Chapter Text
A deep roar cried out throughout a land which advanced human civilization was barely knowledgeable on, but was a place that older societies and tribes of living beings, human or other, had made their home since practically the dawn of time. Throughout pure caves, valleys, forests and other kinds of different natural landmasses and a few rudimentary villages echoed a low voice which was unmistakable amongst the relatively tight-knit and isolated communities. It was a cry that would draw the deepest of cave dwellers out of their concave abodes, a cry that would stop a working farmer dead in their tracks as they witnessed every form of wildlife which hindered their efforts rush away from or towards the sound, a cry which could mean a myriad of different emotions, a cry which signified that something great may be coming, a cry to focus your attention on. A deep, imposing, yet subtly caring and golden voice, which had the odd ability to seemingly touch the hearts and minds of those who heard it. Whether that was the result of the nature of these lands and their people, or something else entirely, was completely unknown, but it didn’t need to be. That kind of information would bear no significant use to the inhabitants of this place.
Though, it may have helped them in another way. Sometimes, the voice wouldn’t be kind, it would be mean. It would convey primary tones of anger, rage, sorrow, misery and more to those who heard it. Whenever that happened however, the voice seemed to quickly follow up in a sincere manner, soothing those who heard it as well as apologizing for anything it may have caused in its brief stints of negativity. These occurrences were extremely rare to begin with, so the inhabitants of the land were essentially unaccustomed to hearing the voice in this aggressive manner.
This deep roar was one such of those occurrences, and subsequently shocked those who heard of it outside of its origin point. But, contrary to what should have usually happened, there was no reassurance. There was only more aggression and sadness being carried through the voice which grew ever more desperate as time went on. Worry filled the inhabitants of the land, especially those who were in close proximity to where the voice was coming from. Many would never know why the voice was so distressed at this moment, but those same people and creatures close enough to where the voice emanated from at this point in time would forever have that reason etched into their minds.
Moments prior, living creatures seemingly made of pure gold, or a material extremely similar to it, sprinted towards a relatively isolated area with great fear. The heavy bodies that each individual being possessed pounded on the sturdy soil which composed most of the land, each sole pushing down on the dirt as its owner made a mad dash away from something. Each of these beings seemed to be of the same, uniform humanoid shape in the same garments, but on closer inspection many seemed to have unique characteristics. Some had what could be considered to be a face, some had bodies that differentiated heavily from others, some apparently even wore appropriately golden colored clothing items like hats. Regardless, something had caused each of them to enter a state of panic that made them run towards where they were all going to. Something that was currently pursuing them.
Trailing right behind the large mass of gold beings were similar yet very different creatures. They bore the same humanoid shapes as their golden counterparts, with all the subtle differences and unique features on certain individuals, but were purely black and in a way, reflective. Their clothing consisted of a dark turquoise “t-shirt” and a non-reflective black pair of pants, both having marbled patterns that distinguished themselves from the skin of their wearers. Most notably, many of these pursuers carried weapons such as blades and blunt instruments, and ran at a speed slightly above those of the fleeing golden people. On occasion, a gold individual would fall behind and get too close to one of their pursuers, and would suffer a swift end at the hands of them before being left behind as the chase continued. The rear of the crowd of golden beings was slowly shredded as the group kept running towards their destination and their pursuers were closing the distance.
But then when the large crowd of gold reached where they had been heading towards and started funneling through the narrow passageway that acted as the entrance to their final destination, their pursuers halted and even began to pull back from their chase. Standing guard at the entrance to the corridor were a pair of much taller gold beings in lighter colored hoods and robes. They both wielded a long golden trident and had what appeared to be a single horned skull shaped pauldron on their shoulders, respective to where they stood to the side of the passageway. Oddly, on their backs were a pair of retracted white wings fitting for what many would consider to be an angel. Despite their faces being obscured by hoods, the two stared down and intimidated the pursuing group of creatures, simultaneously ensuring the safe passage of their smaller fellows through the corridor. Eventually, the golden crowd filed through the passageway and the two guards moved to block the corridor entirely, taking combat stances which further intimidated the group of creatures in front of them.
Their pursuers briefly halted, the remaining golden beings took reprieve in the temporary safety of the area. It was an isolated patch of land surrounded by elevated land masses with the entrance to a temple nearby, as well as a splitting path that led from the temple to a large tunnel elsewhere. While the situation was not at all something to cheer about for the group, some rejoiced by the fact they had managed to make it this far, and had convened with who they considered to be their leader: the origin point of the voice which spread far and wide throughout the land.
Standing in the middle of the isolated area while gripping onto a large golden blade and vocalizing its distress at the situation was a gold being that towered over every other golden creature in the area, even the guards which blocked the corridor to these grounds. It was deceptively simple in outward appearance, looking like a collection of golden squares and rectangles put together to form the image of a generic robot from a media series. However, on each major shape that comprised the titan were countless amounts of small cracks, scratches and other forms of minor damage the being had sustained over the course of its life. Each of the major shapes tapered off at some point and were not entirely square or rectangle, vertices giving way to short, angled sides that then quickly resumed in a perpendicular direction: a forearm that would’ve been just one big rectangular prism was instead slightly octagonal. Lastly, its head bore no actual face, but was rather just one large glowing crystal-like red “eye” that contrasted heavily with the rest of its body.
The titan was expressing its worry for the state of its people, to which they tried to calm it down. No matter what they said however, they could not quell the rage which was slowly building up within their leader. Overcome with feelings of grief and anger, the Gold Titan let out the deep roar which pierced through the lands, demanding to know why his people had been chased like livestock to be slaughtered for no apparent reason. These emotions lingered within the giant, until they were overtaken as something approached.
The two guards which had been blocking the entrance to the area suddenly rushed through the passageway. They were slightly battered and wounded, but swiftly took new positions close to the corridor. Not even a couple seconds later, a pair of spear-wielding fighters dashed through the corridor and lunged at the two Gold Guards. The lancers were nearly identical copies of the two Gold Guards in size, but rather than robes and wings, they were armored from head-to-toe in turquoise battle armor. Their joints were protected by padding which barely gave way to any exposure of that part of the body, and their spears had large spiked tips which were nearly the length of one of their arms.
Then, one of the Gold Guards mumbled in a spiteful voice, “Even our siblings in arms have fallen.”
The two pairs of guardians clashed, the ones of gold using their tridents to parry and redirect the swift and aggressive attacks of their fallen counterparts, who never let up or left their enemies with an opportunity to counterattack. Slowly, the Gold Guards were pushed back by the relentless assault of the Fallen Guardians. Eventually, one of the fallen would land a lucky strike right in the unprotected left shoulder of one of the gold. The wounded Gold Guard stumbled back from the attack and tried to keep their grip on their trident secure, but the quickly flowing pain within their left arm hampered the effort. The Fallen Guardian who had wounded them approached unobstructed, as the other Gold Guard was still preoccupied with their fallen counterpart, and prepared to deliver a final blow with their spear.
But suddenly, another large roar came from the Gold Titan, one of pure rage as it charged forward and winded up a wide strike with its sword. The two Fallen Guardians were immediately intimidated by the action, and quickly pulled back and away from the two Gold Guards they had been fighting. Noticing this, the Gold Titan never swung its blade as it had intended to, but kept it ready in the event its enemies tried something. For the ensuing minutes, the two sides of this odd conflict stared each other down as a tense silence hovered through the air. The silence would soon be broken, as heavy steps became more and more audible in the distance.
As the steps got louder, the Gold Titan backed away from the two Fallen Guardians it had been threatening - away from the corridor - and stood shocked as it witnessed another of the fallen emerge from the passageway. It was a fallen being which was around the titan’s own height, appropriately towering over the fallen forces he was meant to command over. Like the guardians below him, the large fallen was equipped with armor which covered the majority of his body. He had a knightly appearance, a sheathed sword on one hip and a shield attached to an armored gauntlet on his left forearm, but the lightly fluttering cape on his back and spiked crown indicated he was of much higher status than most. It could be said that he was a king, given his role and appearance.
While its people stood in awe at the opposing giant, the Gold Titan was simply confused as to why this kingly figure was here. It could recall a vast amount of memories it had experienced alongside the towering individual in front of it: negotiations, joint operations, agreements, and more positive events which completely contrasted what was happening. The titan considered the Fallen King a friend, and could not at all comprehend why its friend would be, as far as it could tell, be leading the extermination of its people.
The Gold Titan vocalized a low voice of confusion and directed it towards the king in front of him, reluctantly keeping its sword ready for action. The king gazed at the titan, occasionally blinking, and huffed a sigh towards the gilded giant. Wordlessly, he reached for the hilt poking out of his scabbard and swiftly drew a blade of his own while simultaneously raising his shield. The stance he took seemed almost “heroic”, as if he was some kind of nobleman on a mission to eradicate a great evil which plagued the land, and was about to fight the origin point of it all. Seeing this, the Gold Titan put aside anything sentimental within its mind and took a stance of its own, both of its hands gripping onto the hilt of its sword.
The air grew ever tense as the two giants prepared to do combat. The guardians on both sides backed off, giving their leaders a space to fight. The golden people huddled and grouped as far as they could from the fallen, who began to march through the corridor and into the area. Both sides understood how decisive this duel between titans would be, and all that was left was for one to make the first strike and initiate the battle.
That honor went to the Gold Titan. With surprising speed, the giant of gold charged forward and swiftly brought down its blade upon the Fallen King’s shield. What was essentially a big, heavy, sharpened slab of gold cut through the air and made contact with the king’s defensive armament. A loud clang! echoed throughout the space and sent the king stepping back from how quick the attack was. He tried to retaliate by thrusting his sword straight at the titan’s chest, but the golden giant quickly brought up his blade and deflected the attack.
The king’s sword was sent aside and his torso was left wide open. The golden titan channeled its fury and unleashed a quick barrage of slices and strikes that began to slowly chip away at the king’s armor. Eventually, it managed to puncture some plating to the side of the king’s abdomen, leaving a shallow gash in that area. The assault left the king slightly dazed, and the titan took advantage. It stepped backwards and brought its sword up horizontally, prepared to strike the king right in his head.
The Gold Titan charged once again, but the king recovered and was prepared. He sidestepped the strike and received only a long graze to his right cheek. The Gold Titan tried to correct and bring his sword up diagonally, but the king managed to evade and only lose part of one of the spikes on his crown.
The Fallen King then struck the titan with his shield and before striking widely with his sword, cutting a long groove into the chest of his enemy. He continued and initiated a sword barrage of his own. Pieces and chunks of gold fell to the ground as they were slowly cut from the Gold Titan’s body, which even lost part of its waist in an ironic fashion. The king prepared to make a strike towards the titan’s head, similarly to how the titan had tried on him, but the titan was likewise able to move out of the way and only have a non-essential side chunk of its head taken out.
Using its left arm, the titan struck away the king’s sword and quickly retaliated by bringing its blade down on the inner left forearm of the king. The less armored side of the gauntlet could not bear the pressure brought upon by the sudden impact of the gold blade, and quickly caved in. The Fallen King let out a grunt of pain as he tried to retract and bring his shield back up. The Gold Titan brought its sword back above its head to bring down once again, and the king was able to reposition his shield in preparation.
Filled with rage and sorrow, the Gold Titan roared out as it brought down its sword onto the shield. The hefty strike was quickly recovered from and the Gold Titan repeated the process of bringing the sword up before bringing it down. The repeated impacts that the long, golden blade had on the shield began to show as noticeable dents appeared on the surface of the reinforced defensive armor. The glowing light blue gem on the upper areas of the shield was shattered, and the wing-like details to the sides were cut off. The king was unable to retaliate, the Gold Titan was not giving him a window to counter and turn the tide.
The Gold Titan kept shredding the shield, practically eviscerating it over the course of a couple dozen seconds. Eventually, the shield was in no state to protect its user from any more attacks, and the king hustled on this knowledge. Instead of stepping back or to the side once the titan’s blade came down, the king dashed forward for a tackle. The left shoulder pauldron of the king connected with the titan’s chest and the two were sent hurtling towards the ground. The combined weight of both giants ended up collapsing the part of soil and dirt they had landed on, creating a sizable crater.
The Fallen King stood back up and prepared to plant his blade into the head of the Gold Titan, but the gold giant skidded away and recovered as well. The two giants briefly paused their duel to relocate to more even ground closer to the temple entrance and once they had, the titan charged again and swung at the left side of the Fallen King.
The king tried to dodge the swing, but the blade impacted his left pauldron and collapsed part of it. Before he could move to retaliate, the Gold Titan’s surprising haste was on full display as it had already begun on a side strike to the right of the king. The Fallen King tried to dodge again, but his right shoulder pauldron was similarly struck. This continued for several moments as the king had gotten himself stuck in a looping series of quick side-strikes by the Gold Titan, receiving light to moderate amounts of damage that slowly chipped away at his armor, similarly to how his shield was dealt with.
Eventually however, the king managed to get a grip on the pattern, and began to more successfully evade the strikes. Initially his first successful evasions still left him with scratch marks and smaller dents, but he began to completely dodge the strikes entirely. The Gold Titan did not let up and kept coming closer to try and account for any sudden movements, but the king had already gotten the rhythm of its attacks. The titan tried to change things up and incorporated diagonal slices, but they still came from the side, and may have actually been easier for the king to dodge.
Then, on one diagonal attack that came from the left of the titan and rose to its right, the king charged. He evaded the attack and quickly brought up his sword just above the “elbow” joint of the titan’s left arm in a diagonal strike of his own. The sword started low and charged through the air before contacting where the Fallen King was aiming. After a brief moment of resistance, the sword barrelled through and cut everything below that point from the Gold Titan.
The Gold Titan’s entire left forearm and part of its “bicep” was sliced off, and briefly flew through the air before hitting the ground with a loud thud. The titan stepped back and let out one of its loudest roars, containing all of the negative emotions that it held within its body. Its grief for what had been done to its people, its confusion for why its friend was trying to take its life despite their past, and its rage for how all of this was even happening. The titan brought up its sword, but not for another conventional strike. It tried to do something that it had not done for a long time, something that it hoped could finally end this battle.
The Gold Titan raised its sword up in the air, blade pointed straight up into the sky, and let out one more roar that seemingly called upon the heavens itself to smite its enemies. Yet, nothing happened. The sky remained the same as it was, and the Gold Titan stood there in disbelief at what just happened, or the lack thereof. The large red crystal briefly flickered, then the golden giant stumbled backwards.
Off to the side of the battle, the wounded Gold Guard muttered yet another thing, “Gilded Rain… it- it failed?”
The Gold Titan briefly glanced behind itself, seeing all of its remaining people fearing for their lives. It knew that if it fell, they were done for. Even if its Gold Guards fought to their last breaths in their wounded and tired states, they could never take down the Fallen King. The titan turned its head to said king, who was panting heavily after its last maneuver.
The king had stepped back as well and taken the time to purge himself of unnecessary gear. He had just finished removing his damaged left forearm gauntlet, letting it and what remained of his shield fall to the ground. He removed his cape as well, but hung it up on a nearby tree. He inspected his left forearm, wounded from the titan’s strikes, and slowly felt his gazed right cheek. He brought his arm down, and clenched his fist.
A look of pure rage formed on the Fallen King’s face, matching with the internal feelings of the Gold Titan. The two giants prepared themselves to deliver the final blows in their duel, to settle this once and for all.
Almost simultaneously, the two charged at one another. The Fallen King had his left arm free and stretched in front of him, while his right arm wielded his sword that was aimed right at the Gold Titan’s chest like from the beginning of their duel. The Gold Titan brought his sword up and behind him, his torso slightly turned so what remained of his left arm acted as padding for any physical contact.
The people of both sides looked in bewildered awe as their battered leaders moved to strike one another for what they intended to be the last time. They were all unsure of who would come out the victor, even the fallen, who knew they would not be able to withstand the rage of the Gold Titan if it survived.
The two giants closed the distance and struck. The sword of the Fallen King pierced right through the chest of his enemy. He strained his left arm as he held up the sword-wielding arm of the Gold Titan, the blade which that hand held only mere inches away from striking into his shoulder blade and likely cutting through much of his upper torso. The king slowly pried his sword out of the unmoving titan’s chest, metal scraping on gold, and slowly brought away the blade near his face. He witnessed as the titan’s body fell into the crater he and it had created earlier on, and simply sheathed his sword as he saw the golden people simply look on in absolute terror.
Despite the fact he had won, the Fallen King felt no sense of victory. His face was one of melancholy, any rage and anger completely absent. He moved to inspect the fallen form of the Gold Titan, which he saw was still alive, just barely.
The titan had released its grip from its sword, and struggled to muster enough strength to even raise its remaining arm up. After a while, it managed to, and proceeded to seemingly gesture up into the sky. Its hand was open, as if it was trying to grab something.
The king knelt over by the side of the Gold Titan, and decided to grip its open hand with his right. The dying titan reacted by vocalizing a low voice, one that felt questioning. Not to the gesture, but to why everything that had just happened needed to. While it did not say any words, the king managed to understand them, and now he had no reason to not answer.
“I’m sorry, my friend, but I had to. All of my people were threatened by something greater than us, and they would take their lives if I had not done this. ” the Fallen King tried to explain.
The titan vocalized again, still asking why the king had done what he did. Not satisfied with the answer it was given.
“Submission to the will of this greater power was the only way I could ensure their survival. I do not understand why it willed for your extermination.”
The titan vocalized again, suggesting something.
“Even if we merged our forces, we… we would not even have a chance at lasting an hour.”
The titan vocalized its sadness in an even lower voice, but it was clear it was closing in on death’s doorstep.
“Please, rest easy now. I know you can never forgive the heinous acts I have committed against your people, regardless of where they had come from. But I’m sure that you shall have a place in the afterlife, one high above. And I know mine shall not be so kind.”
The titan went silent for a moment, but vocalized another message. It was one last request to the Fallen King, to its friend.
“But that will… okay. I will spare their lives. I do not know if that will be acceptable, but I will do it.”
The titan vocalized one last time, thanking the Fallen King. Rather than sad or angry, the emotion which resonated in its voice seemed happy.
“I’m sorry, my friend.” the king repeated, to no reply.
The lifeless form of the Gold Titan lay in the ditch, its friend tightly gripping its still-raised hand. After a moment of grieving, the Fallen King stood up and planted the Gold Titan’s sword into the ground nearby as an act of honor. He stared across the landscape and at the remaining golden people, who seemed to be bracing for what they saw as their deaths at the hands of the fallen. But instead, the king commanded his forces away from the area in spite of his own people’s protests. As they slowly left the area, the king faced the people whom his friend led.
“Keep your existence as hidden as possible. I am not seeking your forgiveness, but please, just heed those instructions.” the king said, ashamed of himself.
The Fallen King moved to retrieve his cape and repurposed it into wraps for his left forearm. He took one more look at the golden people below him, who had moved to mourn their leader. He then left, not looking back anymore.
A single tear then shed down from right eye and into his grazed cheek. It stung. He deserved it.