Afterwards, Zeran was now in another area. He glanced around the place. The whole room looked-like it would be the very haven of a j.a.panese princess in historical times with wooden flooring. The walls appeared as authentic paper doors but, those were made from dazzling otherworldy silk, proving the place was laddened in divine presence. The very atmosphere was brimmed in the deep sea mystical sensation, even though the whole place doesn"t have any water at all, although there were floating fishes around the place, as if they were swimming smoothly in the unseen ocean floor. Zeran was convinced that the whole room was the haven of a certain G.o.ddess. He looked straight and saw that the G.o.ddess Otorine was sitting on the floor at the very end of the room, proving the formal and traditional seiza, such as she was a traditional royal princess from the land of the rising sun. Though, her calming appearance made Zeran to be even more shocked, since her posture amplified her divine form even more. More than that, he was now convinced that she was the one who invited him to her sanctuary. Zeran moved near her and he sat on the floor too, doing the same posture as Otorine. Later, Otorine spoke in a very formal way,"Welcome to my sacred sanctuary hero Zeran...".
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Zeran responds, as if he was in a hurry,
"Okay...cut to the chase G.o.ddess Otorine..."
"What is it that you want to talk about? I don"t have much time ya know?".
There was a deep silence in the air, as Zeran released his pent-up words and expressed with a furious face. Otorine didn"t respond but, she just closed her eyes. Tears started to leak out from her covered eyes. G.o.ddess Otorine"s serene and calm appearance was gone, as she opened her eyes, depicting such as she was no longer a highly revered G.o.ddess but, just a concerned lover to her dear Na.s.sus. Her tears were falling out more and more from her glistening eyes of beauty. She rushed unto Zeran. She grabbed his sleeve and shoulders, pleading to him with all her expressive soul,
"Please...don"t destroy Na.s.sus and his ambitions...I beg of you...".
Zeran didn"t feel any pity for the begging G.o.ddess, instead her plea made him to be even more furious than ever before, making him to engrave an angrier look and grind his teeth in fumed-up rage. Sooner or later, he replies with a sudden impulse of hatred and utter disrespect,
"What? So he can enslave all the G.o.ddesses and do his bidding?"
"I never knew you"re the one who would say that..."
"If only you KNEW the horrors he had been doing...".
Otorine"s face was still crying and she was still holding unto his sleeve but, she spilt-out her honest words very softly, in response to his previous statements,
"I know of his pain and sufferring..."
"I know why he is doing this...".
As he heard her truthful replies, his anger reached its boiling point, making him to voice out his intense anger,
"Then why don"t you be the one to stop him!"
"Since you know all of this!"
"YOU m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t!".
Afterwards, he pushed her down on the floor due to his uncontrollable rage. Zeran was on top of the G.o.ddess Otorine, turning their very situation to be very awkward and uncomfortable. Otorine"s tears stopped leaking and she looked widely surprised that Zeran was on top of her, although she noticed that the angered Zeran won"t comply with her normal pleas, so she turned her face away from him. Then, she says with a soft voice,
"If you were to ignore him and let him do his bidding..."
"You can take me as your own..."
"You can do this to me for the rest of eternity..."
"Isn"t this what you yearn for?"
"A G.o.ddess who will be by your side forever?"
"Love you with everything she has to offer?"
"An eternal bond that cannot be broken by death?"
"The secret for...immortality?"
"After all...I"m just one of his slaves..".
Her crystal tears started to swell again, as she expressed something about her situation. She looked at him directly and continues to say,
"He"ll get more and forget about me...but you..."
"I know you"re not the same as him...".
The air was becoming more and more tense, while they were still in an awkward situation. She touched his left chest with her gentle G.o.ddess touch, vowing on her words yet, her heart was still inclined unto loving Na.s.sus no matter what, so she felt a sting of pain inside her chest in a sudden glimpse. Though, Zeran wasn"t pleased of her generous and tempting offer, instead it made him to release his wrathful words in full force,
"WHY ARE YOU G.o.dDESSES SO..."
GAH!".
He punched the ground near the G.o.ddess Otorine"s gorgeous face and bore a crack on the wooden floor. His dire action made her to be shocked. Zeran was still furious but, he got up as soon as possible, since he doesn"t want to talk with her anymore. He brought out the magical card that Ru gave to him previously. There were violet mystical lights and an intense surge of energy surrounding him afterwards. Though, he still uttered out his words, bidding some sort of farewell to the surprised Otorine who was still lying on the ground,
"I"m leaving G.o.ddess Otorine..."
"I"m gonna destroy Na.s.sus whether you like it or not..."
"And I shall save Ru and..."
"NOT YOU NOR THAT SCHEMING ANGE!".
Soon, Zeran vanished without a trace. The air cooled down and the serene feeling of the place was back to its former self. Though, Otorine was still lying on the ground but, she wasn"t crying anymore, since she was delving in her thoughts, recalling what Zeran had said before,
("Me...stop him...")
("Now I see hero Zeran...")
("Thank you...").
Meanwhile, in the case of the poor dark G.o.ddess Ru, she was still bound in the torture chamber below. She was looking ever battered than ever before. Her amber eyes were now falling out crimson tears. Though, she wasn"t devoid of emotions but, she was wearing a hopeful smile for some reason. Ange came inside and noticed that Ru was smiling, even though she was struck with lots of th.o.r.n.y pain already. Ange looked truly disturbed, so she asks her counterpart, G.o.ddess Ru,
"Hmmmm...it seems you"re happy of something Ru...".
Ru replies,
"Zera"s coming soon...".
Ange responds back,
"Yes I know...but...I"ll have to tell you something...".
Ru looked at Ange and says,
"What?".
Suddenly, Ange went close to Ru"s left ear and whispered something very dire and atrocious in meaning, that made Ru to be shocked that even penetrated her fragile heart. Ru was frozen in fright and her heartbroken crystal tears mixed with deep guilt leaked out. Ange closed her eyes and she wore a vile smile that wasn"t even the face of a light G.o.ddess yet instead, a blooming candidate to become a distorted light G.o.ddess. A little while later, Ange left the torture chamber and Ru was left alone once again. Though, Ru wasn"t wearing a hopeful smile waiting for her dear savior Zeran. Instead, her face was masking a scarred look devoid of any kind of fleeting emotion. Her deathly aura was even seeping into the air, turning the place to become ominous, that"d make anyone to see her as a terrifying menace than a damsel in distress now.
On the other hand, back at Zeran"s situation, he had lots of training in fighting monsters, making him to be more formidable and stronger than ever before for quite sometime. As soon as he was ready, he departed in order to save his dark G.o.ddess Ru. Strangely enough, the Ru plush doll didn"t wave him a goodbye but, it seemed it wasn"t controlled by Ru anymore, such as it was a lifeless doll again, making him to be filled with doubts. Afterwards, he fought a few numbers of knights and warriors outside the bridge leading to a white castle. Though, due to his exceptional skills and better movements, he was able to crush them easily, turning the fight to be finished soon enough. The golden warriors were down for the count and weren"t breathing anymore, as their bodies were penetrated by Zeran"s claw. It may seem unforgiving but, he needed to do this kind of bloodshed in order to save Ru. Later on, he grabbed a chocolate bar from his pocket and ate it. He noticed that there were only a few of them, making him to say in his thoughts,
("Kay that was easy...seems she antic.i.p.ated this...").
He overheard cries of jeering pain from the warriors at the distance. He turned his face to the direction his ears had heard. He noticed that Cyron and Sheena were fighting the other warriors and knights by the distance. Cyron took notice of Zeran"s sight, so Cyron gave him a thumbs-up. Sheena gave Zeran a determined nod too. Then, they continued to bring onslaught to their enemies with their mix of quick physical stirkes and magical downpours of destruction, since they wanted to help Zeran"s objective for some reason. Zeran was in his thoughts afterwards,
("Seems Cyron and Sheena are still kinda helping me...")
("Sigh...those two...").
He stopped looking at the loving couple in sync. He turned his look back unto the dead warriors on his side and he says with a loud voice,
"My fellow brethren...I"m sorry for smiting all of you down but, my dark G.o.ddess is being held captive by your queen..."
"You know...you should"ve chosen to save your lives by being with your families and loved ones but, instead you stood by the queen...and this is what you"d grab...I mean get...".
As he noticed that he flunked up, he was in his thoughts,
("d.a.m.n...I almost slipped out on that script...").
Though, there was still a warrior down on the ground on his last dying breath. He tries to respond to Zeran"s statements,
"Dark G.o.ddess?".
Soon enough, the warrior died and pa.s.sed on to the other side. It seemed the warrior or the other warriors working for the kingdom of Queen Fae doesn"t know what atrocious and menacing things were happening inside the castle. Zeran walked straight to the bridge and he opened the castle doors. Thereon, he saw the very presence of Mai. Mai aimed her crossbow at him and says with a cold look on her face,
"I knew you"d be here...Zen...".
Her valkyrie eyes even made the whole atmosphere to be very tense. Zeran wasn"t fazed nor frightened, instead he wore a sarcastic grin that was oh so very hilarious to witness upon, despite the fact his head was targeted straight on. He held his chin and says, oozing with grave sarcasm,
"Mai...wow...I never thought...you"d switch sides now...".
Mai objects,
"I didn"t switch to Queen Fae..."
Rather, I"m here to pursue the late queen"s ideals even though she"s no longer in this world, tricking that wretched Queen Fae here..."
"And you are getting in the way...".
Though, her thoughts were deeper in sense,
("I also want to know what Ange is up to...").
The air was becoming colder and colder and the searing heat of the upcoming duel was very suffocating, as Zeran readied his claw and tried to antic.i.p.ate Mai"s first strike, while he was on a formidable stance. The next moment, she sighed and closed her eyes. She stopped aiming at him and held down her crossbow, proving out the sheer intent of bloodshed was gone in that very moment. Zeran was surprised and dumbfounded. Soon, Mai opened her eyes and looked at Zeran with a joyful smile that came from the heavens above. Her very expression wasn"t filled with any dangerous intent to Zeran unlike before, as she says proving her intentions were pure filled with soothing grace,
"But, really...I"m here...to see you Zen...".
Zeran replies,
"Huh? Okay...now I"m here..."
"What is it that you want now?".
Mai sighed and walked near him. As soon as she was near him, Zeran felt very cautious of what Mai shall do next in front of him. Suddenly, Mai threw away her crossbow and wreathed her arms around him like a charming maiden. Zeran was surprised, since her very action was very unexpected. He tried to break free from her embrace but, alas her hold around him was tight. He noticed that Mai"s face looked-like a woman who wanted to be loved and accepted. Thereupon, Mai says in front of his face, with a soothing voice of an angel,
"Zen...I know this sounds strange but..."
"Let"s start all over again...only the two of us..."
"I"ll be more caring and supportive to you...like a real wife would..."
"I would even help you on crushing down that evil Queen Fae who abused you..."
"Forget everything that"s happening here..."
"Let"s leave this place together..."
"I love you with all my my heart...".
She tilted her head subtly to ask if her offers were enough for him. He wasn"t pleased by the generous love and offer of his first former wife who wanted to start all over again, since his heart was already bound to another woman now, so he just closed his eyes. Soon enough, he cracked out a sarcastic smile and he huffed out a silly laugh, since he can"t believe on what he had heard from Mai. Mai was surprised, so she removed her embrace. More than that, her intense raging aura was back. Afterwards, Zeran responds to her offer, though he was still laughing through the top of his lungs, with strong conviction in his heart,
"Forget? Be with you?! Wife?! Love?"
"Hhahahaha! I can"t believe I"m hearing those words from you..."
"Those were the opposite of what you had said BEFORE we left on our seperate paths here...remember?"
"And if you didn"t know...I don"t have any ounce of love for you anymore...and our marriage is now gone as a clean slate..."
"I"m here for Ru!".
He touched his chest and proved his words were strong and true to call. Mai felt angrier, as she heard the name of her fellow dark G.o.ddess, making her to exclaim expressively,
"Sigh...why of all things...one of my dear for...I mean why her...".
Zeran responds with great eagerness in his eyes,
"I have my reasons..."
"And since you"re her friend...why didn"t you save her instead?".
She replies,
"Enough of this Zen...".
Mai brought out her scimitar in a snap and tried to strike Zeran upwards with powerful force and blistering speed. Though, Zeran was able to block her attempt. Zeran tried to counter her attack by swinging his claw but, Mai was quick on her graceful feet, so she just jumped away and grabbed her crossbow lying on the ground. Zeran felt cautious and didn"t tried to strike her since, she has the advantage in range. In turn, he stanced and focused on her next blow. For some reason, she still tries to communicate with him yet, her look was serious upon smiting him down,
"Tell me...why do you even want to save Ru?".
Zeran replies with a determined smile,
"Well...I really don"t know...but my heart kinda tells me so...".
Mai gritted her teeth. She felt more and more infuriated, as she heard his convicted words for Ru. Thereon, she aimed her crossbow above and she casts out,
"NIGHTMARE BARRAGE!".
Her crossbow shot a black arrow above. As soon as, it reached the highest center of the ceiling, it dispersed. Suddenly, huge searing chrome black arrows fell from above, aiming for Zeran. He was able to dodge a lot of them although, he was still damaged. As Mai was open for an opportunity, Zeran dashed to her and tried to strike her with his claw swing but, Mai was able to parry it with her scimitar from her other hand. Afterwards, Mai leaped away from him to gain the ranged advantage again. Zeran stood still once again and focused on her next attack, although he also said,
"And what about you?"
"You"re her friend but, you"re helping her enemies instead...".
As she heard his remarks, her composure was gone, making Mai"s boiling point to reach its peak. Her very seething anger caused her to burst out, as she shouts from the top of her lungs,
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
"SHE IS NOT MY FRIEND ANYMORE!".
She triggered powerful shots relentlessly afterwards, although her aim was a bit off, due to her emotions acting up, turning Zeran to dodge the random projectiles easily. More than that, she was letting out painful tears mixed with an ounce of guilt, as her arrow barrage was occurring. Soon, she wiped out her pitiful tears and she exclaims her defiant reply,
"DON"T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT ME AND RU!".
"TRIGGER BLAST!"
,as she casted out her spell, her crossbow released a fast moving white projectile directly unto Zeran"s head, such as it was a strong beam of light. Though, Zeran blocked the lethal strike by using his golden claw. Zeran seemed to be grinning since, his dirty plan that just popped out from his mind was working unintendedly. Soon, he let out more insults from his sharp tongue,
"I thought Ru was weird but, you"re kinda weird too...".
Mai shouts back,
"I AM NOT WEIRD! SHE"S THE ONE WHO"S THE ONLY WEIRD HERE!"
"THAT"S WHY...I LEFT HER!".
Then, she continued to wrought out a flurry of arrows but, due to her unclear vision from her swelling eyes with tears, she wasn"t able to shoot her arrows accurately, making Zeran to just dodge them without breaking any sweat. As he heard her honest words, he was in his thoughts suddenly,
("So that"s how it is...").
He sighed afterwards. Mai had stopped letting out her crazy shots, since her fuming and steaming self had calmed down. Her composure was back and aimed at Zeran"s head but, she was still leaking out her crystal tears. Soon she casts out,
"DIVINE CHARGE...".
The air became stagnant. Zeran felt cautious and braced himself for impact. Her crossbow was sucking out white energy from the atmosphere, siphoning and charging out its immense power that shall release her divine judgement soon. Zeran, didn"t tried to strike Mai, since at any moment it would smite him down, if he grabbed the opportunity and opened himself for attacks, so he just let her crossbow charge to the fullest. Though, he just sighed again and he had stopped stancing himself. Later, he walked towards Mai very slowly, making Mai to be shocked and she says with an ounce of worry in her heart,
"W-what are you doing?!"
"Stay back Zeran!
"ZEN PLEASE!".
Zeran ignored her plea and continued to walk towards her. The charging was complete. Suddenly, a destructive white projectile burst out, even though Mai didn"t pull her trigger. It aimed unto Zeran, such as it was a divine missile sent from the heavens. The projectile exploded unto Zeran and it caused a powerful flash of light and white smoke in the aftermath. Not only that, it"s gale caused a huge crater on the ground, ruining the glorious hallway of the castle. As soon as, Mai wasn"t able to see him from the fog, she was filled with heartbroken tears, since she was convinced that Zeran was already gone from existence. She fell on her knees and dropped her crossbow, as she cried all her heart out in deep silence. Then she says,
"That"s why...I warned you...".
Though, as the fog cleared up. She noticed that there was a long black blade pointing at her neck. She looked above and noticed that Zeran was still alive and breathing, making her eyes to be widely shocked and to freeze her sudden tears. It seemed Zeran won the duel, since Mai was locked down on her knees and the blade would easily smite her life in an instant. Thereon, she expresses,
"Zen? No way...".
Zeran replies with a smile,
"Yeah...it"s me...Zen...".
Mai tries to utter her words,
"Is that a...".
Though, Zeran interrupted her,
"Yeah it"s a Blade Memoria...called Da Reaz...".
Mai was convinced that it was one of the most treasured sacred weaponry of the divine G.o.ddesses at Celestia heavens that was ever expanding in its contents, since each Blade Memoria was different per certain individual. She felt that her heart was pierced, since the very essence of the Blade Memoria meant that it was carved from the sheer strong emotions for loving and protecting someone dear to a hero"s heart. Most of the time, the heroes who would love their dear G.o.ddesses with all their heart and soul, can manifest this kind of mysterious ability, due to the heroes love for them. Not only that, each Blade Memoria was easily identified due to the color ident.i.ty or favorite color of the G.o.ddess/lover. More than that, it was a huge trend amongst the Celestia G.o.ddesses that would even tell that her hero truly loved her dear with all of his heart, since he would do everything for her with his weapon carved from his emotions for her. Even for Mai, she was interested in this trend, sadly none of her former heroes in her world was able to manifest this, meaning they didn"t love her dear with all their heart. Mai was also convinced that the Blade Memoria Zeran was wielding was the favorite color of Ru and her very ident.i.ty of amethyst gemstones with a touch of black and a serpent-like form, that proved Ru"s ident.i.ty. Since before, Ru and Mai partic.i.p.ated in a controversial yearly event of knowing what their Blade Memoria would be manifested to their future heroes would be. It seemed the very weapon Zeran was wielding was the very image she had seen before in Ru"s content. Later on Mai cried all her heart out, although it was loud and scandalous,
"UWAAAAAAAH!".
Zeran sighed and just punched her delicate stomach, knocking Mai out cold and ending her huge scandal. He vanished his Blade Memoria and scratched his head, as he saw Mai was lying down on the ground. Soon, he says to her before he bids farewell,
"Sorry for hitting you Mai..."
"But I need to save Ru soon...nor I wanted to kill you...".
Afterwards, Zeran left the place and trudged deeper into the inner castle grounds. After sometime has pa.s.sed, Zeran"s presence was totally gone from the area Mai was in. Moreover, Mai regained her consciousness but, she was still lying on the ground wearing a regretful face filled with tears, as she delve in her thoughts,
("To think Ru...was able to manifest the ever glorious BLADE MEMORIA to him...")
("If only...I proved my feelings to him earlier...")
("And if I was just that strong enough...to free myself from their chains before...").
She sighed. Then, she placed her hand on her forehead and continued to say in her thoughts,
("Why are these so called distorted heroes so powerful than us G.o.ddesses now?").
("Are we forever d.a.m.ned by those demonic G.o.ds and insane heroes devoid of morality?")
("But maybe...Zen...would transcend them and prove something when he"s with Ru...since he"s crossing both sides of light and dark very carefully...")
("Zen...for my sake and Ru"s sake...don"t let your light to be distorted...")
("Don"t become like you"re father and the other fallen/distorted heroes like Na.s.sus...")
("Your G.o.ddess mother a.r.s.eia would be sad...").