Chapter 24

‘’Black and White Vision’’

Cold air fills the room. A darker, gripping, menacing power overshadowed the mist of Jenar. A chill that cuts through skin, a burn that penetrates the skin and scorches the muscles. Jenar’s eyes fall on a boy whose eyes have gone dark and lifeless, desolate of hope and light, filled with only the tears of remorse and regret. A shaken voice that utters no words, but only the pained moans of a boy that seems himself more unfortunate that anyone else.

Jenar looks at him with surprised due the sudden change in his opponent. ‘………what in the world happened to-!’

‘!!!’ in a blink of an eye, a single beast possessed by Abyss elbows Jenar, sending him flying towards the wall. The beast is Brandr, having lost control over his heart and spirit, broken by the fact that he indirectly caused the deaths of hundreds. Now only a shell of himself, he only has one target, which he jumps to in one swift step, grabs by the chest, and with one hand swings over his body and smacks against the ground.

‘Gaah! How dare you-!’ Brandr smacks him against the wall next to him and throws him to the other side once again.

‘RAAAHHH!!!’ He grabs his sword, which completely changes in form as he shrouds it in dark matter. ‘!!!’ Without a mutter, he gathers mass and magic and swings it with rage towards Jenar, who flies towards the wall towards the high sky over the town square. ‘ARGH!!’ Brandr jumps after him and in an instant that can’t be matched by the eye, impales his gigantic sword into the body of Jenar as the plummet down to the ground.

‘Grrr…you fool! Do you really think you have me like this?! You’re a brat, and that’s final!’ Jenar casts something in his hand, and places it near the chest of Brandr, who grabs his extended arm and squeezes hard enough to break it instantly. ‘Gah! You-!’ Jenar casts it and Brandr gets lifted by the spell and flown into the tower as Jenar pulls the swords out of his body and slow-falls himself to a soft touch on the ground, surrounded by soldiers. ‘W-what are you looking at? Can’t you see the threat is over there?’

‘They don’t control you anymore, old friend? Or should I say…Abyss?’ A familiar voice comes from the back, as a strong, wrinkled figure walks through the crowd.

‘Ahh...the mentor of my vessel… the great Evander! Are you here to stop me as well?’ Jenar poses his body with his arms wide, the darkness already healing the giant wound made by Brandr.

‘It seems that I have to force you out of my pupil’s body, but it wouldn’t be fun if I didn’t have to try, right? Well, battered like that, I probably just have to blow against you to take you down.’

‘And trying is the last thing you will ever do, Evander the Wise!’ Jenar shouts, interrupted by a big explosion behind him, with a crazed Brandr coming from its origin.

‘Grrr…gr…ABYSS!!!’ A loud scream, as Brandr’s body jumps towards Jenar, and in a flash stands in front of him as he punches him to the ground. ‘Grr…’ Jenar lies there, Brandr’s punch blocked by the staff, that he pulls out of his hands and breaks in two, releasing a dark miasma that gathers into the clouds and takes the mist of the city with it as it flies high into the air.

‘The mist…is dispersing…’ Evander says to himself as he clenches his fists. ‘The magic is returning to the city…You did it, Brandr!’

‘Grr?!’ Brandr looks up to Evander, who reacts shocked as he sees a Brandr, engraved in markings and encryptions of dark magic, covering half his body as one eye has changed colour to black, a dark energy flowing out of his body.

‘B-Brandr…? That’s you, right?! Brandr?!’

‘E-E…vander...?’

In an instant where Brandr and Evander recognise each other, Brandr’s body flies back by a purplish energy again, crash-landing into the ground. ‘Don’t you ignore me, you Hero brat!’ Jenar’s body struggles from the ground he was punched into. ‘I shall quickly dispose of you and then rid of the filth in this land.

‘W-what?! But Brandr broke the staff! You should be dispelled out of his body without your magical source!’ Evander shouts as he conjures a fireball into his hand, ready to defend himself.

‘You fool! I never needed that staff. Not for a long time. You see, this man was weak and jealous, desperate for power!’

‘No…’

‘Yes, you weakling. I found him in a cave where the staff was buried, broken a man by the fact that he was even more useless than the useless maggots that you all are. He needed power…power to protect his people, his pride, his land and to earn to respect of his friend and mentor. You drove him to this desperation, Evander the Wise, and you should know…what desperation can bring…’ A wide grin forms onto the face of Jenar.

‘I see…then I am sorry my friend, but it seems I have no other choice but to take you down. It seems like I haven’t been able to tutor you properly.’

‘Well then. Let us commerce, Evan-‘

‘MINE!’ In a flash, Brandr jumps above Jenar, and roundhouse kicks him to the face, towards the tower, as Brandr holds the Arc in his hands. ‘DIE!!!’ A swing of dark magic, Brandr attacks the damaged tower, and in a single swing, damages the side of the tower enough to make it collapse onto Jenar. A loud crash followed by dust and silence as the thumping in Brandr’s head continues.

‘Grr…Gahh…Aaahhh!!!’ Brandr screams like a beast into the sky, shaking the ground with power and sorrow, followed by…darkness…

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‘Where…am I…? I look around me. There is only darkness. ‘What happened…’ I try to remember what happened, until I realise the words that were said to me. ‘Perinia…ngh!’ My head starts thumping again, but I try to keep my composure, until I suddenly see a figure in front of me. It’s hazy, but I can make a person of it. ‘Who are you?! What’s going on?’ The person ‘’looks’’ at me and makes a wide grin as I suddenly feel my body falling. ‘Gaaaahh!’ I feel like I’m falling into endless darkness. ‘That’s right…mistake after mistake. Since my birth, all I have been doing is failing and disappointing everyone around me. I deserve to lose my mind and body. I don’t deserve to walk among those noble enough to protect this world and mine, instead me being an ambassador of sorrow and destruction…’ I slowly close my eyes, giving up on everything until I notice something flickering from my neck. It’s the necklace that Astra gave me. Something swells back in my heart. ‘That’s right…I promised her…to save this world…’ I hold the necklace and clutch it to my chest I remember the faces of my father and my sister. Of Sylvestra. Of my people. I made a promise to myself to return. I won’t let myself lose control like this! ‘I might not deserve it, but I promised that I would try. After all, if I don’t do this, this world truly would crumble, and I’d never be able to return to my family. So…I need to try…for her, for me, for Illumina…for Edelweiss!’ Light shines in my hand that hold the necklace. A warm light…

I can hear rumbling, mostly blocked by a high-pitched ringing in my ears and pain in my body. My vision slowly returns to me, revealing a broken and tumbled tower in a wrecked town square. ‘W-what…happened…here…’

‘Gaahh! To think…this brat…is pushing me back like this!’ I hear a voice coming from the rumble. It belongs to Jenar, who used magic to partially shield himself against something. His arm is limp and looks broken, his body is tattered and bleeding.

‘Jenar! It’s over! I will save you!’ I clench my sword with everything I got. I won’t lose my light anymore.

‘Grr! I will kill you, Hero of Illuminia!’ He uses his spare hand to create another purple ball, but one that increases ten times in size as he holds it above his head. ‘I will make sure your face will be wiped of this planet!’

I gather all the magic I possibly can gather around me and push myself to the limit! ‘I’d like to see you try! I will come victorious! Illuminating Strike!’ I throw all my energy forward and strike as Jenar throws his ball towards me. They fly against each other, clashing and pushing, until my attack overpowers and splits his ball, making it explode. Midst the explosion, I sprint forward and use the dust as smokescreen to get in front of Jenar.

‘What!’

‘Begone out of his body, Abyss! No longer will you torment this man! Radiate, Arc!’ I gather all the power I have left in my muscles, all the magic around me and push the flat side of the Arc against Jenar, as it shines as bright as the sun, radiating the square completely.

‘Brandr!’

‘Haaaaaaa!!!’ I push more and more, as the dark miasma steadily starts fading from Jenar’s body. I push one more time, blasting all the darkness completely out of Jenar’s body. The Arc stops glowing and all there is left is rumble and devastation surrounding two individuals, as Jenar’s body falls. I want to catch him, but I barely can hold myself up, as I fall on my butt. ‘Hah…hah…it’s over…isn’t it?’

‘Brandr! Are you okay!’ I look to my left, as I notice Evander running towards me. He looks a lot better from the last time I saw him.

‘You shouldn’t be running. You were looking so sickly earlier.’

‘Brandr…is that really you? Are you back?’ I’ve never seen him so worried.

‘What do you mean…of course it’s me…I’m not the king…yet.’ I rub my chin, thinking that I might’ve said something weird.

‘It’s really you…? No one makes worse jokes than you after all.’

‘I swear, if my body functions again, I will hit you so hard!’

‘Hm.’

‘Anyway, I will make it. It’s Jenar that needs the real attention. His body looked really battered. Maybe go a bit easier on him, Evander. I know you like to show off your power, but we shouldn’t kill him.’

‘Wait, you don’t…’ he pauses mid-sentence, rubs his beard, but only says ‘Never mind. You’re right. I’ll make sure that Jenar gets the medical treatment he needs.’ Evander says, glancing one more worried look in my direction before he carries Jenar’s body. Even with his age, he’s able to do something like that. That’s impressive…

‘Let’s go…’ I stand up using my sword, but the moment I get up I feel my body failing me, as I plummet back to the ground, losing my consciousness in the process. The last thing I heard was Evander calling out my name, before I fell back into my slumber once more…

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It’s dark around me. Once again, I cannot see anything further than my hands. There is nothing… I float in nothingness, wondering what is going on, until I see a figure in front of me. ‘You…who are you…?’ He floats towards me, or rather, I feel like I’m being dragged towards him. I fly, until I suddenly stop a meter in front of him. His back is turned towards me, but as he turns around, I see myself, only with weird, dark engravings in my face, and eyes turned black and white. ‘W-what…you aren’t me! What are you?!’

‘Don’t you remember? What you did?’ it says as its starts putting his hand into my chest. I scream in agony, as he grabs my heart, and yanks it-!’