Chapter XVIII: The Birth Of The Celestial Hero (2)

Previously

“Here,” Aran said, taking out a thick book hidden behind an array of other miscellaneous books on a shelf covered in cobwebs. He blew on the cover, cleaning up the dust before letting it thump onto the table with it’s heavy weight. 

“This is?” Elm asked. She studied the book. There were no drawings on the cover, neither were there any inscriptions or titles that told of what it was. It was simply a thick book, with a blank, wooden cover that looked worn and torn from usage. 

“You wanted proof,” Aran said, motioning his head towards the book. “Open it.” He saw the distrust on her face. “It won’t kill you. Go ahead. Open it.”

Elm nodded. As someone who had been taught under her brother, she knew far better than to open strange, old books or enter weird, dangerous lairs but something about this book felt familiar to her. She had just started to reach for it but it felt like she had already held the book - her hands feeling the phantom weight, the smooth cover and the roughness of the papers. Voices started entering her mind - old, young and so, very familiar. 

The moment her hands touched upon the cover of the book, her eyes rolled to the back of her head as her mind reverted back in time. 

Elm’s face turns pale just as she returns back to reality. She took a sharp breath, immediately turning her shocked eyes to Aran’s knowing ones.

“Do you see now, child?,” Aran said. He pointed at the book, just in time for Elm to see it rise up in the air before bursting into smoldering flames, leaving behind a letter - an envelope that had a scarlet red royal-like crest waxing the thing close. “You can now no longer run from your fate. Everything will begin again.”

Elm however tightens her hands into fists. She saw the past that was and the future that will come to be, witnessing and therefore, participating in the world secret now that she knew. But that future. . .the one that she saw, the one where he died, she could not allow it. With that, she sent out aggression in the form of pheromones, ones that were strong enough for the village chief to feel threatened.

“I won’t allow it,” Elm snarled. She shook her head. “Never.”

Aran sighed. “You cannot fight fate. What is, will come to be.”

“It concerns his life. I will perform my duties but anything that results in his ending, I won’t allow it,” Elm stated. “Even if the very world was to impede me.”

The both of them stared down at each other, each wanting to make their point come across. The tension eventually melted when Aran had a gentle smile on his face. “Foolish child.” 

He nudged at the envelope. “Take that. Open it when you return to your house and read it. There should be two letters inside - one that will tell you everything about what you will have to do, apart from the ones your vision imparted.”

“What about the second?” Elm asked, her features returning back to its original bore. 

Aran smirked knowingly, showing off his sharp teeth. “Just a simple gift this old man has for the younger generation. There will be a carriage coming for you by the end of this week. Show them the second letter and hitch onto the ride.”

Elm nodded. She remembered the vision the book gave her. As the Celestial Hero, she would be granted an absolute talent and potential - one that could even surpass the Major Gods but along with it, the herculean responsibility of the world’s fate rested on her shoulders. Of course, she still needed to walk baby steps before she could think anything about the accursed future that was to come - one of such was to bid farewells with her family, especially her brother and take her first step. . .outside of this village. It was a shame she had to separate with her adorable brother but she feared the future that would come to him if she didn’t.

She reminded herself to make sure to cuddle with her brother as much as possible before she left.

“That will be all, child,” Aran gave her a gentle smile. “The hour is late. Run along no-?!”

The ceiling collapsed above them as something pierced the spot right beside them, beeping loudly like it was about to explode. Elm reacted quickly, settling slowly into her constitution as the Celestial Hero - lunging forward to cover her and Aran in her light, hoping that it was strong enough to protect them as the roof crumbled onto them.

Dust and debris rained down onto the barrier but luckily for her, her barrier never lost it’s light. However, it appeared that a part of debris had fallen onto Aran just before she could envelop him in her barrier as he lay unconscious on the floor. After the rumbling had ended, it was underneath all that rubble that she sat, alive and focused on maintaining the barrier. Through her enhanced senses, she felt something - a pair of wings perhaps, flapping above them and multiple explosions being set off in the entirety of the village, as the voices of the townspeople screaming resounded soon after. 

It was then that her heart throbbed, making her fall onto one knee. She felt like her entire body was burning with a fever - eyes dilated and ears blood-red, she traced the source of the burn to her right hand, from which her emblem shone like the brightest light. Bright enough that it seeped through the little cracks in the rubble and alerted the beings above. 

Adrenaline surged through her. Power, pure power coursed through her veins as her next words came to mind automatically, “[Construct]”. 

Immediately, her barrier collapsed onto itself just before it exploded outwards, destroying the remains of the house as she leaped out with an unconscious Aran in her arms. He was a tall, strong man who should have weighed very heavy but in his current state, he was nothing more than a feather. 

Gently landing on top of a neighbouring house’s roof, she set Aran behind her and casted a barrier around him just as she focused at the multiple energy signatures above her AND around her. 

Elm’s features tightened into a horrific frown. What had her town come to be? There was nothing more than fire - flames and demonic beings summoned from hell that was razing her hometown to cinders as the stench of dead, burnt bodies filled her nose. Her brother! Her blood ran cold at the thought of Willow contributing to the stench of dead bodies. It was almost enough for her to rage but her emblem prevented her - shoving calm, soothing images to the front of her mind. 

Right. Willow was her proud, beloved brother. He wasn’t some damsel in distress that would require her to obsess over his well-being. He was at the very least, smarter and had the better wits against her - enough so that his body wasn’t cold yet. No, she needed to focus on the more pressing matters at hand for now. 

She then turned her attention to the accursed, ugly things flying above her. 6 flying demons with a strong one in the middle. They were too ugly to be described in human tongue, too disgusting to be looked upon and too mad to be left alive in the mortal world. 

They could and should not exist.

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