unused to the presence of plants in her path.
All Mannihilators within the city, men, women and children, gave a suspicious glare at Jaden. Her eye glow, which partially penetrated through her blindfold, was the only thing that revealed her to be a Magic user, and as she expected, not all Mannihilators are welcoming of Magic users. Her city clothes, which contrasted with the Mannihilators’ primitive and militaristic clothing, gave away her identity as a non-Mannihilator. Her heart beats faster as she felt worried by the glares and she silently hoped that no violence would happen.
Reed, on the other hand, walked through the city as if he has been there a million times. He maintained a one-sided smirk and occasionally waved at Mannihilator women and children. His behavior heavily contrasted Jaden. Vader, now without his disguise, was given an equal amount of resentment as Jaden. Though she had no idea why VX Synthetics are not welcomed by Mannihilators, she began to assume that Vader’s race is mistrusted by all.
Despite all the hostility, Jaden was at least able to smile when she came across a huge statue not far from the city’s entrance. The statue was that of a woman’s and as she observed the features, the woman was none other than Ariel Silver; the human whom the Mannihilators worship and one of Jaden’s biggest inspirations in becoming an Energy Bladesman.
Though the statue was made of stone and hence, grey, she could easily imagine the armor, hair and eyes to be golden and her sword, shield and cloak to be red. Not to mention the expressionless look on Ariel’s face; she was especially known for being unable to feel emotions from birth. As Setzer, her twin brother, would put it: She’s like a robot. Memories of the stories of Ariel came to her mind, along with memories of her mother. Before she delved deep into her thoughts, however, she remembered that she must remained focused and hence, discarded all her thoughts of her mother.
Nora brought the party to a large concrete building in the heart of the city. Inside, she guided them up a few flights of stairs, reaching the tallest floor of the building. The floor, which comprised of one room, had several heavily armored Mannihilators armed with rifles. The group passed by them without any hostility, though they gave the suspicious glare at Jaden, Reed and Vader. Nora then stopped before a man wearing heavy armor unique amongst the Mannihilators in that room. His was golden in color in comparison to the typical silverfish grey armor. The golden armor almost reminded Jaden of Ariel, who wore a shiny golden armor.
“Greetings Lord Nightfall.” Nora bowed before the man along with the rest of the Mannihilators who guided the group. Jaden, Reed and Vader were at a disadvantage and hence, they did not bow with them.
“Rise Ser Nora. What brings you here? And who are these three? A Magic user? An outsider? And, a VX Synthetic?”
“My lord, before you do anything, let me explain. This woman here, she defeated Dark Viper in a duel. I can easily sense the scars of the duel within her.”
“Sense?” Jaden asked herself. “I thought Mannihilators are anti-Magic.”
“Yes, Mannihilators are anti-Magic.” Nora said out of the blue, almost as if she read Jaden’s mind. “But, I am an Ohmni Knight. I am a user of Omega Energies, which are remains of Magical Energies if they are destroyed. Omega Energies allows me to cast anti-Magic spells but naturally, I have access to spells which are universal amongst all Magic users regardless of the type of Energies I use.”
“Anyway, this woman, Jaden Highland her name is, survived an encounter with Dark Viper and now, she’s on a mission to eliminate him and Iblisan.”
Lord Nightfall stared at Nora for a while before turning his attention to Jaden. He then asked, “Well then, what brings you here? Aren’t you supposed to be heading straight to Dissidia and facing Iblisan?”
“The three of us are not enough to take on both Iblisan and Dark Viper, along with his army of cultists. We come to seek assistance from your people good Lord.”
“No, I disapprove.”
“What? My Lord, why not?”
“Do you not see the glow in her eyes Ser Nora? She’s suffering from Magical Overflow and thus, under her Magical Energy’s influence. Iblisan’s indirectly controlling her. You’re an Ohmni Knight. You should know better than this.”
“Do not let my eyes fool you good Lord. My mind is my own. Besides, why would Iblisan want to see two of his enemies uniting instead of fighting each other?”
“The last time I let an outsider Magic user lead a battalion, he led them to a trap and slaughtered them all! He fell under Iblisan’s sway because that bastard can’t keep his feelings under control. He suffered Magical Overflow and killed my people. I am not going to make the same mistake.”
“My Lord, I am confident that Jaden will not befall the same fate as that Salvager. Besides, she survived a duel with Dark Viper. Is that not enough to convince you?”
“Ser Nora, for years you have been trying to get outside help and I am starting to feel that you pushing it too far.”
“And for years, you have been thinking about that incident. I feel that it is time to let it go. We need to unite. Iblisan is too powerful for just one army to defeat. You better remember that he is not a mortal. He is a Fallen Angel.”
Lord Nightfall fell silent, as if he thinking about Nora’s words. He looked down at Jaden, his frown slowly diminishing. Jaden, in an attempt to convince Lord Nightfall that a union is necessary, took off her blindfold. Despite the glow, it barely blinded him and he continued to stare at her eyes.
“Look at me straight in the eyes Nightfall, and listen to what I am saying. I lost my entire family and most of my friends to Dark Viper. He slaughtered them all in one fell swoop and I am not foolish enough to start a war with your people when I already have an enemy. We are losing people to him and Iblisan and here I am, taking a stand to end his reign instead of cowering inside a room. I need you to trust me on this.”
Jaden’s eye glow intensified as she spoke, her emotions amplifying her Magical Energies and showing Nightfall the seriousness of her words. Tears rolled down her cheeks despite the heat emitting from her glow and Vader, who somehow noticed her sadness, placed his metallic hand on her shoulder.
“Jaden, are you alright?”
“Vader? You…cared for her feelings? Aren’t you a robot?”
“I do not expect you to understand Reed.”
“Try me. Besides, I care for her too you know.”
“I’m fine you guys. I just…missed my family. And…thank you Vader.”
Nightfall continued staring at her, undisturbed by the light from her eye glow. He thought hard about her words. He watched as Vader placed his hand on Jaden’s shoulder and said in his mind, “That VX Synthetic actually cared for her feelings. That'a unusual but if it truly does care for her, she might be different from the bastardly Magic user last time.”
“My Lord, Dark Viper and Iblisan, as powerful as they are, can still be defeated. Ariel defeated Iblisan many years ago and Jaden defeated Dark Viper just recently. But, we must unite with her if we are to have any hope in defeating them.”
“Well…”
Suddenly, a loud explosion, along with dying screams, was heard coming from behind. A thick, brown smoke was seen through the window, rising up from the ground. Everyone in the room turned to the explosion, startled and Nightfall ran towards the window. He looked down and saw a crater on the ground along with several Mannihilators lying on the ground surrounding the crater. As one Mannihilator went to help them, a gunshot was heard and blood spurted from a hole in his head. He fell to the ground, dead and more gunfire was heard, coming from the forest.
“We are under attack!” a Mannihilator shouted and all armed Mannihilators returned fire.
“Nora, we’re under attack, by Iblisan’s cultist I assume. Get down there with your squad and assist them. Keep an eye out for Magic users. The rest of you, help Nora.”
“Yes my Lord!”
“Wait, what about the three of us?”
“This is your chance to prove to me that you are not Iblisan’s pawn Jaden. You three will assist us in repelling the enemy. I will stay up here and man the sentry drones.”
Anxious to fight alongside Mannihilators, Jaden wore back her blindfold, unsheathed her sword, summoned its blue glow and ran down the flights of stairs while Reed and Vader tailed her.
Down at the battlefield, Mannihilators, armed with rifles, were firing at cultists wearing a familiar armor worn by the guards whom guarded Qurrentine’s docks. Men and women were dying while children were seeking shelter. Nora was shouting out orders to some of the Mannihilator, asking some of them to run to a hangar found behind Nightfall’s headquarters. Mannihilator Bombers flew out of the hangar and began to bombard the massive cultist army. She then ran to a concrete building, evading stray bullets with help from her Energies, and unlocked the building’s gate. As she opened it, lions poured out of the building and ran straight to the cultists, attacking them one by one. With her sword and shield in her hands, she joined the battle at last.
“They kept lions as war pets?” Jaden asked herself.
“Lions are natives of the tropical side of Mannihilate and …”
“God damn it! Vader, we don’t need a lesson right now! We need to deal with the cultists! Jaden, you have a plan?”
A projectile was seen flying from outside the city, landing and exploding close enough to Jaden for her to began thinking about eliminating the enemy artillery. As she looked around, she spotted a sniper rifle in the hands of a fallen Mannihilator.
“Anyone can snipe?”
“I can.”
Vader ran to the sniper rifle Jaden spotted and asked, “What are your orders?”
“Get to a high ground and snipe the artillery from there. If it is a robot, destroy its Combat Inhibitor to lose its Identify Friend/Foe. If not, kill the cultist operating it.”
Vader nodded its head and went to a sniping position. Jaden turned to Reed and gave him his job.
“Reed, stay here and assist the Mannihilators as best you can. I will cut my way through the cultists and kill their leader.”
“What? Jaden, you will get yourself killed! I am not ready to lose you.”
“Well, if I die, at least Nightfall will see the sincerity of my proposition. And don’t worry Reed. I’ve survived Dark Viper. Remember that.”
Though reluctant, Reed nodded and he made a beeline for the battlefield. Suddenly, something grabbed Jaden’s neck and pulled her backwards, suffocating her in the process. Jaden fell to the ground while Reed turned around and saw a long, red vine wrapped around her neck. His eyes traced the vine’s source to a figure at the top of Nightfall’s headquarters. As the figure pulled Jaden closer with the vine, Reed fired at the figure. Before he could do any damage, however, an artillery projectile landed near him, forcing him into the ground. As he recovered, he saw as the vine lifted her to the side of the building and left her suspended. Jaden struggled as the vine squeezed her neck and Reed frantically looked around, hoping to find something that might save her life. He then saw a knife in the hands of a fallen Mannihilator. He snatched it and immediately threw it at the vine.
Before the knife hits the vine, the figure dismissed it, releasing Jaden. She dropped to the ground and coughed as she regained her breath. Just as Reed was about to run to help her, another artillery projectile landed right in front of him, sending him to the ground again. He then shouted, “Vader! Will you please destroy the artillery?”
Jaden looked up to see Reed, recovering slowly from the explosion. As she began to stand up, she could sense Dark Energies coming from above and she rolled away in time to avoid a Dark Lightning spell coming from the top of the headquarters. She looked up to see a figure on top of the building and assumed that that was the person who attempted to strangle her with a Dark Vine spell. The figure jumped off the top of the building and landed on the ground, seemingly unhurt from jumping such a height.
The sunlight revealed the figure to be a woman. Her huge purple eyes met with Jaden’s and her long, blonde hair flowed with the wind. Held in her gloved right hand was a katana, glowing bright with red Dark Energies. She held the sword in a Reverse Grip fighting style, mirroring that of Jaden’s and Dark Viper’s. Despite the fact that she was obviously an Energy Bladesman, she was wearing a black dress, breaking the most important rule of the Warrior’s Code.
“I’ve been looking for you Jaden. My dad ordered me to kill you. You probably recognized him as…Dark Viper.” the woman said.
Upon hearing Dark Viper’s name, Jaden’s anger rose and she darted at the woman. She made a horizontal slash but the woman dodged it with ease. She rolled to Jaden’s back and briefly electrocuted her with Dark Lightning. Resisting the pain, Jaden turned swiftly to slash her but once again, the woman dodged it, jumping backwards. The woman then rushed in to slash Jaden multiple times but she parried all the strikes. As Jaden began to lose her strength, the woman punched her hard in the face. Jaden fell to the ground and the woman was prepared to finish her off.
However, several bullets flew past her and the woman turned to see Reed, shooting at her. With help from her Dark Energies, she dodged all of Reed’s frenzied shots and was about to cut down Reed. He rolled out of the way and began shooting at her again. The woman evaded all the bullets and was about to kill Reed with one slash. Jaden, not about to lose her friend, sprinted to Reed’s rescue and tackled the woman. As they both recovered, Reed told Jaden everything he knew about that woman.
“Jaden, I know this woman. Her name’s Elysia…Elysia Starnova. She’s Dark Viper’s daughter and favorite student. She learns directly from Viper himself and fights almost the same way as him. Do not let her dress fool you; she’s fought and killed many people, almost as much as her father. Her spells are especially powerful and many even say that she’s more powerful than her father.”
“How’d you know all that?”
“Um…I just know alright? Now, can we eliminate this bitch together?”
Reed opened fired at Elysia but she quickly deflected all his shots with her katana. She jumped high up and dived at him to slash him but Jaden jumped up and blocked her slash. They exchanged several blows midair before landing both their feet on the ground. Reed, who was right behind Elysia, was about to hit her with his rifle’s butt but before he could, Elysia pushed him away with what seemed to be Kinetic Energies. Jaden, awed at the sight, was briefly distracted and Elysia capitalized.
She sent out three Dark Vines from her left fingers. It wrapped around Jaden, pinning her arms down and rendering her helpless. As Jaden struggled, Elysia spotted a Mannihilator Bomber taking off. Taking advantage, Elysia extended her vines towards the Bomber and it rammed Jaden. The Bomber was barely damaged by it but Jaden went limp. She growled softly with pain and to add insult to injury, Elysia brought her vines up and slammed Jaden onto the ground. She dismissed her vines while Jaden lay on the ground in pain.
Elysia, as cocky as ever, trudged towards Jaden, thinking that the damage done was enough to render her defenseless. She stood by Jaden’s side, looking down upon her. As Jaden looked at her, Elysia said, “My father killed your mother. And now, I kill you.”
Elysia brought her sword up, reminiscing the way Viper killed Jaden’s mother, Glacier. This was enough to further intensify Jaden’s anger. Her blindfold barely covered her eye glow as it slowly intensified. Before she could kill Jaden, however, bullets flew past her and she turned to see Reed shooting at her. Using her Kinetic Energies, she knocked him down again. She turned back to Jaden but instead of seeing Jaden limp on the ground, Jaden extended her left hand at her, surging with red, electrical Dark Energies. Releasing the Dark Lightning spell, she began to electrocute Elysia.
“Your father took everything I love from me! You and your family deserve nothing but death!”
With the anger boiling within, she amplified the spell’s power, ignoring the pain coming from her battered body. Eventually, the pain forced her to stop the spell and Elysia fell to her knees upon being released. Smoke began to emit from Elysia’s electrocuted body, though she was still able to recover. A Mannihilator cried out, “The cultists are retreating! We won this battle!” and this prompted a disgruntled Elysia to run away. Before she left, she told Jaden several words which she will remember for a time.
“I am not done with you Jaden! We will see each other again.”
Jaden’s sight began to blur as blessed unconsciousness fell upon her. She turned and saw Reed running towards her, his face showing his worry. He lightly slapped Jaden’s face and muttered out her name several times but before she could answer, her eyes closed and she knew no more.
