Traitor's Legacy: The Claugher Chapter 40

Chapter 40: The Mysterious Dreams

            The scorching heat from the sun continued to beat down upon her as Jaden trudged through the sandy lands. The ruins of the buildings that surrounded her bore an unmistakable resemblance with the tall structures of Qurrentine. The roads were all but buried beneath a layer of sand and virtually no life was seen on the planet’s dead surface. Still, even further she pressed on, wondering what was going on and what had happened.

            As she marched on with her sword in hand, her heart began throbbing as it seemed like Qurrentine was completely devoid of life. Her movements began faster and frantic and her slow walk accelerated to jogging as she began to panic. Regardless, no matter how deep she went into the formerly urbanized planet, no one else was seen.

            “Death…” Jaden halted and gasped as she heard a voice coming from behind her. Chills ran up her spine as the spooky, disembodied female voice echoed past her ear. She quickly turned to find the source of the voice but all she saw was more ruined buildings.

            “Extinction…” the voice persisted. Jaden gasped once again as her heart seemingly skipped a beat. She looked around frantically for the woman but to no avail.

            “Apocalypse…” the voice muttered out once again. This time, it came from directly behind Jaden. She jumped and turned, pointing her sword at the source but was met with nothingness. Her breaths began to quicken out of fear and exhaustion while sweat trickled down her forehead.

            “Do not fear the fate that will come to you…” the voice said. “You’ve lived through inexistence once at the cost of another’s. The embrace of the void shall be familiar to you.”

            As Jaden continued to look around, she spotted an arm poking out of a pillar of a ruined building. The individual walked out from behind the pillar, revealing herself to be the one who spoke to Jaden.

            The woman has a slender build and was dressed in a white robe pulled in by a rope around her waist. It had a long pair of sleeves that barely revealed her hands and a skirt that covers all of her lower body. The robe had a collar, tucked together by a medieval rope tie. The woman had pale skin and a pair of cold blue eyes. Her lips were natural pink and her curly, shoulder length hair was dark brown in color. Similar to Asura, the woman was always smiling but hers was more sinister, enough to make Jaden’s heart race. As Jaden looked at her face, she noticed something rather odd.

            The woman’s facial structure was exactly the same as her own.

            Jaden pointed her katana at the mysterious woman and shouted, “Who are you and what do you want from me?” However, the woman barely flinched. Her unblinking eyes continued to stare at Jaden and her smirk remained.

            “We do not come to harm you Jaden. We merely wish to assist you in your war against the forces of the divine.” the woman spoke. Jaden’s brow lowered at her use of words.

            “We? You’re not alone?” Jaden asked.

            While barely moving a muscle, the woman asked, “We are never alone.”

            “What the heck do you mean by that?”

            “We move as one.”

            “Just tell me who you are already! I won’t listen to anything you say until I hear a name!” Jaden demanded, infuriated at the woman’s tendency to give her odd answers. The woman made a singular, slow moving nod before giving Jaden an answer.

            “We are Theresa…” the woman said as she raised her arms and looked up with her eyes closed. “…for we are many.” The skies began to darken while lightning thundered through the clouds. A strong wind brushed past, pushing sand away while blowing Jaden’s long hair. Seconds later, the woman’s body began to emit an ominous black aura, with a light source coming from underneath her. Her overall appearance, though mostly unchanged, caused Jaden to freeze in fear and almost reminded her of ghosts within the horror stories she heard.

            Suddenly, the area illuminated once again and the lightning ceased its rumbling. The wind stopped its blowing and subsequently, the aura vanished from the woman. As she brought her arms and head down, she spoke, “But as we said, we are not here to incite. Rather, we are here to warn.”

            “What exactly are you Theresa?” Jaden questioned, too much in awe to move her limbs.

            “We do not have a true name for our kind. We are simply…who we are.” Theresa answered. She then began moving towards nearby rubble while Jaden continued to point her sword at her. There, she leaned herself onto the rubble, relaxing her body.

            “Hear us out, Jaden Highland. What you see now is the fate of the universe should you fail to defeat the forces of the divine in the war that is to come in a month. Mortals will cease to exist and all that is left to walk this universe will be the immortals, such as the dark angels or the zombies.”

            As Theresa explained, Jaden looked around, horrified to see that the state of the universe should she fail to defeat the “forces of the divine”. “Iblisan, the Angel of Temptations and Harmony, is powerful beyond imagining. Even with the combined might of the entire mortal races, Iblisan will decimate all of you singlehandedly…unless you can somehow get past his invincibility shield. Unfortunately, only Iblisan himself knows that one spell capable of doing so.”

            “Wait, how did you know of all that?” Jaden asked, interrupting Theresa.

            “A little goddess told us about it. She was glad to be able to speak with you before hell broke loose.”

            “Asura? You know her?”

            “Know her? Tch. What a colossal understatement.”

            “Look, do you know how I can bypass his invincibility shield? The fate of everyone involved in this war depends on it.”

            “The fate of everyone involved, or your personal vendetta against Dark Viper? As long as Iblisan lives without a way to stop him, you can’t kill Viper…can you?”

            Shocked to hear Theresa’s words, Jaden lowered her sword while her brow rose. “Ok, how the hell did you know about that? That was supposed to be from Dementius’s vision and only his friends would know of that.” she asked.

            “Hmph, you wouldn’t wish to know the answer to that. There are things in this world best left unknown.”

            Jaden shook her head as she found it hard to understand the words that Theresa was throwing at her. She massaged her forehead as she tried to regain her composure.

            “Listen, I came too far to be reaching a dead end here. Just tell me how to eliminate Iblisan’s invincibility shield. Heck, if it is a counter-spell like Ariel did, I am willing to learn that too.”

            “We know a powerful secret, a secret that could threaten the lives of anything immortal in this world. Unfortunately, we do not believe that you are ready to hold on to something so powerful.”

            “What do you mean I am not ready?”

            “This secret…it is not a spell that you can readily cast. It is not an ability, it is not a counter-spell, neither is it something that can be learned. It is…something else. We must know if you are ready to use it.”

            “How do I know if I am ready to use it?”

            “We will be the judge of that. For now, use the one month coming to the war wisely. We will watch closely.”

            “Wait, so you’re just going to just tell me that? How am I supposed to prove to you that I am ready?”

            Rather than answering, Theresa’s body began to dissipate. As she slowly vanished into thin air, Jaden, not satisfied with all that she heard, attempted to grab Theresa but her hands went right through the dissipating body.

            “Theresa, wait! Just wait!” Jaden shouted. “I need more answers!” she persisted. However, the strange woman did not return. “Theresa!” she screamed, without a reply. Jaden was alone once again.

*     *     *

            Her eyes opened and she sat up from her bed, screaming a fright. Jaden looked around while breathing as if hyperventilating, wondering where she was. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she found herself in her guest room. It then hit her.

            It was a nightmare that she experienced.

            Regardless, she noted how cryptic the dream was, along with the mysterious woman, or entity, that she met. She wondered if, in some way, Theresa was connected to her but she swore that she never met Theresa before. Regardless, her familiarity with her, along with their similar facial features, seemed to imply that that may not the only time Jaden would see her.

            Jaden laid her head back onto her flattened pillow but could not bring herself to close her eyes. She did not wish to experience the nightmare again, though she wished to know more answers from Theresa. She thrashed side to side in an attempt to get comfortable on her bed but to no avail. Eventually, she decided not to sleep. She got off her bed and began to stretch.

            “Alright…I can’t sleep…what now?” she asked herself as she stretched her arms up. As she pulled back her arms, she gave out a sigh and said, “Maybe I ought to visit Lucky for a while. If he’s sleeping, I might decide to sleep with him. Who knows? Maybe he is more comfortable to rest my head on than my pillow is.”

*     *     *

            The darkness of the morning sky welcomed her as she opened the grand entrance doors. She wondered why would the door be left unlock at night but decided that Zian must have his reasons. She looked up to see three shining spheres, a trio of moons, white amongst black like three holes in a void. She looked down to see the stairs leading to the ground level, filled with grass, dark blue from the lack of nearby lightings.

            As she trailed down the stairs, the smell of dew embraced her nose. Flowers were spread all along the large patch of green and the tranquil sight heavily contrasted with the barren wasteland she saw in her nightmare.

            “The aliens were fortunate. Their planet maintains its pristine appearance despite their wars and their beautiful city reflects the success in their planetary development.” she spoke as she turned her sights to the lit up cities outside the castle gates. “And, they have functional street lights. Half of those in Qurrentine were old and broken.”

            Remembering that she was looking for Lucky, she walked around the castle towards the backyard where Zian left the horse clone to roam. As she walked around a corner, she stopped when she spotted a person, squatting down and facing away. The person seemed familiar to her, hence she approached him.

            “Hey, what are you doing?” she asked. The person frantically stood up, startled by Jaden.

            “Gavin?” Jaden said as his face was revealed.

            “Jaden? What are you doing here?” he asked with his hands behind his back. His shoulders were raised and tensed as his body shivered slightly.

            “I was about to ask you the same thing. What are you doing squatting down?”

            “N…nothing.” he replied as he shook his head swiftly with sweat trickling down his face.

            “Are you sure? What are you hiding behind you?” Jaden persisted. Still, Gavin refuse to answer.

            As she looked at him, she saw a pair of fluffy things poking out from behind Gavin’s right shoulder. It moved side to side and as she observed it even further, she recognized it as a pair of ears.

            “Are those …rabbit ears?”

            A tiny, white little mammal jumped out from Gavin’s back and hopped its way between Jaden and Gavin. Surprised by the sight of such an adorable little critter, she squealed and said, “Aww! That’s so cute! I’ve never seen a rabbit in years!” She squatted down and began stroking the rabbit’s head with her hand as it munched on a piece of carrot on its paws.

            “Alright, you got me.” Gavin admitted as he relaxed himself. “I’ve been playing with this rabbit. It is my pet.”

            “Oh so you have a soft side after all.” Jaden jested. “The former Lord of the Mannihilators is keeping a rabbit as his loyal minion. Lo and behold Mr. Snuggles.” she retorted with an accented voice.

            “Very funny…although that is a cute name for a rabbit.” Gavin replied with seeming annoyance. “This is why I kept it hidden from the rest of the crew throughout our travels.”

            “Where did you find this cute little thing?”

            “Nibelheim. As the forests were burning, I saw this rabbit running out into the open. I grabbed her as we extracted. I’d rather she come with us rather than get burned by the flames. I kept her hidden in my pocket that whole time. She was scared of me at first but she slowly began to trust me as I played and feed her. I called her Miley.”

            “Miley?”

            “It was the name of my older sister, who died at birth. My parents named her Miley Nightfall moments before she died.”

            “I’m sorry.”

            “Nah, I barely knew her so don’t feel sorry. Only her name remains a part of me. Otherwise, I’m technically the only child.”

            “So, you like rabbits?”

            “Yeah. They remind me of the softer side of living. I had one as a pet while my father ruled. It died when Maverick came and betrayed us, killed by a cultist. Miley can be considered a replacement.”

            “It is so sweet to see you embracing your softer side even though all you ever know of is war and battle.”

            “I’m still human Jaden, Mannihilator or Salvager. We all have our softer sides.”

            Once she was done stroking the little critter, Jaden stood up while Gavin approached them. He knelt down and placed a hand on the floor, allowing Miley to hop onto it. He lifted her up and cradled her, rubbing her head to comfort her.

            “So you remained awake to care for Miley?” Jaden asked.

            “Yeah. I couldn’t sleep. Not used to the silence. I’m guessing you can’t too.”

            “Not really. I had a bad dream.”

            “Of what?”

            “I dreamed of an apocalyptic future where all mortals were killed by Iblisan. I was approached by a strange woman named Theresa. She was unusual in that she refers to herself in plural and emits a black aura as she demonstrated her powers. I don’t think she was even human to begin with. She told me that she knows of a secret that could help defeat Iblisan, but she won’t tell me until I can prove to her that I am ready.”

            “Theresa huh? Never heard of her. How does she look like?”

            “She wore nothing but a white robe, tightened by a rope around her waist. She had pale skin and long brown hair. And, believe it or not, she had the same facial structure as me. It was like…I was speaking to a twin sister. I’m more used to speaking to triplet brothers.”

            “Odd. Well, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Bad dreams are just bad dreams. The stress of the coming war may just be getting to you.”

            “Maybe, but it feels like the dream was telling me something.”

            “But hey, you’re awake now. Don’t worry about it already. So, why are you here then?”

            “I wanted to check on Lucky.”

            “Well, I saw it walking around in the backyard. We can visit it together.”

            Agreeing with Gavin, she walked with him towards the backyard with Miley still cradled on Gavin’s arms. She told herself that she will try to appreciate this moment as much as she could since she barely had time to spend with Gavin throughout their journey together. As they entered the backyard, the duo stopped at the sight of Lucky, grazing on the grass.

            ‘There’s your handsome horse. You go first. It likes you so you relax it first before it decides to kick me in the face.” Gavin said, obviously too nervous to go near Lucky.

            Complying with him, Jaden approached Lucky, who was still grazing even though he saw Jaden walking towards him. She reached out for his as he lifted his head. She laid her hand on his nose and began rubbing it with her hand. Lucky’s tail began to wag as she continued to rub. There was no doubt in Jaden’s mind that he was glad to see her after all. Seeing that Lucky was “subdued” by Jaden, Gavin approached it and began to rub his belly with his free hand.

            “It’s going to be one hell of a chore looking after an animal this big, isn’t it Jaden?”

            “Yeah. Still, looking at how friendly he’s being, it would probably be more humbling that fighting a war.”

            “You can say that again.”

            “You know, I’m quite jealous of Lucky and Miley.”

            “Oh? Why?”

            “They are unburdened by problems that we face daily. They live only to survive and they are not bogged down by rules, superstition, reputation and religion. Their ignorance is bliss. Their only true fear is death. Even then, these animals sometimes accept death when their master…us…grants it to them.”

            “Hmm, I could never imagine living a free life like Miley. Besides, she has her food handed to her.”

            “And Lucky isn’t picky over what he eats. As long as it is grass, he will eat it. Even immortals can learn a lot from these great living things. It is a shame that Lucky’s species is wiped out.”

            “And the deaths of Zian’s scientists aren’t moving the Lazarus Project any faster.”

            “We can talk about how we are civilized and united all we want but we’ll never be free of fear and prejudice, a concept alien to animals like Lucky. This universe we live in is so full of beauty that we just happily take it for granted.” Jaden said as she looked into the skies at the three moons. If it were not for light pollution, she could probably see thousands of stars with it.

            “Instead, we revel in its uglier sides. Murder, death, prejudice, corruption. Worst still, all the religious folks out there take this world and their freewill with so little appreciation that they are more worried about their god and the world that comes after. This one life we have will be lost once we die. I’d rather appreciate this chance to live in this wonderful world rather than preparing for the next one, especially when we have no idea how Spiritus is like.”

            “Very wise words Jaden. Ever since when did you see the world with so much clarity?” Gavin queried.

            Jaden stood silent and still for a while, agreeing with Gavin that her outbursts were sudden. “Hmph, I don’t really know. But, I guess…after being given the chance to experience peace after a long time of battle and stress, I began to appreciate peace even more than I used to. And…as I looked at Lucky…I see what I always wanted in life: A life without burdens.”

            “Tch, we all wanted to be free of our burdens Jaden. Still, even animals have their own sense of responsibilities, especially to their offspring.”

            “Heh, you’re right. Still, that’s nature for you. These animals are the perfect examples of true mortals.”

            “Alright Jaden, you want to try and sleep again? Who knows? Your eyes may be able to shut this time.” Gavin asked as he placed Miley into his pocket.

            Jaden turned to Gavin and replied, “Yeah I guess. Let’s just we hope can find our rooms as easily as we find the exit. The castle’s like a maze inside.”

            “Tch, anything that’s royal always takes some getting used to.”

*     *     *

            Jaden opened her eyes, only to find herself in the same ruined world as her previous nightmare. However, knowing well enough that none of what she was seeing was truly real, she called out the only person she knew in that nightmare.

            “Theresa! Are you out there?”

            “Back so soon?” Theresa’s echoed voice sounded.

            Jaden looked around and spotted Theresa leaning on a pillar of a destroyed structure.

            “You have a peculiar perspective of life in comparison to most mortals. Fortunately, we believe that it is good. Few mortals out there appreciate the life that was granted to them or the world that they were created on.”

            “Listen, what exactly am I supposed to do before I am ready to know the secret?”

            “Patience Jaden. Patience. One month is a long period. Take it easy.” Theresa told her. “You are so much like your father…we don’t really know where to start.”

            “My father?” Jaden asked. “You know him?”

            “Ironically, more than you.”

            “How could you have known my father?”

            “We doubt a mortal like you would understand if we try to explain to you.”

            “Look, enough sidetracking! Just tell me what I need to do to be ready to know the secret.”

            “If we tell what you need to do, you wouldn’t be that much effective, wouldn’t you?” Theresa answered. “You would do it only to know the secret and not to be effective in dealing with Iblisan. Besides, there comes a time when you need to start figuring out things on your own.”

            “Aww come on! How do you expect me to know what I must do without a single hint?” Jaden exclaimed, infuriated and losing her patience.

            “Very well. If you want a hint: You’ve been doing it all this time. You just didn’t realize it.”

            “Doing what? Training? Fighting? Breathing?” Jaden retorted.

            “Maybe.” Theresa simply answered. “We’ll leave it to you to find out.”

            Before Jaden could react, Theresa began to dissipate once again.

            “Theresa! Wait! Wait!” she shouted to no effect.

*     *     *

            Jaden sat up from her sleep, awakened from her nightmare once again. Realizing that she had the same nightmare two times in a row, she believed that something was trying to tell her something.

            “Is this Theresa even real?” she asked herself as she massaged her forehead, dizzy from sleep deprivation. She then heaved a heavy sigh, readjusted her night gown and rested her head onto her pillow.

            “Whoever this Theresa is, she may be the only option I have left aside from Dark Viper in defeating Iblisan. I’ll play along with her game…but I just hope she wasn’t lying about the secret this whole time.”

*     *     *

            “Alright. Is everyone here?” Jaden asked before nudging Reed, who was leaning on a pillar close to her.

            Reed looked around the living quarters to see if all their crew members have shown up for their planned meeting. Making headcounts, and his proud sense of judgment, he shrugged and replied, “Everyone’s here mom.”

            “Good.” she said. Jaden cleared her throat and cracked her neck before initiating the meeting. “Alright guys, now that we’re all here, we can start now. As we all know by now, the rest of the leaders are gathering their armies and fleets. Once that’s done, they will make their way here, where we will hold a pre-war briefing. All this could take about a month, a fairly long period of time. We must make plans over what we are going to do for this one month.”

            Jaden turned to Gavin and pointed at him. “Do you have any plans for this whole month?”

            “Yeah I do. Zian told me of a shooting range around here so I’ll be there honing my skills. Other than that, I will periodically speak with Lady Nora or Mistress Sierra about the status of the Mannihilator fleet.”

            “I’ll be accompanying Gavin.” Jaina added in. “Even though I’m still alive, my shooting skills aren’t noteworthy. I figured Gavin could teach me a thing or two. Besides, I’m also curious about the status of the Mannihilator fleet.”

            Turning his attention to Lucas and Markus, Gavin asked, “What about you two kids? Mind sharing with us your one month plan?”

            “Markus and I would probably spend a lot of time in the simulation room. We always wanted to learn how to fly a starship so this is our chance. Anyone’s allowed to join us. Zian won’t mind. Heck, we would really love it if you could join us sis.”

            “Well, it depends on my own schedule.” Jaden replied. “Speaking of schedules, what’s yours Xiara?”

            “Well, though technically I’m a member of your crew, I still have my daily duties around here so I’ll be pretty busy.”

            “If you want, I can help you. My manly hands can do anything you ask me to. After all, I don’t really have any real plans for the month.” Reed retorted.

            “Until you can prove to me that you can lift an elephant, no thanks. And yes, I’ve lifted an elephant before, with just one hand.”

            “You’re kidding right?”

            “Are you sure you don’t have any plans Reed?” Jaden asked.

            “Tch, aside from sleeping, there isn’t much to do around here. I’m already an awesome rifleman and I can fly any ships.”

            “Well…alright. I won’t be surprised if you end up dying in the war.” Jaden retorted.

            “The lass is right Reed. Better to be prepared.” Tareshah added.

            “Fine. I’ll think of something.”

            “What about you Tareshah?” Jaden asked.

            “Well, the bitchy lass, Kida, and I had something planned.”

            “Tareshah and I have reconciled and I agreed to revert her back to her adult form. IE, I remove the curse inflicted upon her by my twisted self.”

            “That’s good to hear. You two friends now?”

            “Not really but the lass has some redeeming qualities, I’ll give her that. So, I’m willing to forgive.”

            “But we can’t do it here. The curse can only be lifted at the same spot where it was first inflicted. Mason mentioned a hidden teleporting device so we might use that. Either way, we’ll be gone for a long time.”

            “Very well. I’ll wish you both luck on that. How about you Vader? Anything to say?”

            “My mission remains. I’ll accompany you wherever you go.”

            “Since you’re probably not lying, I’ll give you one very crucial order: Don’t follow me into the bathroom!”

            “Acknowledged.”

            “How about you Jaden? Any plans?” Reed asked.

            “Well, I’ll be looking after that pet horse I was given. Aside from that, I’ll be training as much as I can. Perhaps meditate for the entire morning before doing a lot of sword play or mounted combat training throughout the afternoon. I’ll only eat once per day.”

            “Damn Jaden, you sound like you’re going to burn out all your fuel daily. What’s with the strict schedule?” Reed asked. As Gavin listened, he looked down as he thought about Jaden’s schedule, aware of her reasons.

            “I was…told by someone that I’m not ready to face Iblisan.”

            “But that’s the point of this alliance right? I doubt Iblisan could stand against our numbers.” Jaina replied.

            “I was also informed that Iblisan is far more powerful than any of us may expect. We only have a few options on how to deal with him, one of which involves me.” Jaden explained. Lucas and Markus nodded halfheartedly, agreeing with her. “If it ever comes to that, I don’t want to let anyone down.”

            “Relax Jaden. Don’t tense yourself too much. Stress makes you more effective but it can destroy you. Besides, you can’t live through any day without a proper amount of rest.” Reed said as he placed a hand on Jaden’s shoulder.

            “Hmph, alright. I’ll try to loosen up my schedule.” Jaden said with an unenthusiastic nod. “Ok, this meeting’s over. We have a month before all hell breaks loose so let us use it wisely.”

            “And more importantly, pray that it will be enough.” Jaden said.