User:Nextoy/Dissidia Alto/Encroaching Darkness

This world is far from my own. Though it, too, is a world of violence, then again it has wars fought by mercenaries and conscripts. Here it may not even be right to call us soldiers. “Gladiators” is the vibe I’m getting from this world. We weren’t meant to be together, probably not even meet each other, and our teamwork will show it.

As we descended from that dark shrine and down the mountain the warriors mingle amongst themselves. Though legitimate conversation is nobody’s interest, we are smart to gauge each other’s powers. A barbarian, a reluctant knight, a cruel magus, a beastman, and a sickly child. Then there’s the marionette, me.

“Girl! What makes you leader?” The knight spoke. The one back at base was much more tolerable, I could tell already.

“Nobody else took the lead.” I answered. “The sooner we win the sooner we go home.”

“Then step aside.” He ordered, grabbing my arm and yanking me back. I didn’t react, but It wasn’t planning on dealing with such things as It lifted Its claw and gripped onto his arm.

“What in-” He started, getting thrown off to the side by It.

“...Please don’t touch me.” I murmur. Why am I so shy again, and why can’t I control it? What happened to me? My training?

“D-Demon spawn!” He shouted, drawing his swords and charging me. I hold my arm forth, but It didn’t respond to my command. Instead of forming a shield like I had asked, tendrils shot out and attempted to rip through him.

“Stop…” I whisper, only able to watch as It ignored my commands and fought of it’s own accord. The knight cut down the tendrils, his swords blinding me in sacred light. I hold my arm to cover the one opening in my robes to shield myself from them, feeling the pains of It being cut down and reverberating back on me.

“STOP!” I cry out, unable to handle the pain after so long without any form of true opposition. Or… maybe this world makes me weak somehow? It’s hard to say. All I know is the only thing that had kept me from being cut down was the clashing sounds of steel.

“If we fight now then they will win for sure.” An unfamiliar voice spoke in front of me. I lowered my robes to see who it was, and another robed figure had a shield extended from his sleeves. However it slowly faded into soot as embers fell from it, falling alongside his arm as it slowly lowered.

“He is right, and the sooner I get home the better.” The wolf-man spoke, transforming into a large dire wolf and darting off towards the desert to the distance. These lands are sparse, and lacking of direction. However I saw a more expansive continent on the other side of the great desert, so perhaps if we head there then things should work better in our favor.

Still, what is with that scrawny man? He hadn’t spoken a word since we arrived. Letting the knight take the lead, I fall back to speak to him as he seemed to shamble along.

“Who… are you?” I ask, still oddly timid.

“...hoohoo…” He cooed back, similarly to an owl.

“What’re you doing here?” I ask again, feeling It grow agitated beneath my robes.

“...blood…” He replied, his bright red eyes gazing at me. It started to show its dark influence, reaching out along the ground. I command It to stop, and slowly It pulled away from him. If this is to be our army against whatever awaits ahead, I fear for the outcome.

Soon we hit the desert, though our differences in opinion continue to drive us apart. How fitting that I would be surrounded by monsters. It feels as though I was build more for this world than my home.

How disgusting.

It’s a thought I shouldn’t be thinking, but it’s the only one that comes to mind regarding my situation. It’s true, though. The “leader” of our group abandons us into the world, half of our team seems to only care about destruction, and the other half is atrociously detached from the war that it’s hard to even guess at why they’re here. In fact, I don’t even know why I’m here.

Does it really matter, though? I am but a marionette bred for war. One such as I has no place questioning the will of her Lord. But then why can’t I control It? Where did my power over It go when I entered this world?

My thoughts are cut off by the sounds of war. No… not war, violence. Unadulterated violence as the crystalline beasts mentioned by our Commander are shattered apart one-by-one between each member of our group. The knight from before breaking them apart with his sacred light, the ruthless barbarian crashing them into each other, and the wolfman having undergone his transformation into a Dire Wolf merely continues to charge through them.

By my side stood another robed figure, uncaring of the violence, and the scrawny man from before. Between the three of us we allow the brutes to do the fighting, continuing our march along the desert continent.

“...The Tower of Babel.” The knight spoke suddenly as we reached a large tower amidst the center of the desert. I doubt it is the actual tower our Commander spoke of, but I darest not question him. He walks towards the tower, but finds that it has no entrance. Instead a “gateway” of sorts stands before it.

“...I shall catch up with you. Leave me for now.” He speaks, with no objections on my end. Whatever this crazed knight believes, I shan’t stand between him and his goal. And thus we indeed continue along, with It keeping me safe as the more kill-happy members of our party start to falter behind as well.

The desert is combing with these monsters, after all. It is almost as if they spawn here, waiting for either our Forces of Discord to leave our home, or for the “heroes” of this false goddess to venture out into our lands.

It matters not which is the truth, however.

Only the vast land bridge to the southern continent remains, but I sense an odd presence. Something powerful is headed towards us, or at least just guarding the gate. It’s not another warrior, not like us. A presence of some kind. The narrow land of discord and the vast realm of harmony. How ironic that the “World of Balance” has more potential to breed chaos than our “World of Ruin.”

Yet I do not know why these names for the two continents come to mind.

It was then that I noticed something. My allies had left me, all but that strange owl man. He seemed to be asking me for protection, almost. With all of these powerful warriors and wizards here, what’s this weak creature doing among us? Or, perhaps, he is pretending to be weak.

“Can you speak, stranger?” I asked, turning back to him. However, the strange man only looked at me for a moment.

“...Yes…” He answered in a whispy voice. It seems difficult for him to talk, but it’s indeed possible.

“Why is it you follow me, but the rest have already left?” I ask further as we walk across the bridge to Cosmos’s domain. However, it gave me no answer. Such a strange man, if it truly is a man. Though instead it pointed to the end of the bridge, where I was met with one of Cosmos’s warriors already.

A young girl stood at the end of the bridge, holding what seemed to be metallic and… almost decorative recreations of the sun and the moon. She seemed relax despite the glare in her eyes, but It was on edge. This girl… did her celestial blades carry the powers of their counterparts?

“Soldiers of destruction, you shall not pass along this bridge!” She stated simply, holding her sun up to me. It writhed in my body, unwilling to come out but unable to control its anger. The Owlman behind me seemed to be seeping blood from his cheeks all of a sudden, coming out as a fine mist.

“Take another step and I will force you back myself!” She ordered, her solar ring beginning to glow white. It couldn’t be contained much longer at this rate.

“I wish not to fight.” I explain, stopping where I am. This is just outside of It’s range.

“It matters not! Back to the desert with you!” She answered, her lunar blade glowing a soft indigo. As the bloody mist starts to seep past me the rings flew towards it, It knocking the one of shadow away as the one of light flew past and got stuck in a condensed blood mist.

“Owl! Retreat your blood! This is not our fight!” I order back, looking over to see the two blades returning to her. She leaps forward like a cyclone lifting into the air, throwing her ring of darkness towards us again. It was tired of these shenanigans, catching the blade and throwing forward multiple copies of it along with the original back to the user.

This girl… she wields both dawn and dusk, nothing out of sync or balance. As her darkness cuts through the air her sacred light beams down to disrupt It’s unholy power. It was unable to pull itself out of the ground while that light shined upon it, but perhaps….

I darted forward, catching her lunar blade and swinging it forth. She brought up her ring of darkness, slipping down beneath me to shine the light of the ground, forcing It to lay down behind me.

Owl did not merely watch. No, he is far more calculating than I had anticipated. As we came so close to each other the wound left from her light assault started forming mist blood as well, ensnaring us both in chains of blood.

“Stoooop!” Owl hissed, walking towards us. He’s lost a fair bit of blood, but he’s incredibly pale as is so it’s hard to tell just how much at any given time. The girl was oddly calm, as if this was not an issue for her. Actually, where were her rings?

My question was answered as they came forth and cut through her bonds, sending the artistic soldier back to the end of the bridge. It was clear to me that she was running low, but she was good at keeping her stance. This girl is something else entirely, and pushing may cause It to take over.

Nothing like her existed in my world. Such grace and power in concert was unusual to me, though the misty blood floating around even more so. Part of me wanted to run, but both It and Owl would be unwilling to join me.

Besides, a marionette must do as she is ordered.

Both Owl and I advanced, though, something odd happened with that blood mist. The rings again came forth towards us, but the blood hardened and held them in place. The scrawny man suddenly had an intense look in his eye.

“...Enough…” He hissed out, the blood hardening more into tendrils not unlike Its as they shot forward, causing the girl to retreat more as her rings spun in a near perfect defense.

She was at the end of the bridge, nowhere left to run but into this supposed ‘World of Balance.’ I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but now it felt like all that was left was to push her back for good.

“You will go no further!” She shouted, instead charging forth. This wasn't a charge of bravery, but one of fear and desperation. I could tell that her resolve was more akin to a cornered animal than that of a hero.

So many times have I seen this look. ‘Monster!’ ‘Demon!’ Those words rang in my mind as I saw her rip and tear though the blood, only to realize all too late why she should have kept the light shining down on us.

With one swipe from Its clawed hand this girl was send soaring into the black ocean, allowing me and Owl to cross. I felt something grow stronger inside me, unnaturally so, as I watched her struggle in those seas.

Owl’s mist seemed to retreat back inside of him as the wound sealed itself up. There was something inherently wrong about this man, the way he could control that blood and carried himself with such little regard for any life; including his own.

Still, our first job was done. The bridge way was open for our companions, and so I must continue my march. I feared Owl’s presence, but he needed to be watched. He would cause unnecessary violence like the others, but on a whole new scale.

It quivered in joy from finally getting to eliminate someone, but I could feel It wanting to size up against Owl as well. I fear for the day It gets that chance.