The Last Celestial

King of the Oasis Part II

In the middle of the Sahara Desert. The fortress of Scorpio remained standing. Abandoned and was completely rundown. The gates that closed the door of the fortress from the outside world were now crushed into pieces.

Dried blood and seeds and different stains and trash can be seen all around the once proud fortress. Torn clothes, shoes and bones can be seen as well. But the stain that made the fortress looked haunted and cursed was the dried blood that can be seen around it.

The blood of the Keepers who laid their lives.

The halls that were once filled with joy and laughter was now quiet and filled with an eerie feeling.

It was empty, dark and full of evidence of the catastrophe that had happened.

The blood of the Keepers remained on the unwashed floor, the entrance and the castle walls. The dried blood can be seen on the catacombs. But most of all the dried blood was most evident in the chamber where the Scorpio's Relic used to stand.

The beast Sphinox and Golind destroyed everything and reduced the fortress to nothing but an ugly remnant of a m******e.

Now the only sound that can be heard in the once harmonious fortress was the drops of water coming from the ceiling of the chamber.

It dribbled continuously until a small pool of water the size of a man's palm formed against the dried blood of the Keeper who perished there. Then, the water from the ceiling stopped falling on the cold stone floor and the room remained silent again.

But then a soft pulse resounded around the room. So faint that it can be compared to a brush of wind.

The water that fell from the ceiling moved, and it moved along with the pulse. And as the pulsating sound gets stronger, so does the movement of the water. It then mixed with the dried blood underneath it, staining the transparent water with the brown color from beneath it.

And as the water successfully mixed with the blood of the Keeper it rose, the water thrusting up in the air until a body of a man was formed. And as the body of a man stands, the creature slowly morphed into a terrifying creature.

A chimera. A body of a man, head of a terrifying beast with the claws and telson of the scorpion.

The creature screeched and its voice echoed throughout the fortress. Its body shivered at the sound that it made itself, and as it shivered, soon thick liquids came from nowhere and absorbed the dried blood beneath it as well.

Soon, many creatures like the horrifying beast stood as well and screamed calling for more of its brothers and sisters. The fortress once filled with Keepers, was soon filled with monsters.

The Bane of Scorpio may have survived but it absorbed the hatred that came from the Keepers that died along these halls, chambers and catacombs.

It polluted the purity of the Bane, and twisted and turned the Bane into this horrific monster that is far from the core of the Celestial being where it came from.

Its heart almost echoed the same song as the creature created by the Undying Man.

It sang Hatred for the Undying man, yet it bears the Hatred of the Keepers to the Celestial being as well, and the beast knows the Undying man's name. "Emir..." The creatures all sang in unison, and the song came out from their mouth full of fangs like curses.

The beast amplified the hatred that was already on the Celestial's heart as Scorpio hated the Undying man with all of his being. But then the creatures also said, "Kill... Keepers..."

The legion marched out of the fortress, dragging their feet against the ground. And when their bodies reached the sand, they sank and merged with the desert. They moved forward until each and every creature vanished into the sand.

The whisper of their curses resounded softly like the wind. The creatures hummed and sang.

The sand moved as the creatures march on forward, creating a lump as they travel underneath where the naked eye cannot see them.

Singing as they do, claiming the desert which is rightfully theirs.

"Kill... Andrew."

======================

She wondered why the soft bed she was laying on suddenly became hard and tough against her skin. Hyacinth's eyes looked around through her hazy vision, trying to figure out where she was.

As her vision becomes clear, she feels confused and a bit terrified after discovering that she's no longer staying at the room where Andrew told her to stay in and rest. Instead, she's standing in a dried and almost haunted looking forest.

She took a step back, and gasped when a twig broke into two as she stepped on it.

Again, she looked everywhere, but all she could see was darkness.

Somehow, a part of her knows that this is just a dream. But unlike the usual ones, this is much darker. A grim reminder of the first day she opened her eyes and realized she was stuck inside a bull made of rocks until Andrew came in to save her.

Hyacinth tried to call for the Celestial who resides inside her consciousness. "Taurus?" She called softly at first before she gathered the strength and said, "Taurus? Are you there?" Her voice was still shivering.

Since she spent days in the darkness, she grew to despise it. "Taurus, please. I don't like this anymore." She pleaded while looking down.

She gasped loudly when she saw thorns and scorpions were creeping and crawling beneath her feet.

She was about to scream, but then her breath hitched when a big hole opened underneath her feet, and then she came tumbling down a slope.

She tossed and turned until she reached the end, and her back crashed against something a little soft and felt much like human flesh.

Hyacinth gathered the courage and looked at the man. She was surprised to see that his body, his flesh and his eyes were pure black. Then he spoke, and his voice sounded awfully familiar that it made her heart race crazily against her chest.

"My love..." Then the man reached out his hand, and when he did the color of his skin changed, showing fair skin. The man's fingers touched her cheeks, and it made Hyacinth feel a sense of calm that she had never felt before.

"Scorpio?"

It's as if her body, her mind knew who he was already. "Scorpio?" She asked again. "You're awake? You're alive?"

He did not answer and remained quiet for a second. And then, the man smiled... but blood dribbled from the corner of his lips, making Hyacinth stand up and look at him closely.

Before she could even touch him, his body began to disintegrate and soon, he was reduced to ash.

But before he truly disappeared, he whispered. "Help me..."

And then she woke up.

Her eyes snap open, and her body is covered in a cold sweat, shaking, heart pounding, looking around the room suspicious and paranoid that the horror may have followed her here.

Hyacinth pushed herself off the bed, and she gasped for air as if she was left breathless for so long. It felt like water filled her lungs and she was drowning. Her heartbeat was still racing manically against her chest and it was painful.

She gets up cautiously, shivering, rubs head and eyes and tries to fully awaken.

She stumbles to the bathroom, looks in the mirror slowly, cautiously, as if not sure of what he’ll see. The sun shines bright through the window, washing away the vestiges of the horror, leaving the victim relieved to return to their mundane existence.

More painful than when she is training with Andrew during the day. She had been practicing her powers ever since she and Andrew arrived in the forest. But this must be the first time she felt this tired.

Her body was profusely sweating that it felt like she ran for miles, and her hair was damp and her sweat was cold. Her shirt was sticking on her body and her lips were dry.

She could not stand the idea of not telling her dreams about Scorpio.

Hyacinth bit her lips, and only released it so that she could chew on her nails. A hobby or rather, something that she does whenever she's nervous and feels fidgety. She put on her slipper as fast as she could and practically slammed the door open. She ran towards Andrew's room which was only across hers.

And then shamelessly she knocks and wakes him up by calling out his name loudly. "Andrew!" She screamed. "Andrew, wake up... Wake up!"

She slammed the side of her fist against the hard wooden door again and again, only stopping when she heard hurried footsteps approaching the door.

Hyacinth stepped back a little when the familiar sound of the turning of the doorknob reached her ear.

The door slowly opened and it revealed Andrew who was still yawning. His blonde hair was unkempt and he was wearing a white tank-top and his favorite boxer shorts with 'AWESOME-BOY' imprinted on it.

"What is it, Hyacinth." Andrew asked as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "What do you need? I was actually having a nice dream this time..."

Hyacinth felt a bit sheepish that she always disturbs Andrew whenever she needs help. However, she doesn't know who else to run whenever she needs help because she's not yet as comfortable with the others.

But this is important. And as Andrew mentioned to her before, dreams, especially bad ones are warnings. While good ones are a blessing.

"Andrew." She said, "I had a dream... and I think it's the worst one I've ever had ever since that day on the island. I--I don't know what else to do, so I came to you for help."

Andrew who was still half asleep suddenly was much more awake when he heard what Hyacinth had to say. "What?" He said, his eyes still narrow from the sleepiness. "You had a dream?"

Hyacinth nodded, and her expression was as serious as before. "Yes... and I think I had a dream about Scorpio."