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Crystal Fate
Author's note: I haven't been publishing in a while, so this is what I have of the novel I've been working on so far. This is a really simple and straightforward novel, not with winding and twisting plots like my others. It's really a novel more for introducing some characters in my main series than for the actual plot. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy reading.
A black cloaked figure materialized, over the scorched plains of sand and rock. He surveyed the area with an expert eye, sunlight filtering through his black mask.
The figure bent down, scooping up a handful of sand, letting the fine grain trickle through his fingers.
"It's here," the figure muttered to himself. In one swift motion, he smashed his palm against the sand, and a ripple cascaded through the fabric of reality. Clouds of dust erupted for miles around, completely covering the landscape in a massive smokescreen.
The figure waited, and ten minutes later, after the dust had settled, another black cloaked figure stood facing him about ten meters away.
"Zero," the figure said, addressing his opponent.
"I have no idea who you are, or why you attacked my academy," the other figure said, crossing his arms. "But show any more hostility and you will be annihilated."
"Tell me the secret, Zero, and I'll leave without conflict," the figure said, slowly raising his hand.
"Which secret?"
"Ascension."
Zero unfolded his arms. "That secret will only lead you to despair."
"It's something I need to know," the figure said. "Now tell me."
"As a fellow rift walker, I won't allow you to dig your own grave," Zero said resolutely.
"Fine then," the figure said. "We'll do this the hard way."
The figure thrust out his hand, extending a spherical field of energy around him. Zero leaped back, taking care not to touch the conversion field. Another gesture and the field folded lengthwise, doubling its distance. Zero teleported out of the way.
The opposing figure made a wide gesture, and a conversion field materialized around him. He stood to full height.
"Zero, fifteenth degree rift walker of Earth," Zero stated.
"Seadrias, fourteenth degree rift walker of Vandallia," the figure said. He grimaced. "Seems like I'm outmatched here."
"It seems you are," Zero said. "But you'll still continue."
"Of course," Seadrias replied, and his conversion field lashed out in agreement.
Zero made a complicated gesture, and his conversion field compressed in a tight shell around him, deflecting the opposing concentrated conversion field.
The figure made a movement forward, plunging his conversion field into a nearby sub-dimension. He slashed his hand at Zero, and the conversion field phased forward, sending ripples through the air. Zero put up a hand, and his conversion field expanded to form a wall in front of him. The two conversion fields collided, scattering sparks of pure energy.
Zero's conversion field broke first, and the rift walker instantly teleported away. Seadrias made a waving gesture, compressing his conversion field back into a sphere around himself. He scanned the area, catching a glimpse of Zero hovering above him.
The rift walker above made another complex gesture. Then he thrust both hands at Seadrias, his conversion field blasting out like a beam from a plasma cannon. Seadrias swept both hands outward, a dome of silver metal surrounding him like a protective bubble.
As the conversion field struck the metal, a detonation sounded, and an eruption of heat and sound ripped apart the metal barrier, sending Seadrias flying into the sand.
The rift walker stood slowly, materializing a staff of silver metal to steady himself. He glanced up at Zero's dark form, slowly descending to the ground.
"Energy subtype, huh?" Seadrias said.
"All subtypes," Zero corrected.
"That's... a little unfair," the figure said.
"So will you give up now?" Zero asked.
"Not a chance," Seadrias said. He flung his metal staff at the rift walker. As the staff left his hands, small fragments of silver broke off, growing into swords as they flew until Zero faced a storm of glittering silver.
Zero made a wide gesture, and as the swords came within ten meters of him, they abruptly dropped to the ground and disintegrated.
Suddenly, Seadrias materialized behind the rift walker, and made a punching motion. His conversion field shot out like an arrow, striking Zero squarely in the back.
The rift walker stumbled forward, but the ultra-dense conversion field surrounding him held steady. He teleported away, and fired another explosion at Seadrias's feet.
Seadrias fell back against the sand, tendrils of gray smoke rising from his cloak. He removed his mask and panted for a moment. The rift walker wiped his brow, blowing the sea-green hair out of his eyes. Then he stood back up and faced Zero again, blinking his mismatched light-blue and green eyes.
"We're both at nine gates right now," Zero said. "If you want to play this out until we are both at fourteen, your death will be guarenteed."
Seadrias sighed. "Well, technically, when we both hit twelve gates, the planet will probably be destroyed first."
"So you will stop?"
"Not just yet," Seadrias said, snapping his mask back in place. "I want to confirm something before I leave."
The figure made a gesture, energy pooling at his fingertips. Then he clapped both hands together, and his conversion field instantly expanded tenfold. Zero, shielded by his own conversion field, did not make a move.
"What are you trying to accomplish?" Zero asked. "It wastes energy to expand your conversion field so much."
"I just want to make sure," Seadrias said. "That there really is a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow."
The rift walker stretched both hands out to either side of him. Then he made several sweeping gestures in quick succession.
Suddenly, a sword buried itself in Zero's arm. The rift walker looked down, and in the next split second, dodged another eight swords materializing around him. Seadrias kept waving wildly, and hundreds of silver swords appeared randomly near Zero, flying at the rift walker with lightning speed.
Zero rapidly teleported around the desert for about two minutes, evading every sword that came flying his way. Then, he reappeared before Seadrias, and pulled out the sword stuck in his arm.
"That's strange," Seadrias said, now panting heavily. "I can't seem to materialize a blade inside your body."
"You have a solid subtype, yes?" Zero said. "My body isn't made from solid material."
"Ah, that explains it," Seadrias said, and another four colossal swords burst of the ground where Zero was standing.
The rift walker teleported again, several more swords appearing around him.
"Enough," Zero said, and with a wave, everything vanished.
Seadrias blinked, a pulse of cold washing over him. He glanced around. The desert was still there, but no trace of damage from the battle had been inflicted. His swords were also gone.
Zero walked over to him. He pulled out a black cylinder from a hidden pocket and it grew into a black staff with bladed ends. "This is as far as you go."
"Sure, sure," Seadrias said, motioning to compress his conversion field. Except he didn't.
Rather, he couldn't. As the rift walker attempted to access the link necessary to draw energy for his conversion field, a blast of bone-shattering cold ran through his body, completely severing the energy link. Seadrias blinked, glancing at Zero.
"A dampening field?" Seadrias said slowly. Then suddenly, the rift walker burst into laughter.
"Is a dampening field really something worthy of humor?" Zero said.
"No, no, it's just that I was right all along," Seadrias said. He pointed up. "Creating a dampening field isn't possible unless you can access the æther directly, which means that you've already done it."
Zero appeared to frown. "Is that all you were trying to confirm? Whether or not I had 'ascended'?"
"That's all I wanted," Seadrias said. "Although I would be far more satisfied if you would just tell me how you did it."
"No," Zero said immediately. "No rift walker should ever go down that path."
"That's fine," Seadrias said. "I'll find out eventually. I've searched over a thousand years for the image of perfection. Another millenium to attain it is but a trivial matter."
The rift walker turned around, taking a black box out from his pocket. "Goodbye, Zero."
The air shimmered around Seadrias and a second later, the rift walker vanished.
Zero sighed and removed his mask, a maelstrom of pure energy raging underneath. "You are walking down a road of no return, my friend, for when you find the truth, that knowledge will consume you."
Chrysocolla.
It was the name of a crystal.
It was a blue crystal; one rumored to have unrivaled healing properties, and the ability to calm and sooth the spirit. However, the crystal didn't help. Nothing ever healed, and only chaos ever greeted the spirit.
The girl raised her eyes. At least, she thought of herself that way. There were no hints at gender on her body, nothing to indicate anything at all, except for the crystal. The bluish-white stone that defined her existence with its absolute boundaries.
Another girl stood opposite to her, half covered in a pink, reflective material as if encased in rock. There was nothing to indicate gender on the other girl's body either; only a faint sense of intuition.
The other girl lunged forward, an obvious gesture of threat. It was always like this. She would enter a room, any room. Then one of the others would enter, whether an enormous beast twice her size, a kite-shaped creature which could hover in the air, or a being with a body shaped just like hers.
The other would attack, and she would dodge. Rinse and repeat. The other girl swiped at her now, blades of pink crystal cutting out of her skin.
Dodge, attack, dodge, attack. This would go on from anywhere between a few seconds to several minutes. The other would gradually slow down, as if a heavy curtain of lead were being draped over them. Then, the girl would strike, a single blade of blue crystal piercing out from her palm.
She had long learned that the head was the weak point for any being she encountered. If she struck a limb, it would slow them down. If she struck the torso, sometimes they would fall, but not always. The head was always the fatal area.
The girl plunged her blade into the other girl's neck, and with one swift stroke, severed the head from the body. The other girl fell, gushing red liquid.
That was another thing she had noticed. Sometimes the others bled. Sometimes only a flat sheet of crystal would appear. Sometimes, if the battle dragged on long enough, they would even shatter.
The girl sat down, next to the fallen body of the other. The red liquid began pooling underneath the body, sticking to her legs like a layer of adhesive crystal dust.
This would last anywhere from five minutes to six hours; the waiting period. It usually depended on how long the other could last against her, but not always. If she waited long enough, a door would open somewhere in the darkness, and she would walk through, into another room. Or maybe the same room. She could never tell. There was barely any light, and the dim blue glow of the crystalline parts of her body didn't provide much light either.
Although, it didn't really matter what she did. If she didn't leave, the other would come to her. If she left, the other would meet her in the next room. If she tried to escape, the room would stop her. It was always like this.
The door to the next room opened with a light swish. The girl stood, and walked forward.
The next room was the same, as always.
The other appeared just after she entered, as always.
The other attacked her almost immediately, as always.
The other spoke to her in a soft, high-pitched voice, "Please forgive me," as always.
The girl materialized a crystal blade in her hand and cut the other down, cleanly through the neck, as always.
The same routine, as alwa-
Wait.
Had that other just spoken?
The girl leaned down over the other's severed head, now dripping red liquid like the last one.
"Please... forgive... me..." the girl recited slowly, her own voice clinking like shards of glass against a rock. "Please... forgive... me... Please forgive... me... Please forgive me."
It felt strange, making noises with her mouth. Although, in a way, it felt a little... good. What was this feeling? This eager restlessness to keep repeating the noise.
The door opened.
Right.
The routine was still going.
As the girl entered the next room, her eyes lit up.
There was light.
Not just the light from her body, or a faint glow coming from the ceiling. Actual light.
The room was brightly lit, with long sticks of light running across the ceiling. The walls and floor of the room were all white, except for the space near the girl, where the light shone blue through the crystal.
"Please forgive me," the girl repeated excitedly. She sat down and opened her mouth, eyes completely focused on the light.
Then a shard of verdant crystal entered her vision and she immediately sprang back.
"That was a nice reflex," the other said, one limb extended towards her.
This other looked different from the last ones. She looked more... organized. The lush, verdant crystal only encased her arms and legs, melting with pinkish-white skin over the rest of her body. Some long, flowing material covered her head, the color matching with her crystal. Her mouth curved up at the sides slightly, giving her face a strangely warm feeling.
"That... was... a... nice... reflex..." the girl recited. "Please forgive me... that was... a nice... reflex..."
The other's mouth curved downward, somehow making the girl feel nervous. "Are you copying me?"
"Are... you... copying... me..." the girl said. No, that didn't sound quite right. Something was missing...
"Do you... perhaps not know how to speak yet?" the other inquired.
"Do... you... perhaps..." the girl started, but stopped to dodge as more shards of green crystal flew at her. The other swept her hand out at her, and sharp splinters of crystal broke off from it, piercing through the air with lightning speed. The girl dodged, dodged, and kept dodging, but the other showed no signs of slowing down.
"You know, I have never met one like you before," the other said conversationally. "I have seen primitive beasts, Esseaes who cannot speak, and Esseaes who can speak, but I have never met one who has only been able to copy me before."
I can speak perfectly fine, thank you very much, the girl thought. "Eielainow wonlsiepg loeinoasdflk meoik."
The other's mouth curved downward. "What?"
"Please forgive me," the girl said, and an incredibly long blade of crystal shot out of her hand, impaling the other in the torso.
Red liquid splattered over the floor, but the other quickly jumped back, severing the blue crystal with one of her green crystal limbs. The other clenched her teeth, and fired another volley of crystal shards.
The girl dodged with a quick leap, and dashed over at the other. The other brought up both hands, and a storm of crystal shards flew at her. A few hit their mark, sinking into the girl's pale pink skin, but most simply glanced off her blue crystal. Then, the girl extended her own hand, and a crystal blade pierced through her palm, aimed at the other's head.
The other ducked, and leaped back several meters.
"That was a nice reflex," the girl said.
The other made a strange expression, like a half-curved mouth in either direction. "Hah. Irony."
"Hah..." the girl recited. "Irony..."
The other made another strange expression, one the girl couldn't completely analyze before a massive crystal shard smashed into the wall behind her. The other dashed forward, blades extending from her arms. The girl planted her feet firmly on the ground, and crossed her arms in a blocking stance. As the blades cut into her arms, red liquid dripped down.
So she could bleed too.
The girl sidestepped, letting the momentum from the other's attack carry her forward just a little off balance. Then she dislodged her arms from the crystal blades, and smashed down at the other's torso. Finally, the girl extended her arm, and several blue crystal spikes impaled the body. The other let out a high-pitched shriek.
"Please forgive me," the girl said, as a crystal spike buried itself into the other's head. The other spasmed then lay still. The girl looked down, feeling a mixture of satisfaction and regret, both feelings swelling up in her chest. Finally, she sat down on top of the other, gently stroking the bright-green crystal.
"Are you copying me...?" the girl said softly. "That was a nice reflex."
The door of the room opened silently. The girl stood, casting a longing gaze back at the other's body. Then, for no particular reason, she broke off a shard from the other's crystal limb and took it with her. She entered the next room.
This room looked different, the girl observed upon entry. It was much larger than the normal room, and had some complexity to it. An elevated platform about half her height, and twice her width ran the length of the room. A cube-like structure sat atop the platform, displaying some strange curving symbols. Was this the other she was supposed to kill?
The girl looked at the cube curiously. It wasn't attacking. Was she supposed to attack it? The symbols on the screen flashed back and forth, from one pattern to the next. In total, it seemed that there were three patterns. They looked something like:
WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED OBJECT DETECTED
PLEASE REMOVE ALL UNAUTHORIZED OBJECTS FROM YOUR POSSESSION TO CONTINUE
FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN SEVERE CASTIGATION
The girl watched the cube change back and forth between patterns. Then she got bored and sliced the cube in half. A few bright flashes sparked between the two halves of the cube as the pattern flickered and died.
Had she hit the cube's head? Did cubes even have heads?
The girl just shook her head. She looked expectantly at the three doors in the room.
Suddenly, a loud sound rang overhead. Then, a dark figure appeared in the room.
Was this the next other? It really came out fast this time. She hadn't even made it to the next room yet.
The girl extended crystal blades from both her hands, and stood at the ready, but the figure just raised a hand and the girl blacked out.
***
Noise.
No patterns to analyze, no sense to make of, just pure, undiluted noise.
The girl stood slowly, rapidly blinking away her fatigue. She took a quick glance over the area, at the same time trying to process what had just happened.
The other from before had done something to her... maybe it had attacked her with a method she couldn't see? Had her head been hit? Was this what it was like to have one's head cut off?
A red crystal blade suddenly materialized in her vision. The girl ducked, just as another blade buried itself into her leg. Then she jumped back, as several more blades struck the ground where she had been standing.
"Oho, that was pretty good," a voice said. The girl glanced up, facing a guy half-covered in red crystal. His mouth curved sharply upward, some reflective white material shining underneath. The rest of the room looked about the same as the last one, except for the strange noise that kept changing in volume. The girl shifted her gaze right and left, up and down, but couldn't find anything viable for generating such a sound. Was the other doing it? Or maybe it was coming from beyond the walls?
"Hey, what's your name?" the other asked, pointing at the girl.
"Hey... what's... your... name..." the girl recited.
"My name?" the other said. "I'm Rutilum."
"My... name... I'm... Rutilum..."
The other's face shifted. "Wait, are you one of those Esseaes that can't speak yet?"
For the last time, I can speak perfectly fine, the girl thought. "Asofnpwine fpaoidnos owis leklsoke soifd."
"Oh, I see," Rutilum said. "You can process the meanings, but you don't know the words yet. Hmm... I guess I'll just call you Blue then."
"Blue..." the girl repeated. She shook her head.
"No?" Rutilum said. He made a strange expression. "Well, I don't want to kill someone before knowing their name, so you'd better come up with something quick."
A name...
The girl had never thought about it before. What was a name? Judging from context, it was probably a term to address oneself. Well, there were plenty of things she could use to address herself, but what was a word that the red-crystal other could understand?
Chrysocolla. The name of her crystal. It was the only word she knew that she hadn't taken from any of the others.
"Chrysocolla," the girl said.
"Hmm... interesting," Rutilum's head slowly bobbed up and down. "I like it, but it's a little long. Let's shorten it to Chryso."
"Chryso..." the girl repeated.
"Alright, Chryso," the red-crystal other stepped forward, numerous blades springing from his arms. "Let's have some fun."
The noise in the room intensified. But before the girl could pause to analyze, the other dashed at her.
She dodged the other's first swipe, but more crystal blades instantly sprang from his arm, forcing the girl to retreat. The girl pointed her hand at the other, and a volley of blue crystal shards shot out. Rutilum held up an arm and the crystal splattered outward, forming a small, circular wall, deflecting the shards.
"Is that all you've got?" the other said, lowering his miniature wall until his crimson eyes showed. Somehow this made her upset.
Twin crystal blades cut out from her palms, and the girl lunged forward, aiming for the other's head. Rutilum simply raised his circular crystal wall and the blades bounced off harmlessly. Then he spun halfway around, and blasted crystal shards at her with his other hand. The girl dashed back, a few fragments of red crystal lodged in her skin. The noise level increased again.
"Hah!" the other's mouth curved up again. "This is why I love this room! The cheering gets me pumped!"
The girl made a gesture, and long, sharply curving crystal blades grew from the back of her hands. If she couldn't strike the other through the crystal, she would have to go around. The girl raised her hands as the other's crystal wall shrank slightly.
Rutilum glanced curiously at her, the noise slowly dying down. "Interesting strategy. I've never seen an Esseaeas like you before. Heh, this should be fun."
The girl dashed forward, quickly flanking at the right. Rutilum seemed to anticipate the movement, and moved his miniature wall at the right. Then the girl jumped, slashing her blades up and over the wall, down at the other below. However, the other simply shrank his wall down and jumped back. He thrust out his hand, forcing the girl to retreat as crystal shards pierced the ground.
"I can adapt my strategy too, you know," Rutilum said, his red crystal wall growing to full size again. "Don't treat your opponent like a child."
"That was a nice reflex," the girl said, and charged again.
The red crystal other deflected two strikes on his wall, then moved to the side, extending his own blade. The girl parried, snagging the edge with her curved blades. The other immediately disengaged, jumping back a good distance.
"Those sickles are working pretty well, huh," Rutilum said.
"Those... sickles... are..." the girl started, but dodged to the side as a storm of crystal shards interrupted her.
"Don't copy me," the other said. He ran at her, raising his crystal wall in front. The girl's eyes darted wildly at the other, but she could find no openings. Then, right before impact, she jumped and somersaulted over the other, letting him ram into the wall on the far side of the room. The girl quickly recovered and set a volley of crystal shards at the other, but Rutilum had already moved his crystal wall to the front. More clinking resounded as more crystal fragments fell to the ground.
"Hmm... it doesn't look like we're getting anywhere with this," the other said, lowering his crystal wall. "You can't get past my shield, and I can't catch you when I'm lugging this heavy thing around."
The girl paused for a moment, trying to recall all of the words the other had said. "It... doesn't... look..."
"Enough," Rutilum put up a hand. He turned his face upward. "Open up the doors! I'm calling a draw!"
Almost immediately, the four doors in the room slid silently slid open. The noise also droned down to a halt. The red crystal other turned to one of the doors, shooting a quick glance back.
"Since you're the lower ranked one here, you technically beat me, so you'll be moving on to stage two now," Rutilum said. His mouth curved up. "Let's have another match someday, Chryso. If you ever make it up to stage five, I'll be waiting."
The other exited the room, and the doors promptly closed. The girl paused for a moment, pondering about the other's words. What was 'stage two'? A place where she would fight others on two platforms instead of one? And what was it about a 'stage five'? Did that mean there were fights that took place on five platforms somewhere...?
Was it even possible to fight on five different platforms?
As the girl reflected on these possibilities, a sudden tremor shook the ground. She looked down, softly vibrating crystal fragments meeting her eye. Then she knelt down, inspecting the crystal carefully...
Wait. Where was the ground?
Before she could think of anything else, an overwhelming sense of weightlessness overcame her, as she fell into the darkness.
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