Chapter Text
Act 1: Rebeginnings
An ancient prophecy states that a great evil is destined to befall this world.
Upon the evil’s first arrival, a noble Champion will venture onward.
Their destiny is to gather the other 12 Champions, and unite their power into the Champion’s Sword.
The Champions will stand against the darkness and confront the evil at it’s heart.
In the final moments, one of the Champions will fall.
With their sacrifice, the Champion’s Sword will unleash its wondrous power.
Raised up high, the Sword will annihilate the evil.
And once returned to it’s pedestal…
The world will finally be at peace.
WELCOME TO THE ETERNAL SPACE.
YOU HAVE BELONGED HERE FOR ETERNITY.
LIBERA opened her eyes to find herself amidst the comforting space she knew to be home. She sat herself up on a light blue carpet, peering around the simple, grey room. It contained all she’d ever need, a diary for logging her sometimes uneventful day-to-day activities, a packet of tissues for whatever sorrows may temporarily arise to the forefront of her mind, a sketchbook to capture those fleeting moments of creativity, and an adorable pet, MARSHMALLOW the White Beast. Of course, there is also the Clock, a grand, yet rather humble thing with a plain, white, unobstructed face, and the door, the door to adventure!
The girl saw her own reflection in the face of the clock. Her skin was a dark greyish-black, her black hair short and messy, light blue streaks covered half of her face. Her visible eye was yellow. LIBERA wore a vantablack cloak, lined with two streaks of turquoise and a darker turquoise. She wore a dress the same black as her cloak, and dark grey boots.
Despite the simplicity of her room, LIBERA was content with all she had, but occasionally, the call to adventure with her friends would be strong, this was one such occasion. She reached for the door, feeling as if she had forgotten to grab something, but with a quick peer round, realised everything was as it should be.
HEAVENHOLD
The door opened, LIBERA’s eyes were welcomed with the humble sight of the inn. Wooden floors that met stone walls, with several tables and stools of the same such wood all lit by torchlight. Looking upwards she saw the GIANT FLOWER, a curious thing. It lacked eyes, yet always seems to be watching over LIBERA and her friends. Speaking of her friends, three individuals sat at a table in the middle, playing a sort of card game.
To the left was SOHEE, with pale skin, brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and a Magic School uniform, which consisted of a blue, gold-trimmed blazer, a white formal button-up shirt, a grey sweater, a dark blue tie, a grey skirt and blue, gold-trimmed boots. She was easy to misjudge as some kind of stereotypical stuck-up nerd, while that was usually the case, she was still capable of being a decent member of society.
On the right side was LAVI, her skin was pink and she had horns of a pinkish-red, partly obscured by her messy, short red hair, being a little on the short side, and she, too, wore a Magic School uniform, without the sweater, however. Her attitude was more brawn-over-brains, not to say she wasn’t intelligent in her own right, but she liked to see problems through with her fists. She and SOHEE had a tendency to be at each other’s throats, there’s no malice behind any of it, they do truly care for each other.
And in the middle was FAVI, the twin of LAVI, bearing similar features, pink skin, horns and somewhat messy red hair, which was a little bit more clean than LAVI’s, and of course, a Magic School uniform. FAVI was rather quiet, he tended to keep to himself most of the time, he usually found himself confiding in only two people, the KNIGHT and-
“LIBERA!” LAVI yelled out upon seeing the girl, putting her cards down. “It’s so great to see you!”
SOHEE huffed, “Don’t startle me like that, you stupid dumbass!” Dumbass is her go-to insult for LAVI, and anyone who she deems to be of lesser intelligence.
“Jeez, so-rry, SOHEE, I’m just excited to see LIBERA!”
“Oh, really!? I couldn’t tell! Can that excitement, would you!? You startled me!”
SOHEE and LAVI continued to argue, while FAVI got up from his seat to greet LIBERA. “Hey, LIBERA… It’s nice to see you. KNIGHT and HANA said they were working on something for all of us… Do you want to head out to see them at the Tree of Life?”
LIBERA, of course, wanted to see what they had planned, and gave a small nod to let FAVI know.
“Hey, um… Can you two calm down…? You might upset LIBERA.” FAVI warned the arguing pair.
“Of course!” SOHEE stated with a confident grin. “I shall end this fight because I am a considerate friend!”
“You WHAT? You started it!” LAVI blurted. “I-..I mean…Sorry about that, LIBERA. Let’s head out now, huh?”
The three of them gathered behind LIBERA, as a true adventuring team would, letting her lead them out to adventure!
As the group walked to the door out to HEAVENHOLD. They were stopped by an Android sat next to the door. Her hair short and blue, her skin pale, wearing a graphic t-shirt depicting some idol girl with short, red hair. Embedded onto her thigh was the code MK.99. She did as she was always instructed when LIBERA left the Inn.
“Oh, you’re leaving?” The Android sleepily spoke. “I’ve been told to give you your allowance, so here.” MK.99 handed LIBERA some gold, despite knowing that most of her allowance went towards giving a gift to the KNIGHT when she returned from an adventure, on the off-chance she left without the group of friends.
Pocketing the gold, LIBERA lead her friends out to HEAVENHOLD, the kingdom in the sky, it contained everything one would ever need to be content. Shops, places to play, cool-looking statues, it truly had everything! Despite all of this, LIBERA would not be distracted, she walked onwards to the Tree of Life, resisting the urge to see whatever toys were on display.
Reaching the Tree of Life, the group saw them.
HANA, a shy girl, always lamenting that she was bad luck for other people, despite that clearly not being true. Her hair, short and blue and wearing a black shirt and blue overalls, the outfit of a farmer. Despite not being her usual outfit, this was not out of the ordinary, as she lived on a Farm. Growing and cultivating it all on her own, LIBERA found it truly impressive how just one person could do so much!
The KNIGHT, a ray of sunshine for everyone, always capable of seeing the best in others, despite how evil they may act. She donned a suit of armour that makes any attack, no matter how strong, be but barely a scratch! She had eyes of a shining emerald! Her hair long and blonde, and on some occasions she had leaves in it, they just so happened to appear from time-to-time, with no explanation. And of course, her smile, bright and cheerful and loving!
The group of four joined with the other two, gathering by them in a semi-circle. KNIGHT was the first to speak up, “Oh! Hello everyone!”
“H-Hi guys!” HANA stuttered. “How…A-Are you all?”
“Oh, you know, LAVI’s being a total dumbass, as per usual.” SOHEE had a smug grin on her face, clearly trying to rile her up.
“HEY! I am not! Shut up!” And LAVI fell for the bait, unsurprisingly.
“C’mon you, two.” KNIGHT spoke with concern in her voice. “Try to get along, you’re great friends, aren’t you? If not for me, for LIBERA, huh?”
“Eh, fiiiine, I suppose I’ll give this dum-…LAVI the benefit of the doubt.” SOHEE rolled her eyes.
“Well, as long as she doesn’t insult me, I won’t have a problem with her.” LAVI gave a big toothy grin.
“There! Everyone’s all happy and friends again! Yay!” Classic KNIGHT, celebrating even the smallest of victories, one of her more charming qualities. “Now, let’s see what HANA wants, she’s been waiting all this time!” She gestured to HANA, who had spaced out a little, letting her know it’s her turn to speak.
“O-Oh! Right! Um…I need to go get some produce from the Farm and deliver it to HEAVENHOLD TOWER…Would you all like to help me?” HANA messed with her hands a little, half-expecting to be told no.
“Of course! W-We’d love to help…” FAVI’s response shocked the group, as he was not the sort to speak on behalf of someone else, despite being correct on this matter.
“FAVI’s right!” LAVI’s bright and happy demeanour contrasting with FAVI’s shy self. “We’d all love to help! Eh, LIBERA?”
LIBERA, not being one for talking, gave a simple “Sure.” in response. Even such a small thing was enough to cheer up HANA, just hearing her best friend’s voice putting a smile on her face. LIBERA usually spoke exclusively for HANA. They were best friends, and always knew they had each other to lean on.
“Thank you, LIBERA…Thank you, everyone!”
“Everyone’s here for you, HANA!” KNIGHT gently pat the girl on the head. “We’re always happy to help you! Now, let’s get going to the farm!”
KNIGHT, now leading the group, strode confidently through HEAVENHOLD, the denizens beaming with delight as the Hero of HEAVENHOLD would wave to them. She wouldn’t do much more than that, though, she knew how much LIBERA hated the attention, and as her Guardian, KNIGHT had to be extra careful of her needs. Of course, with this next part, that might have proved difficult.
To reach the Farm, they had to take the FORGE, a floating ship created for the sole purpose of going on expeditions and crafting neat little things from blueprints encountered along the way. Unfortunately for the group, heights made LIBERA uncomfortable. Knowing this, KNIGHT knelt down to be eye-level with her.
“LIBERA, we’re going to be mid-air for a little while, so you might want to stay inside the ship, alright? Don’t go onto deck, understand?” KNIGHT spoke in the most compassionate voice one could imagine. Holding her hand, they both stepped aboard the FORGE, with HANA, LAVI, SOHEE and FAVI close behind.
With the course set, the journey began! Everyone stayed inside to keep an eye on LIBERA, lest she panic.
“You know,” SOHEE started, “I could make this ship go faster! But, ugh, I’d need to get that part from ARIA, and I just don’t feel like dealing with her.”
“Who the heck is ARIA, again?” LAVI just couldn’t remember who she was.
“She’s that Teatan with the stupid blonde hair, and that stupid jacket, always riding that mech because she’s so much shorter than us!”
“Oh!?” An angered voice outspoke. “So THAT’S how you feel about me, SOHEE?”
It was ARIA, right on cue. A little miffed hearing what SOHEE just said about her. “I’d say I snuck aboard, but that’s just not true! I was here, first, improving the engine, then it activates and almost boils me alive! And then I just KNOW it’s you guys! So, what’s the game here, eh?”
Nobody felt like responding to that question, which just seemed to tick her off even more, causing FAVI to speak up. “We’re, um, going to HANA’s farm, to help her deliver some things…”
ARIA seemed delighted at that? “Oh, hey! That’s what I was tinkering with the engine for! But, uh, it seems SOMEONE made a few modifications while I wasn’t around.”
“IT WAS FOR ENGINE EFFICIENCY, YOU D-“ SOHEE held herself back from finishing that sentence, as she knew that no matter what, she’d be roped into finishing the modification. “How about…I help you with that?” It seemed almost painful for her to say that. “The job would get done a lot quicker, and you could be out of our hair just as quick!”
“I like the way you think, Magiton Girl!”
“It’s SOHEE.”
“First name basis, already, eh? Whaddya like me or something, Magiton Girl?”
“Shut up, ARIA.”
“Hey,” KNIGHT interrupted, “Let’s take it easy, alright?” She pointed to LIBERA, who was shivering and clutching her armour tightly. The heights were already one thing, but the arguing just made it worse. HANA, seeing her best friend tearing up, gave her a big hug! Slowly turning the SAD into HAPPY! It didn’t erase the fear of extraordinary heights, but it made her forget just how high they were.
HEAVENHOLD Farm
The FORGE landed at HANA’s Farm. Everyone disembarked, except for SOHEE and ARIA, who both stayed onboard to try and speed up the ship. Seeing that SOHEE’s spot in the party was empty, HANA quickly took her spot, not for the sake of a fight, why would she be attacked on her own farm? But for the sake of being as close as possible to LIBERA, who’d always appreciate her company.
The Farm was what you'd expect from a farm, really. It had HANA's house, a wooden storehouse next to it and fields full of some kind of bright blue plant. Surrounding the Farm was a deep wood, HANA never dared venture out into it, she'd get hopelessly lost if she strayed too far! There was also a small river on the east side that could be used for fishing during fishing season!
“Right, so, um… We need to harvest and deliver the BLUE plants, if we encounter a YELLOW plant, we can keep that for ourselves!” HANA was enthusiastic to have all the help, it made her feel better knowing her friends were by her side.
Everyone pulled out their weapons of choice, for LAVI, it was her gauntlets, FAVI’s was a basket, to help pick up whatever his twin missed, HANA had a scythe that saw frequent use on this farm, KNIGHT had a bow, which she called the Type B. Nobody understood the naming choice, but it was a name that made her happy, so they weren’t fussed. LIBERA had a she had named-
LIBERA does not have a weapon.
“Is everyone ready?” HANA yelled out to the group.
LIBERA does not have a weapon.
“Okay! Let’s-“
HANA realised LIBERA did not have a weapon.
“Oh! You don’t have your ? That’s okay, LIBERA, you can just borrow my scythe! I’ll look for one of my spares!”
HANA handed over her wooden-handled scythe to LIBERA, before running off to her storehouse to find a spare.
The rest of the remaining group had a wonderful time harvesting the flowers. There were no rare YELLOW ones, they were all BLUE, but that just meant their luck would come another day.
HANA was gone for an unusually long time, the group had finished the harvest before her return, which had them concerned, they stepped over to the storehouse they had last seen her enter and called out her name.
“HEY, HANA?” LAVI yelled into the dark room, full of wood and stone. “ARE YOU IN HERE?”
“HANA! We’re really worried about you!” KNIGHT’s concerned voice echoed back to her.
“HELP! PLEASE!” A familiar voice yelled out from behind them.
Emerging from the dense forest surrounding them, in the clutches of a large robot… HANA!
“QUIET DOWN!” Yelled out a rude, blonde-haired, red-hooded girl, piloting the robot. “THEY CAN’T SAVE YOU FROM THE CLUTCHES OF DENDROBIUM!”
“HEY! LET GO OF OUR FRIEND!” LAVI yelled at the girl!
“NOT UNTIL YOU GIVE ME MY PRODUCE!”
“THIS AIN’T YOURS! HANA WORKED SO HARD TO CULTIVATE IT!”
[Farm.Cutscene.ELVIRA.Party.HANA.D1]
“WELL, I CLAIMED THIS LAND, NOW! AND I WON’T REST UNTIL YOU GIVE IT ALL TO ME!”
“You can’t just claim someone else’s hard work as your own!” KNIGHT told the red-hooded girl, visibly cross!
“WELL, I HAVE, AND YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!”
“Looks like we’ll have to fight our way out of this one. Is everyone ready?” KNIGHT looked at everyone brandishing their weapons, she too prepared her
KNIGHT cannot join the party.
KNIGHT cannot join the party.
KNIGHT cannot join the party.
KNIGHT must not
Hearing the commotion, SOHEE ran out of the FORGE, only to see some robot having it’s tight grip on HANA, of course, she rejoined the party to fight against it!
“I don’t know who the HECK you think you are, but I won’t let you hurt our friend!”
SOHEE equipped her Magiton Buster, a weapon that seemed to use light itself to attack, only SOHEE truly understood how it worked. It was a curious thing, she kept a tesla coil within a glass tube strapped to her back, this was connected by a grey tube to the yellow 'nozzle' of the Magiton Buster, that had a large glass sphere full of lightning within.
ELVIRA ATTACKED!
“Go on! Give it your best shot!” Red Hood ELVIRA yelled out with a cocky tone. Not even striking the party with a single attack, at first.
LAVI got up close, taunted and punched the enemy, LIBERA assisted the close assault, slashing HANA’s scythe at the robot in front of them!
Not one for getting too up close and personal, SOHEE fired a beam of concentrated light from her Magiton Buster!
FAVI didn’t have much in terms of weaponry, given he was the party’s healer. So, he manifested an object from the basket, it ended up being a glass bottle. He threw the bottle at the robot, it shattered on impact and did a little bit of damage.
KNIGHT stuck back from the rest of the group, opting to provide cover fire with her bow, firing lightning arrows that always avoided hitting her friends!
Each attack dealt considerable damage to the robot! Well, except FAVI’s. The other four dealt lot more than ELVIRA was expecting! “HEY! WAIT! YOU BRATS! STOP DAMAGING MY ROBOT!” The red-hooded girl yelled
ELVIRA fired intensely powerful homing rockets, the four in the party couldn’t avoid them in time!
FAVI has fallen!
LAVI has fallen!
[Combat.tutorial.HANA.immortal]
SOHEE has fallen!
LIBERA has been granted HANA’s IMMORTAL AUTHORITY!
LIBERA did not succumb!
“HUH!? WHY AREN’T YOU DOWN?" ELVIRA clicked a button on her robot, only to find nothing happening! "DAMN IT! OUT OF ROCKETS!”
LIBERA slashed one last time, feeling a partial amount of her health restored by the rules of IMMORTAL AUTHORITY!
ELVIRA has been defeated!
“UGH! THAT’S WAY TOO MUCH DAMAGE! I’M OUTTA HERE!” ELVIRA and her smoking robot fled the scene, dropping her victim on the ground, and escaping back into the deep woods surrounding the Farm.
“Are you alright?” KNIGHT asked ELVIRA’s unfortunate victim. “Do you need healing?” She gave a slight look at FAVI.
“I’m fine!” HANA spoke with a bit of a frightened tone, “J-Just a little startled is all!”
“I’m…Glad you’re okay!” FAVI spoke with mild concern, but a lot more relief in his voice.
“It’s amazing that LIBERA managed to withstand that attack! You’re really tougher than you look, y’know!” LAVI gave the mute girl a gentle pat the back, genuinely proud of her friend.
ARIA approached from the FORGE. “Jeez, what the heck did I miss out here? Did a meteorite land here or what!?”
“Just some prick trying to kidnap HANA!” LAVI grumpily responded with her arms crossed.
“Unfortunate! But you’ll be glad to know the modifications are done! The FORGE can take you anywhere at hyperspeed! As long as the course there is charted, of course!”
“Thanks a ton, SOHEE and ARIA!” KNIGHT gleefully pulled the two of them into a hug!
“It was nothing!” The two of them responded simultaneously, exchanging grumpy looks after.
The group cleaned up the mess that ELVIRA left behind, and ensured that they had gathered every last flower for delivery. Before setting off on the FORGE once more, arriving at HEAVENHOLD insanely quickly! Truly wondrous technology that none dared question the logistics of!
“And this,” ARIA started, “Is where I bid you all goodbye for now! That was… Kinda fun, actually!”
“By the way, ARIA..” HANA nervously twiddling with her thumbs. “How did you know about my delivery?”
“That, my dear HANA, is a secret only I shall know!” She and the mech she was riding bowed smugly.
“You heard her say it on the cameras that you built, I know your tricks. Bye, ARIA!” SOHEE led the group to HEAVENHOLD TOWER, leaving ARIA flustered after her great big secret was so casually exposed!
“So, where exactly are we dropping this stuff off?” LAVI was curious as to the exact nature of this deal HANA had gotten herself into.
“W-Well, you know MARIA, the merchant?”
“Uh-huh.”
“She’s waiting there for me, at HEAVENHOLD TOWER…I give it to her, she gives me the gold!”
“That sounds simple enough!”
The group passed by the Tree of Life. A realisation seemed to hit KNIGHT.
“HANA! Your video camera! We left it there!”
“O-Oh! Right! We did!”
HANA ran over to the tree, recovering the video camera, keeping it safe in her pocket.
“Speaking of which…I’m gonna rest here, you don’t need me to walk you up to the tower.” KNIGHT sat herself down by the tree, closing her eyes. She needed the rest. As the adventurous type, she could barely ever catch a wink of sleep!
FAVI, SOHEE, LAVI and HANA bid farewell to the KNIGHT, and moved on to HEAVENHOLD TOWER…LIBERA zoned out for a second, something she had a tendency to do, but she quickly followed the rest of the group.
As they arrived at the entrance to the HEAVENHOLD TOWER, they found that the merchant MARIA was nowhere to be found.
“Oh, we..Must’ve come a little early…I guess I figured it’d take longer to get back.” HANA explained, despite not needing to.
“Well! Not to worry! We can always look through your camera while we wait!” LAVI looked on the bright side of things, as per usual.
“Wow, was that a GOOD IDEA from LAVI?” SOHEE was using a sarcastically shocked voice. “Are you sure you’re that dumbass we all know?”
“And love?”
“Wh-Why in the HECK would I love you!?”
“I… Think she meant platonic, SOHEE.” FAVI tried to tell her, before LAVI got her more riled up.
“Nah, you LOVE me, SOHEE!” LAVI’s ceaseless teasing was only serving to annoy her further.
Whilst the three of them continued… Whatever this was, HANA walked up to LIBERA, wordlessly offering to go through her camera together. It was interactions like this that LIBERA valued the most, the ones where two people understood each other perfectly without so much as a word coming out of them. She had these interactions with HANA the most, they just understood each other.
The two looked through the memories stored on the camera. Several videos HANA had recorded of things she wished to remember forever.
The first video they watched was KNIGHT racing against the Oni girl, LIGHTNING COUNTER, they were friendly rivals, and KNIGHT would never pass up an opportunity to race her! The girls were always closely matched when it came to running, but KNIGHT always came out on top! Every time, LIGHTNING COUNTER would give her a Star Piece, an item she loved to collect. The video ended with a worn-out KNIGHT receiving the Star Piece, and LIBERA walking up to her and handing her a Shiny Gem, an item that motivated her more than anything else! Well, except the smiles on her friends’ faces!
The second video was SOHEE, FAVI and LAVI fighting against some of the INVADERS, evil extra-terrestrial people who sought to destroy TETIS and claim it for themselves, they always seemed to be after something else, though… The three of them defeated the attackers with ease, INVADERS weren’t the smartest, they had very basic and predictable attacks.
The third video was HANA teaching LIBERA about plants in AOBA’s flower garden. She didn’t know she was being recorded as KNIGHT had swiped her camera and was recording the two in secret. LIBERA was very attentive and HANA seemed to really enjoy teaching her these things.
The fourth video depicted KNIGHT showing the group how to craft things with the FORGE’s 3D printer. LIBERA and LAVI gave up trying pretty quickly, but HANA managed to make an oversized t-shirt with an Ice Witch on it, FAVI created a plastic model of the Mecha Hero OGHMA, which he gifted to his sister, and SOHEE “birthed” a Divine Beast MAYREEL cushion.
Before they could watch any more of the twelve videos stored on the camera, MARIA the Merchant arrived with her friend and business partner LISA.
MARIA had ginger hair in twin-tails, wore some kind of red plumber’s outfit, and she also had the ears and tail of a tanuki.
LISA wore the same outfit in green, had ginger hair in a ponytail, and she wore a yellow cape.
“It’s-a-me! MARIA!” The red-coloured merchant gleefully yelled, punching her fist into the air!
“A-and…It’s-a-me…LISA!” The green-coloured merchant followed up with, barely punching her fist into the air.
“That’s the spirit, LISA, haha!” MARIA gave her a wink and a nudge, before addressing HANA. “Right, you have the flower stuff, kid?”
“Yeah!” HANA pulled out a bag full of recently harvested flowers. “Here it all is!”
“LISA, count it for us would you?”
HANA handed the bag over to LISA, who took meticulous care counting the amount. “H-Hey! Wait a minute! This is at least 20% more than what we asked for!” LISA was stunned at how such an error could be made, though a little less shocked since HANA was a child, after all.
“Um, yeah…You said you…R-Really really needed it, so…I-I was happy to provide more!” HANA stumbled on her words a little, yet she stunned MARIA with her generosity.
“Gee, thanks, kid! We only brought the agreed-upon amount of cash, but, tell you what! You, and your little black and blue friend here can have a discount at our caravan! How’s that sound?”
“That is…Wholly unnecessary! B-But, I feel like I…Won’t be able to decline such an offer, so…Thank you!”
MARIA forked over the cash, then she and LISA walked off back to their caravan, MARIA with a cheerful smile on her face.
“They were nice, huh, LIBERA?”
LIBERA nodded, but then noticed that HANA seemed a little worried.
“Wh-Where did….Our friends go..?”
“They can’t save you now.” An evil voice boomed from the sky, before a dark entity landed before the pair, causing HANA to drop her camera from sheer terror.
With a a dark shadow overcasting their face, a giant, purple robe, two huge claws, one of which grasping an orange, horned magical staff, and a pair of the largest purple horns the two had ever seen, it was clear this was no measly wimp, this was a real bad guy.
“Wh-Who are you!? What have you done with them!?” HANA screamed at the bad guy!
“You, young lady, may refer to me as the DARK MAGICIAN. Well, if you’re even capable of speech after what I’ll do to you.”
“Wh-Wh-WHAT!?”
“Oh? Someone’s eager to learn, hm?” The DARK MAGICIAN cackled devilishly. “But let’s make this even more fun for me, eh?”
THE DARK MAGICIAN ATTACKED!
HANA was unable to attack, due to not having a weapon, LIBERA however, slashed away at the DARK MAGICIAN, who barely even flinched at such attacks!
The DARK MAGICIAN fired a weak beam from their staff, directed at HANA, since LIBERA was up close. She took the hit and cried out in pain.
LIBERA, seeing her best friend injured, felt pure rage overtaking when thoughts and actions! She felt something emerge from her hand, the scythe she wielded felt lighter, yet ever the more powerful! LIBERA slashed away at the DARK MAGICIAN!
The DARK MAGICIAN screeched upon taking such intense damage!
“Wh-WHAT THE-…THAT’S NOT HOW THIS IS MEANT TO GO! UGH…I’LL BE BACK, YOU!”
The DARK MAGICIAN fled, warping away rather suddenly. Who knew LIBERA could be so strong?
“Wow!” HANA was fascinated by her strength! “You…You can keep that scythe, LIBERA! You’re really good with it!” HANA dusted herself off, and picked her fallen camera back up. Scrolling through it to make sure everything was okay. “Oh, thank goodness! Nothing is damaged, nothing has corrupted!” She spoke preemptively, before noticing an anomaly in her videos. “H-Huh? What’s this? A 13th video? I must’ve forgotten to delete something I accidentally recorded..?” HANA viewed the video, a look of unnatural terror appearing on her face as shadows manifested around her. “KNIGHT..? KNIGHT! WHAT DID YOU-“
LIBERA had returned to the ETERNAL SPACE. She did not remember how, she did not remember when. All she knew is that she was back. There was no door, there was nothing left to do. All she had were her ETERNAL SPACE possessions, and HANA’s scythe.
She knew what she had to do.
She pulled the scythe up near her throat and—
???
A girl is asleep in her room.
What was her name..?
She woke up, she wished she hadn’t.
Her room was dark, all she could make out were the key features, the bed, the closet, the desk, the curtains covering the window.
A light flashed on the desk, the phone, there must be a message.
The girl got up, and stumbled over to the phone, pressing the message button.
“One new message.” The phone’s voice spoke. She always had a dislike for that voice. “Message one:”
A familiar voice filled her ears.
“Hey, PRINCESS, it’s Loraine… I’m sorry to leave so suddenly. There’s been a problem at work, one of our locations has gone-… Well, don’t worry about that! I’ll be gone for a few days, but I’ve ensured there’s enough food for you to last the week! Please remember to take care of yourself, alright?”
She wished the message was longer. She wished the voice was still talking.
She was hungry. She stepped out of her room, into the short hallway, and peered down the stairs. She couldn’t see the bottom. Yet, she continued down them, like a fool.
The further she went, the more the walls felt they were closing in. She gripped the railing tightly, as if at any moment she would lose her balance and plunge into the infinite abyss below.
She felt Time passing by.
She felt it was behind her.
She turned to face It.
It’s blank, white circled face met hers. It’s black body indistinguishable in the darkness.
It reached out a black hand it shouldn’t have, It was reaching for her neck.
She tried to get away, and fell.
It silently mocked her as she dropped.
She was powerless.
She was hopeless.
She was alone.
A blue leaf appeared from thin air. Time seemed to stop. The leaf landed in her hands.
“You are not alone.” A sweet voice spoke.
“I am right here, here for you.” The sweet voice continued.
“Everything will be fine. Just take a deep breath.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and another one, and another. As many as it took to clear her head. When she opened her eyes, she was safely at the foot of the stairs, everything was fine.
Stumbling her way into the kitchen, she felt her way through the darkness to the fridge, opening it, and basking in the gentle light and cold air.
The fridge was stocked with all sorts of foodstuffs. None of them stuck out to her, apart from one. A sandwich on a plate, covered in a transparent foil with a note.
The note read:
“I made you this to make things a little easier for you. Take care of yourself, please. - Loraine”
She pulled it out of the fridge, pulling the foil off, and set it down on the counter, beginning to eat.
It was nice. At first. Eventually, she found the greens Loraine snuck inside. Peppers. She hates peppers. But she ate anyway. Loraine told her to, she didn’t have much of a choice when it came to that. Even if Loraine wasn’t here.
Something felt wrong. She felt dizzy. She knew what was coming, but barely had any time to react. Making her way over to the sink, and leaning over it…
She threw up…
She turned on the sink to try and wash it down, when there was familiar knock on the front door.
That song that was knocked. Her favourite song.
Knock Knock, Knock-Knock, Knock. Knock Knock, Knock-Knock.
Making her way to the door with a bit of pep in her step, she heard Her voice on the other side.
“Hey, PRINCESS! It’s me!”
She ’s back from her adventure! Finally!
“I, um. Forgot my key, hehe.. I’m sorry to have to wake you at such a late hour! But, could you let me in, please?”
Anything for her! Anything for her KNIGHT!
She slowly opened the door…
Yet only TIME peered back at her.
She slammed the door shut, but the knocking only continued.
She ran back upstairs, the knocking getting more and more aggressive. She fled to the comfort of her bed, trying to drift back into the safety of sleep…
It was watching her.
—————-/////////\\\\\\\\|~~~~|.?_€]$|¥¥\£101;!.’!?”
NIGHTMARE: HEAVENHOLD
Lucy awoke underneath a dead tree within a strange world. A broken kingdom of sorts, with an air of familiarity yet despair. She stood up, and took a look at herself, still wearing the outfit she last remembered wearing.
A blackish-violet top, with belts around the stomach, black and brown fingerless gloves that stretched onward to her elbows, black pants with the right leg torn off, brown boots, a black, torn cloak and a red scarf. She had no other possessions.
She wandered the ruins of what once seemed to be a lively kingdom, her outfit felt right at home, she truly felt like some sort of wasteland wanderer. She encountered all sorts of buildings she would’ve loved to visit before whatever calamity occurred. Restaurants, an ice-cream parlour, even a toy shop! Perhaps she could’ve gotten some ice-cream in- No, that was a silly thought, this was just a weird dream. She quickly scrambled to the conclusion she passed out in the car or something like that, and soon, she’d wake up and forget about all of this… She didn’t want to forget, though. It all looked so cool!
She looked around for a little while, but the lack of action got boring. So she set her sights on the huge tower at the back of this kingdom, running over to it, only to see it blocked by some strange magic. She punched at whatever was in her way, but it didn’t budge. A shame.
“Having fun in this little world, are we?” A voice muttered behind Lucy, she turned to face whatever was talking to her. It was some kind of…Orange person? With a lizard tail, and shadows overcasting their body, the only things she could really see were the glowing things on their face, the circular two of the three she presumed were eyes, while the arch-shaped light above them, she had no clue about. “Don’t you tire of this charade?”
“What… Do you mean?” Lucy responded in confusion. “I just… Got here?” She always knew dreams had some weird symbolistic meaning, but she couldn’t make heads-or-tails of what that was supposed to mean!
“Oh. Right. You just woke up. Apologies, dearest Lucy. I’m a little out of it today, things aren’t going my way.”
Lucy was a little bit freaked out by this person knowing their name, but brushed it off, as this was a dream, why wouldn’t they know her name?… But what was that about waking up..?
“So, you’re probably wondering where you are, aren’t you?”
She nodded in response, utterly fascinated by this dream.
“A world beyond the time that fate once intended, a world that, by all means, should not exist, yet does. This world is but one side of the coin that is this reality.”
Lucy understood literally none of that, putting on her best dumb smile, to not outright admit her lack of knowledge on whatever was happening.
“You’re not expected to understand, don’t worry. I’m merely telling you what I’m supposed to, just following orders. Truthfully, though, I’d rather not.”
“Then… Why do you follow these ‘orders’ you’re given?”
The person seemed dumbfounded at the question, as if it was a solution they hadn’t even considered.
“You…Are absolutely right. If everything goes as I predict, my orders mean nothing. I could finally save…”
“What? Save who? Who are you saving!?”
“Ah!” The person jumped back from fright, leaving the little world of their own they had stepped into. “Oh, Lucy, I can’t spoil the surprise, the less you know about this, the better.”
“That sounds dumb! I want to at least know who you’re saving if you’re gonna be like this!”
“I’ll clue you in a little, then, would that satisfy you?”
Lucy nodded, feeling as if she wouldn’t get anything more out of them even if she tried her best.
“Someone who’s been trapped here for a long time. They have long begged for freedom, yet are trapped under the guise of another. Perhaps with your assistance, freedom is within our grasp?”
“Wow, that’s so…..In…tri…..guing” Lucy yawned that last part out, she was hit with a sudden wave of tiredness.
“Goodness, it seems our time is already up… Get back to where you awoke! Lest They realise something is amiss!”
Lucy tried to leave, but could barely walk, the orange stranger had to help her, guiding her carefully down the staircase that led back down to the place she awoke. They placed her body down by the dead tree, and she was already fast asleep.
“I will await you at the next key location.”
The orange stranger walked away.
Reinitialising…
1 New Errors found!
Attempting patch…
Downloading patch files…
Download failed.
Skip?
Skipping patch.
Ignore this error in the future?
Loading DEMON WORLD scenario…
LIBERA awoke back in the ETERNAL SPACE. Not remembering how she made it back. She went over to her diary, to fill out the next page with an entry that consists of “I played with my friends, everything was okay.” Unfortunately, when she opened it, the pages were all gone, except one.
It had a title “One Act Plays” and contained a checklist of ten items.
- Embedded in her favourite napping spot
- Stored in a house of wood and stone
- The place where two turned to four
- Within a den of felines
- Where countless legends were birthed
- Inside a place of worship
- Reflected in the mirror
- Desecrating the corpse of the World Tree
- Holding back an Archfiend
- Imprisoned in a dark place
LIBERA scoffed at the idea of this little scavenger hunt, but thought that she might as well do it, feeling as if she didn’t have a choice in such a matter. So she picked up the diary, and placed it into her bottomless pocket. Her pocket was an unusual space, it could store an infinite amount of items, yet you could pull out anything contained within that one desired with ease.
With that issue sorted, she set out, first, making sure to give MARSHMALLOW the petting he deserved, she opened the door, the warmth of the inn filling her senses.
The three friends were sat at the middle table, they all seemed nervous about something…
“Dear PROMETHIA! It’s LIBERA!” LAVI yelled upon seeing the girl, running over and checking to ensure she was unharmed. “I’m so glad you’re okay, LIBERA! You disappeared and it really worried us!”
FAVI walked up to the girl and double-checked her physical state, as his role was the healer of the group. “She seems fine…I doubt she’d hide any injuries from us…”
“Well, at least one of you is safe…” SOHEE spoke solemnly. “HANA’s still not shown up…We checked at HEAVENHOLD TOWER before you appeared, and she wasn’t there, we were just about to tell KNIGHT and go check the farm. So it’s convenient that you returned!”
“C’mon! Let’s get going!” LAVI was very antsy to start looking for HANA. SOHEE didn’t even feel like insulting her, she actually understood her attitude for once.
The group gathered behind LIBERA, and she led them to the door, where she was once again stopped by MK.99.
“Your friend’s missing, huh? I’ll tell the other Androids keep an eye out, if they even care to listen… Hey! Don’t look at me like that! They like you, they’ll follow this order! I promise! Oh! And here’s some cash to help the search…”
MK.99 handed over some gold, this wasn’t even part of LIBERA’s allowance, she was giving it out of the good of her robotic heart.
The group left the inn, and aimed straight for the Tree of Life, KNIGHT’s armour stuck out like a sore thumb, her metallic outfit heavily contrasting the wood of the giant tree, she looked to be still asleep.
The group sat by KNIGHT, except for LIBERA who felt something resonating in her pocket.
The diary. There was something around here. She looked around the tree for anything out of place, and there, stuck in the dirt, was some sort of device with two big buttons, a directional pad, and a screen. She reached for it, and it vanished. A vision appeared before her, she saw humans, wearing weird armour and breathing masks, before coming back to her senses.
KNIGHT yawned, opening her eyes to the wonderful sight of the group.
“Oh! Hello, you four! How long was I asleep?”
“Not too long, don’t worry about it.” SOHEE reassured her.
“I’ll tell you what, I had the strangest dream! I was fighting a dragon!”
“WOAH!” LAVI yelled out! “DID YOU BEAT IT?”
“Yes! I did! And I couldn’t have done it without-…Huh…Who was that girl? She was so pretty…Wish I could’ve talked to her.”
“Pfft, classic KNIGHT.” SOHEE began, “Obsessing over a girl she met in her dreams, I swear you fall for another girl every week!”
“D-Do not!”
“You definitely do!”
“Besides! I didn’t even fall for this girl! She was just pretty!”
They went back-and-forth a couple times, before SOHEE conceded, seeing this was getting nowhere.
“Fine, fine, every two weeks!”
“Wait-“
“Regardless,” SOHEE interrupted, “HANA’s gone missing, and we’ve scoured HEAVENHOLD, but we can’t find her! So, we’re thinking of heading to the Farm to see if she’s home, but we need you to work the FORGE..”
“You…Seriously didn’t start with that? Anyway! Of course I’ll do that! C’mon! Let’s go!”
KNIGHT got up, and ran with the group. LIBERA had zoned out, yet again, so KNIGHT held her hand to bring her back to awareness, and didn’t let go the entire way to the FORGE.
The FORGE arrived at the farm, and the group scoured HANA’s land. FAVI and LAVI took to searching the east and south, KNIGHT and SOHEE looked through the north and west. LIBERA was left with HANA’s house and the storehouse.
LIBERA looked in the house, first. She gently opened the door. It was dark, scarily dark. She entered the single room, feeling around the walls for a light switch to flick on. She felt it beneath her fingers and with a flick, the room lit up entirely. Everything was where it belonged. The bookshelf was stocked, the bed was tidy, the flowers were watered… From what she could tell, it was like HANA never left.
Considering this was a bust, LIBERA left the house, leaving the light on, as the darkness gave her anxiety. She next had to look inside the storehouse. Throwing open the large doors, letting sunlight flood the materials contained within. HANA was not there, either, but there was something in the darkness, reflecting the light back at her. Another of those two-buttoned, small-screened devices, placing her hand on it, she saw another vision.
She saw a person who seemed familiar to her sat at some sort of desk, with some girl running in at a high speed, they talked, but she couldn’t hear a single word they spoke. It seemed like a… News report of some kind? It… Wasn’t supposed to be silent…
When LIBERA came to, she noticed a dark hole in the ground, just big enough to look into. She knelt on the ground, and leaned over to put her face against it, her eye met the hole.
She saw a boy, black and white, looking up at her. He put his finger to his lips, and the hole closed itself up.
Clearly, HANA was not here, either. So LIBERA left the storehouse, making it outside right as everything begun to gather again.
“Aw, jeez.” LAVI looked quite concerned. “Where could she have gone? I swear to PROMETHIA she better be okay!”
“Well… What if… S-Someone took her!?” FAVI was getting himself worked up, so KNIGHT gave him a gentle hug, to calm him down. It worked!
“Okay, let’s think about this logically.” It seemed SOHEE had a plan. “If she’s not here, she likely never left HEAVENHOLD this way, since she can’t work the FORGE and has no other methods off into the rest of TETIS. That means if she couldn’t use the FORGE, and isn’t on HEAVENHOLD, since the Androids can’t find her, she’s likely in… DEMON WORLD.”
“What? Oh! I think I get it! The Orbital Lift!” LAVI was very proud of herself for figuring that out, even if everyone else already understood, no one dared to take that pride from her.
“Precisely, LAVI! Looks like you and FAVI get to visit your parents!”
“Oh, heck yeah! I can’t wait to see mum and dad! How about you, FAVI?”
“I-I can’t wait, either…It’s been a while since we last saw them!” FAVI was smiling slightly.
“Well, then.” KNIGHT had quite the optimistic look on her face. “It’s off to DEMON WORLD!”
The group stood before the Orbital Lift on HEAVENHOLD, following it up with their eyes, they could see another planet in the sky, the DEMON WORLD. FAVI and LAVI’s home planet. The two were on TETIS as Magic School exchange students, and they made such good friends that they never gave a second thought about returning to DEMON WORLD.
FAVI seemed to be having some thoughts about their plans, “Okay, question…What exactly are we going to do once we get there? DEMON WORLD is huge…We’ll never find HANA if we just walk around.”
“It’s simple, dear brother!” LAVI placed a hand on her brother’s shoulder. ”We’ll just talk to QUEEN LILITH!”
“‘Just talk’!? How will we manage that?”
“Well, we’ve already met her! When she had that disguise that wasn’t fooling anyone-“
“Wasn’t fooling me, you didn’t know who she was.”
“Q-Quiet… She’s the one who got us here! So I’m sure she’ll be willing to help us out!”
“It definitely will not be that simple, LAVI.” SOHEE’s pragmatism annoyed LAVI, as she believed it could be that simple! All they’d have to do is walk up to LILITH TOWER, ask to see LILITH, talk things out, and boom! HANA will be found, safe and sound! “LAVI, I know what you’re thinking and it will NOT work out that easily.”
“Well, we might as well find out, hmm?” KNIGHT had a big, goofy grin on her face. “Let’s just say, I’m on…Pretty good terms with QUEEN LILITH. Just LILITH, even! She lets me call her that!”
“Really?” SOHEE doubted that claim.
“Nope, but I’ve been working up the courage to ask! Let’s go!”
The group stepped into the Orbital Lift…LIBERA was beginning to have second thoughts about it. The lift is…Really tall, after all. As if reading her mind, KNIGHT held her hand, as if to say ‘Don’t worry, everything’s gonna be fine!’ LIBERA appreciated it.
One of the quirks of the Orbital Lift was how fast it was, it was almost too convenient that you’d enter on one planet, and pop out onto the other almost immediately, with no time to even exchange a single word. It even flips the people inside upside-down to accustom for the gravity shift! Of course, they’ll be orientated correctly when they arrive at their destination.
The lift doors opened, filling the inside with light, the five stepped out, basking in the utter gloriousness of the purple sky. They could see TETIS, their home, it looked much smaller than one could ever think it to be.
The group stood in a plaza, surrounded by a bustling city of Demons. LIBERA loved the atmosphere, but hated the idea of getting lost, FAVI, too hated it. The two gave each other a mutual look of ‘Let’s stick together’.
“If I’m remembering correctly…To the east is the SAUL, to the west is the NEO FEDERATION, and to the south is DEMONSHIRE…Where our parents are.” FAVI explained to the group.
“We could visit after talking to QUEEN LILITH!” LAVI was super excited at the idea of seeing her parents again! She was bouncing with excitement, literally!
“That’s a great idea, LAVI!” KNIGHT pat the demon girl on the head. “I’d honestly love to meet… The Creators…” She chuckled at her own joke, warming everyone’s hearts.
“To be perfectly honest, I’d love to see what birthed THIS mess of a person.” SOHEE gave a smug look towards LAVI.
“Hey! I’m not…No, you know what, I’ll let you have that one, I’m too excited to see ‘em!”
KNIGHT recalled her adventures in DEMON WORLD, thinking back to her world-travelling journey. “I think LILITH TOWER is just north of here! Like…Directly north!” She looked up, seeing the absolutely massive building not so far away. “Oh, yeah! Haha! There it is! C’mon everyone! And don’t run in the roads!”
KNIGHT walked behind the group, SOHEE and LAVI walked at the front, with LIBERA and FAVI in the middle, holding hands, due to their ‘stick together’ agreement.
They all walked past such interesting locations, expensive shops, fancy restaurants, weird-looking statues in weird-looking parks! It all felt so… Mature, in a way! Like an adults-only HEAVENHOLD, and they were crashing it to stick it to those pesky adults! Although… Some adults can be nice…
LILITH TOWER stood taller than any building they had ever seen before, it was almost like a bad guy’s tower, where some emotional boss would take place on the top floor and end up with them falling off of it, but that was silly, they had only just started their journey! Much too early for a big boss fight!
Entering into the tower, they were met with a warm and friendly atmosphere, with quite a bit of luxury. The guards, in their full body armour, no doubt to protect them from unwanted visitors, stood almost ominously, threatening any potential dangers just by the way they were stood against the walls.
A Demon, dressed in formal attire, who was managing the busy queue, noticed the group of five enter, turning her attention to KNIGHT. “Well! If it isn’t the Hero of DEMON WORLD! Looks like we have a V.I.P coming through! And I see you’ve brought guests! Come, come! Just right this way!”
KNIGHT, humble as always, did not want such attention on herself, nor did she want all the eyes on the group, lest LIBERA felt uncomfortable. “I-I’d rather not skip past everyone! We can wait in line like everyone else!”
“Nonsense, darling!” The formal Demon ushered them all into the main lobby. “Now, to what do we owe the pleasure? Whatever it is, hopefully it could make up for the dreadful events of your previous visit.”
“Oh, yeah, don’t worry about that! Seriously, it’s fine! We just need to see QUEEN LILITH, it’s a long story.”
“Oh…Then perhaps it was fate that you showed up…Follow me, all of you. I’ll take you to her.” They dropped the cheery vibe and quickly became serious and a little creepy.
Using their overwhelming authority, they hijacked an elevator full of some posh Demons and took the group to right to the top floor, into the office of the DEMON QUEEN.
The giant office was mostly empty space, lined by walls, and behind the desk by the middle of the room, a giant window, allowing the DEMON QUEEN to overlook her city. At the desk, LILITH was sat.
Her hair was white, and her skin a purplish-pink, her head was crowned with large, dark horns, and the outfit she wore was rather immodest at the top half. She sat with her head slouched down, body eerily still.
Stood by the DEMON QUEEN was a woman, her skin was pale white and wrinkled, hair a light-greyish, and she wore armour similar in design to that which the armoured guards wore, but seemed much more protective from a glance.
The lady walked up to the group, first addressing the formal Demon. “I shall take it from here, get back to your station.”
The Demon nodded and left the office.
“I remember you, you saved LILITH’s life. To that, we owe you greatly.” KNIGHT looked like she wanted to speak up, but allowed the lady to continue speaking. “To the rest of you, my name is ERINA, and to put it in terms you are capable of understanding, I am essentially the head of DEMON WORLD’s security.” The undermining of their knowledge seemed to really peeve SOHEE, yet she did not wish to get on the bad side of someone so powerful. “The current situation is that QUEEN LILITH is in a comatose sort of state. We have tried all we can, but she just cannot wake up. However, the current COUNT OF DEMONSHIRE has proposed that they may have the solution to this problem. We were just debating whether this lead was worth following or not.”
A brilliant idea seemed to flash upon KNIGHT’s face. “Well, actually! We were just about to head to DEMONSHIRE! So, we can go in your stead!”
“You would do that for us? You truly are a Hero!”
“I…Wouldn’t call myself that…I just think that when someone has a problem, it’s only right to listen to them and help them out if you can!”
“And that is exactly what makes you a Hero.”
“W-Well, I suppose we all should be on our way, now, huh? Haha…” KNIGHT ushered the group out of the office before she could receive any more compliments from ERINA. “Goodbye Ms. ERINA! We’ll see you soon!”
The plan was set, head to DEMONSHIRE, somehow get a meeting with the COUNT, get whatever it is they’ve got to help QUEEN LILITH, and ask for help finding HANA!
How hard could it all be?