The Seeker | Volume 2

I was taken aback by Jake's sudden question. I have already used a lot of my spirituality to summon the Errican Gang member from history, and if I were to summon Damien too for Jake's own desires, that would only render me weaker, maybe making me fall unconscious here and now.

I gazed at Jake and noticed his eyes, how soft they appeared as he stared out the window reflecting the red and black cosmos. With a heavy sigh, I reached my hand out and summoned Damien from history, or at least a projection of him that wasn't able to talk. 

The historical projection of Damien walked over towards Jake and wrapped his small hands around his muscular torso. Jake froze upon feeling this blurry sensation. When he looked down he saw the pair of hands, then he habitually looked back and caught sight of Damien.

"You're so grown up…" Jake said in quiet astonishment as he knelt down to meet the child's gaze. Damien didn't reply, instead he smiled faintly, a silent gesture of kindness. Jake instinctively reached out and grabbed the historical projection, wrapping his arms around it with a heavy heart. 

His quiet sobs filled the air as he rested in Damien's surreal embrace. The young child wrapped his wings around Jake, which only made him pull him in tighter. 

"I love you, kiddo…" He whispered to Damien as he kissed the projections cheek. My eyes began to droop closed slightly, my muscles beginning to ache the longer I maintained Damien's historical projection. With much hesitation, I clenched my fist and Damien disappeared.

Jake's eyes widened as Damein began to disappear, and he began clawing at the air as if he could pull him back from his half-real state. Damien's projection smiled warmly at the man as it eventually faded away. The silence in the room was almost deafening as Jake continued to sob, falling to his knees and clenching his fists into the carpet.

He then desperately looked towards me, and his expression contorted when he caught sight of my unconscious state. Jake immediately stood up and approached my body, shaking me violently in fear and desperation. 

"You idiot, what did you do?" Jake asked me with gritted teeth. 

I didn't reply, I was already asleep from my exhaustion. 

…

Mr. Dwane sat in his office writing on a paper he was supposed to send to a friend. Due to his noble status in the SSC, he had established many connections with politicians, bankers and nobles. He was writing to Sir. Alaric in regards to the characteristic he had found. 

Sir. Alaric was among the top nobles in the Indun Empire, serving beside Father Night Santon. In the Indun Empire, it wasn't considered customary to address their rulers as King or Queen, instead they either used Father or Mother, as they felt it was more of a way to feel connected to their ruler. 

But in the past, Alaric had already addressed this title as 'ridiculous' and almost childlike. The Indun Empire is a well known dictatorship that would establish trading connections with numerous empires nearby, including the Adligon Clans, Katshin Empire, Shotus Empire and Seraphis Kingdom.

Suddenly, Dwane heard a strange sound emanating from behind his door, but it didn't sound reminiscent of a knock. His curiosity piqued as he approached the door and opened it, but his amusement and curiosity quickly dissipated upon seeing that no one was there.

He quickly grabbed his lanturn and ignited it, walking along the numerous passages of the complex, looking for any possible source of the sound. When he got to a particularly dark part of the Pan Marché de Bolivar complex he heard the exact same sound, this time he could properly decipher it.

Wings? He quickly looked up and his heart jumped out of his chest when he saw a pair of red eyes glaring at him from the darkness. He heard a low growl coming from the same spot, and the sound of ruffling wings accompanied it. 

The eyes suddenly soured downwards, meeting the lantern light. In the light, Mr. Dwane now saw that was making the commotion: a dragon?! The dragon was all black in color with small, iridescent red scales mixed in. Its eyes were a beaming red, and it's feet were tentacles instead of paws.

Suddenly, Mr. Dwane put the pieces together. The characteristic that I had recovered from the Kraken doubled as an egg? So the Seeker characteristic of the Tyrant Routeway doubled as a dragon egg? But why would a Kraken give birth to a dragon?

…

When I reawoke I was still inside of my Divine Protection, except Jake was nowhere to be seen. I looked around the expanse and confirmed I was the only person in here. Did I unconsciously send him back to the physical plane?

Suddenly, a wormhole composed of green and purple energy opened in front of me. And Raymond, who wore his rounded glasses, walked out to greet me. The ends of his lips curled up slightly. 

"Hello, Apocalypse." He greeted me warmly, yet his voice always had a strangely malicious edge to it.

I heaved softly as I stood up to greet him. Since he used a portal this time I could conclude that this was his actual body rather than an avatar he could utilize.

"If you've come here physically I assume this is a lot more serious than I anticipated?" I asked him.

Raymond nodded, brushing aside a strand of his silky black hair. "It is, Apocalypse. Come." He ordered, gesturing towards the wormhole that was still open behind him. 

My brows furrowed. Upon seeing this, Raymond chuckled lightly. "I assure you, it means no harm." He teased me.

I took a hesitant step forward, sticking my arm into the wormhole before stepping through. When I walked into it, I saw a rocky mountain range. Above it was a large black cloud that struck crimson lightning onto the mountain. 

"Welcome to the Western Lands, Apocalypse," Raymond said calmly as he stepped onto the rocky terrain.

"The Western Lands…" I repeated the words under my breath. I didn't know how far away I was from Dreknought Bay or even the Katshin Empire. 

"We. It's night, and I assume you don't want to run into the People of the Wind, don't you?" Raymond asked, a tiny pang of foreboding laced within his voice.

Aren't those the people who reside here?" I asked, stepping over a small crevice in the rocks. Raymond nodded in affirmation.

"Indeed. The People of the Wind are an indigenous tribe dating from even beyond the previous epoch. They've always resided here in The Western Lands. In my thousands of years of existence I've always moved back and forth from here and Seraphis Kingdom, always curious about what exactly lies within these mountains."

He suddenly stretched out his right hand and pointed at the peak of the largest mountain in the distance. It was shrouded in the dark clouds that encapsulated the entire region. 

"The large cloud that stands above this island was actually a protection. In the third epoch when the Gods and humans resided together without much conflict, one of the gods with authority over the Tyrant Routeway, Prometheus, created this large cloud laced with symbolism." He continued. 

The inscrutable remnants sun disappeared beyond the large and ominous mountains, shrouding the new and foreboding environment in a veil of darkness. Raymond created a sphere of green energy in his palm, extending it forth and creating a surreal temporary space of light. 

"I've been here for about two weeks, every night I hunt for whatever I can eat. But since I do find myself exhausted from temporarily breaching your mind's defenses and allowing me to communicate with you without the need for an avatar, I'll need you to find us some food." 

I was dumbfounded by Raymond's proposal. "I have no idea what lives on this island, I might be risking my life for your lazy ass." I said sternly, my voice laced with obvious annoyance. 

The black haired angel chuckled to himself. "You did steal some of the Depravity authority from me. With some Order 3 characteristics they'll help you greatly." 

"All I'm aware of is the ability to create objects from history. But I don't have enough spirituality at the moment to create…let's say, a weapon, or any food we could eat."

Raymond fell silent, after a few moments he smiled at me. "You don't need any weapons at the moment. Up north in the forest you'll find a very delicate species of flower. That species is one of the few that are edible to angels."

I frowned. "Then what am I in for?" I asked, confused by Raymond's explanation and benefits

"I can change its composition." He replied, stroking his glasses.

…

Raymond had given me his knife that I could use to slice the stems of the flowers out of the ground. After I had left I had conjured up a lantern from history by quickly divining it when he wasn't looking. 

The lantern light proved ample in this situation, as I was able to navigate the terrain without much fret. The rocky terrain of the mountains and valleys of The Western Lands were difficult to navigate, and I found it puzzling that I didn't find any natives yet.

Soon, I stumbled across the large forest that Raymond had told me about. Massive trees with red leaves that were always charred and burning appeared. The trunks and roots were iron black, and the only water source was a river with red, flowing water.

When I knelt down and brought the water to my lips, I quickly regurgitated it, the coppery taste of blood overwhelming my tastebuds.

As I roamned deeper in the forest, the colder I felt. Overhead, the crimson lightning struck in the distance, accompanied by heavy thunder. Soon, I saw the small patch of flowers situated in the forest. They glowed a dim, red color and seemed to eliminate a fiery energy foreign to anything I've seen.

I knelt down and took out the knife, but when I was about to slice the stems I heard a deep voice call out. "Stop!"

I whipped my head in the voices direction. A man with dark skin, wearing a red and black shawl emerged from the darkness. His eyes were wide with worry and shock as he shoved me away from the flowers.

"Don't touch those! Those are Khorvithian petals, they'll burn you alive." He said in a deep and warning voice, but his eyes reflected concern. 

"Who are you?..." I asked the man. 

He set his spear on a nearby rock and nodded his head. "My name is Cheyenne, a tribesman of the People of the Wind."