Where The Dead Ones Go Book 1 -Magistracy-

Chapter 8

"Do you long to always be the one who is still being protected? Never taking the lead, forever under the guidance of another?"

Amidst the pain I am experiencing, I can still hear the voice of the boy deep inside my mind...

"What will you do now to protect him from harm?"

"Anything..."

"I never doubted you, Vivet," the voice said as I felt my heart warm, and suddenly, the pain that I am feeling faded away, "Feel your heart, your soul, yourself. If you can still hear my voice then follow the sound. I am here inside your very being, lost in the darkness, waiting to be found. Deep beneath the chasm of nothingness lies the hope you are searching for so long. All the dark let it go, all the light, let it glow!"

I followed the voice deep inside my very core, and true enough, I found a very bright light beyond the vast nothingness of my mind and heart.

It is soft, caring, and benevolent...

"My child. My only child, I've been waiting for you for so long..."

This new voice is that of a woman.

Motherly and loving...

It seemed so new but so familiar like it's always been here, but this is the first time I've been aware of it.

"It's time for you to wake up after ages of sleeping, my beloved," she said as I felt a surge of power coming from the light, "Go forth, take a step and don't be afraid. Fight for everything you stand for. My name, say it. My power, use it. My love, feel it!"

I opened my eyes and quickly grabbed my rust staff from the ground, and it glowed into the very same radiant light I saw from my heart.

Trembling and swaying, I stood up and looked above me were the sons of Zeus and Poseidon are still waging a terrible battle against each other without care of those around them.

I took a step, and suddenly a pain without measure surged through my back as something tried to tear through my flesh.

I screamed loudly as the pain reached its maximum, and a pair of bloodied white wings about twelve feet long each burst forth from my back.

The pain stopped suddenly, and light poured forth from the wings and began to dance around me in the form of numerous mayflies made of pure radiance.

Her name...

The name of the one who granted my powers...

A stray electrified spire struck by lightning was thrown accidentally on our direction, and if I don't do anything, Morris and I will be crushed beneath its weight.

I opened my mouth and words I never thought I could say came out of it...

"Elpis: Benevolent Light!"

The mayflies encircling me scattered around and formed a barrier made of light around the two of us, and the spire hit it and exploded into thousand pieces that bounced harmlessly around it.

What happened got the attention of Zenith and Poseidon as they stopped fighting momentarily to look down on me in surprise.

I willed the barrier to dissipate and summon my mayflies back to me as I look up at them, "I have no quarrel with the two of you. Let us pass, please."

"This surging aura, a demiurge?" the son of Zeus asked that made Vaski grin excitedly.

"And a newly awakened one at that. It's not every day we can see with our very own eyes an awakening of a demiurge!"Zenith suddenly grinned in excitement as well as he summoned a giant lightning bolt from the storm clouds above, "Not every eons you say! This is a perfect chance to test my mettle against a mortal with godly powers!"

"You think you can take her on by yourself?" Vaski asked as he raised his earthen trident and summon floating boulders around him, "Underestimate an awakened demiurge and pay for it with your life at best and pride at worst."

"Hah! You suggest we have a truce?" Zenith asked the son of the king of the seas who gave him a small nod, "Very well, since we can go on forever fighting each other. Let's settle who is the better one between us. Whoever land the killing blow wins. What say you?"

Vaski pointed his weapon at me and smiled mischievously, "Very well! Let's begin!"

"Zeus: Lightning Eagle!"

"Poseidon: Equine Boulders!"

The electricity at the hands of Zenith transformed into a giant eagle that performed a divebombing maneuver straight to me, followed by the earthen horses of Vaski galloping down towards my direction at an amazing speed.

A silhouette of Zeus appeared behind Zenith in the form of electrified clouds as Poseidon took on a form of an earthen merman behind Vaski.

"Will you just let them get what they want, Vivet?" the voice of a boy asked in my head as I brace myself.

I felt a surge of anger deep inside me together with a new fount of power filling me to the brim, "Not this time!"

"Then take charge of your future! Don't be afraid, take a step forward and another. Don't stop until you reach your goal! The goddess of hope is always with you in the light and I am always with you in the dark, Vivet! Onward! Show them the power of an ancient!"

Ancient...

That word unlocks a part of my memory buried inside the chasm of nothingness in my head.

I remembered something...

The reason why I am so poor at my magical abilities.

It is not that I am too weak.

I am just trying to create a form I am never used to.

The fire element I know it is not the normal raging one.

It is not the orange, yellow, red, or blue flames that I can control.

It is white!

"Flare and dance, dazzle, impede the opposing forces! Fire Element: Twirling Prominence!"

I raised my radiant staff, and from it erupted, beautiful white flames that danced around me before meeting the eagle and the horse charging to me in such force my white fire just engulfed them and head straight for Zenith and Vaski who barely evaded it.

"She countered Olympic level powers with mere elemental magic?!" Zenith asked in surprise as he stopped smiling and decided to finally take me seriously.

"My retainer awakened outside our capital city and unleashed her powers alone. I never expected this much power from an awakened demiurge during a battle," Vaski said in awe as he cracked his knuckles and crouched in preparation, "Very well, I will take this seriously out of respect by that majestic display of magic. Here I go!"

I glanced at Morris, who is still unconscious beside me.

I must lure them away from him because I won't be able to defend myself fully if I endanger my companion with my own powers.

"Fated and absolute, burst, sundering spark be my light! Fire Element: Signal Flares!"I pointed at my staff at the charging demigods and out came balls of white flames that fly a short distance away from me and exploded in a blinding burst, and I quickly ran towards the opposite direction away from Morris.

My wings are safely folded behind my back and is not responding to my will.

If I can only fly or at least hover, then this will be a lot easier.

"Poseidon: Shattering Earth!"

The ground below me shook so hard I was thrown to the skies.

"Zeus: Smiting Air!"

I saw a gigantic translucent knuckle made of air flying towards my direction, and if I get hit by that, I am sure crashing down on the ground will be the least of my problems.

"Elpis: Transcendent Wings!"

My white wings are filled with radiant light, and it covered my whole body completely as the winds of Zenith hit me.

It deflected the attack but not the blow.

I felt that I was thrown out of the skies and straight to the ground.

If not for my wings sheltering me, I would've been a goner.

The moment I opened it, the children of Zeus and Poseidon are already on to me.

They are not really kidding.

They are here to kill!

"Zeus: Lightning Storm!"

Countless lightning bolts are converging towards where I stand and will surely reduce me to a pile of ashes if I don't do something.

"Elpis: Benevolent Light!"

The mayflies around me scattered once more and surround me in a barrier made of light as numerous lightning hit it relentlessly.

I can feel my shield weakening by each strike, so I raised my staff and reinforced it with my flames, "Nurturing and giving, reinforce, shelter me from the storm! Fire Element: Luminous Plasma!"

White flames emerged from the ground and reinforced my barrier completely as it tries to weather the ceaseless onslaught of Zenith.

I was so focused above that I didn't notice that the ground beneath my feet is crumbling.

It is already too late when I realized that Vaski was beneath the soil all along as he emerged from a gaping hole that appeared in front of me with his trident ready to strike me down.

"Poseidon: Piercing Trident!"

I closed my eyes, expecting to be skewered, but all I heard was a loud parrying sound, and when I opened my eyes, I see the trident of the son of Poseidon stuck in mid-air as if it hit an invisible wall or something.

"What?!" Vaski asked in surprise as he tried to fight an invisible force pushing him away.

And then I heard a familiar voice that made my heart jump in joy, "Seriously, two boys against one girl? And you call yourselves Olympic princes? I am not impressed."

"Show yourself!" Vaski ordered as he summoned horses made of earth and rocks around him to attack me, but I managed to regain my composure and stop his next assault.

"Elpis: Defying Force!"In a flash of brilliance, the horses shattered as if the magic giving them life is sapped away from them by my light.

Slowly, a shirtless boy wearing rugged jeans and torn shoes appeared between Vaski and me, holding his scythe against the trident before him.

I am awestruck by the magnificent pitch-black wings from his back that is casting a shadow down the son of the king of the seas that seemed to lose his temper.

"Don't look down on me!" he screamed as he jumped back and struck the ground with his weapon, "Poseidon: Erupting Ground!"

The ground below us cracked and started to shoot giant chunks of land at us by the dozens, and my barrier vanished, and the lightning strikes finally got through that made everything worse.

"This is bad. Vivet, hold my hand!" the boy shouted as he reached out his right hand to me, which I grabbed quickly, "Thanatos: Ephemeral Journey!"

I felt my body quickly became incorporeal as he quickly flew with me away from the onslaught that inadvertently terraformed our entire side of the battlefield.

"Can't you fly?!"

I shook my head as he carefully landed with me far away from the madness that Vaski and Zenith unleashed, "I can't my wings won't abide me when it comes to flight!"

"Well, it doesn't matter. What matters is you're safe," he said in relief inside our mind that made me cry, "If not for that weird voice, I wouldn't have met my father and you would've been a goner."

I just looked at him as he scratched the back of his head, "I'm so happy that you are fine, Morris. I tried my best to protect you but in the end, you're the one who defended me. Again."

"Hey! No hard feelings. I saw how you managed to hold on your own against those two powerful demigods," he said proudly that made my heart feel warm, "However, it seemed that while you managed to use your flames, all of your skills are centered around defense. You surely don't know any offensive ones?"

I shook my head and hung my head, "As far as the battle earlier goes, no. I keep on saying the name Elpis though. Wait a minute, is that my..."

"Your mother's name, Vivet," he said proudly as he gazes upon the mayflies flying around me, "Elpis, the goddess of hope. How truly fitting."

I shed a tear when I heard him say that for I know what he said is true, "But if I heard correctly, you shouted Thanatos. Isn't that the god of..."

"Death. Freaking morbid, isn't it?" he said as if he still can't get over the fact, "I always see myself as an easygoing guy and all. But my father just said when I was unconscious that I should suck it up as his firstborn child and use his powers to serve the daughter of the goddess of hope. Before I can even ask a question, he kicked me back to consciousness and I saw you being thrown out of the sky to my horror."

A loud boom erupted from the sky, and we looked up to skies, which darkened so much the bolts of lightning are literally dancing around them in droves ready to strike down. The ground rumbled, and we saw towering spires erupted in front of us, blocking our way forward.

"Oh, joy. Looks like we managed to piss them off, Vivet," Morris said exasperatedly as we saw Zenith and Vaskin looking down on us in contempt and anger, "Even with our powers as a newly awakened demiurges, I doubt we can brute force our way through them in one piece. Demigods of their caliber are not someone to trifle with, even by the firstborn like us."

I heaved a sigh as I looked sadly at the throne of the headmistress behind the two angry Olympic princes, "Back to square one, aren't we, Morris?"

"It sure looks that way but I've got an idea," he thought deviously in our mind as he showed me his strategy, "We don't clearly have a chance in terms of quality. In quantity, however..."

I blinked as he told me in my mind on what he wants me to do, "I can't wait to see this crazy plan of yours in action, Morris. It will be a miracle if it even work."

"Hey! You are the firstborn of Elpis, the legendary goddess of hope that was often dismissed as nothing but a fantasy. Surely a miracle is not impossible in her realm, right?"

I closed my eyes and nodded. He is right. My mother's voice earlier is so subtle but very powerful.

No...

Powerful is not the right word to describe it.

Real is the proper term.

Like everything can be a reality, no limitations, nothing impossible. As long as I believe, everything is within my reach.

"Shall we, Vivet," Morris shouted out loud as he kneeled on one knee on the ground.

"After you, Morris."

He grinned and slammed his hands to the earth, "Steadfast and loyal, assemble, unmoving soldiers of yore! Earth Element: Terracotta Legion!"

Countless pieces of earth rose up from the ground and quickly built hundreds upon hundreds of statues of earthenware soldiers fully armored and armed to the teeth.

He then spread his majestic black wings and fly several feet above, "Thanatos: Soul Reinforcements!"

Behind him appeared a large portal made of dark void energy where countless ethereal souls appeared from it and inhabit the statues, which became their de facto bodies they can use to interact with the physical world.

All the inanimate statues earlier came to life just like that.

"Morris..."

"No time to waste, Vivet!" he shouted as Zenith pulverized dozens of statues in one hit dispersing the stones and the souls in them to nothingness, "There's no take-two with that. This is the only chance we get. We have to make the most of it!"

I nodded and summoned all the light that I can.

Morris exclaimed excitedly as millions upon millions of mayflies converged around us in swarms as I silently prayed to my mother for help.

"Elpis: Gracious Pinion!"

My mayflies engulfed the statues, and after a few seconds, they dispersed, leaving behind ethereal wings at the back of the terracotta and a translucent light barrier around them.

Morris looked down on me and smiled proudly, "Nothing less from a demiurge of Elpis. Now, are you ready to take charge of your future?"

"I guess we both heard the same voice of the boy," I said meaningfully that made him nod knowingly, "I am ready, Morris. Let's show them now not the fleeting power of awakened demiurges but the strength of the ancients. Whatever that word means."

"Ancients, huh? That has a nice ring to it," he answered happily as he raised his hands in defiance, "Swarm them! Thanatos: Hallow Requiem!"

Our legion started flying towards Zenith and Vaski, who is now unleashing their combined powers at us no holds barred.

The earth and the skies attacked our legion, but my light defended them briefly, so they took longer than expected to destroy.

When the terracotta soldiers managed to pierce through the first line of defense of the Olympic princes, Morris vanished again as I began running straight ahead true north.

I haven't forgotten the real reason why I am here in this colosseum.

I will not let you down, Ms. Irene...