My Enemy

AETHER NIGHTBLADE

[Current time, 1:47 AM]

Nevera had now been driving for over 5 hours and the rest of us were well rested.

We approached a large beacon of light at this time of darkness. It was the Light tower of Port Carrius, guiding the last of the day's ships back to shore. It shone a massive circle of light into the distance. It was so bright that people without protective equipment could go blind but we had already made preparations for that.

Our truck approached the gate and we passed through without any difficulty because of the dominion permits'

"You know, people are giving us suspicious looks", Cecilia said while looking out at those people.

"Must be the afterburner."

"No, that isn't visible now, it is within the truck now", Lia added. "I guess we will be sleeping on a ship today instead of using our bags then."

Minerva seemed a little enthusiastic.

"Yeah, we will."

I told Nevera to drive to the largest ship docked and then prepare to embark. He did as he was asked to and we came across a ship named Focalors. I got out of the truck and set up the embarking gear. Soon the truck was on the ship without any problems. What worried me instead was that no one approached us.

I boarded Focalors and entered its control room with Arthur and Nevera. The rest were setting up the other naval systems. Our training at the Classrooms had taught us how to operate ships and jets.

The engines rumbled like thunder and the ship shook violently.

After it stabilized, I charted course for Kraken's Coast and slowly pushed the power levers front. Within no time, the ship started moving and after leaving the docks it gained a steady cruising speed. We cruised past the naval gates and were in the open sea now.

On our east now was the Northern Dominion and on our south-east we had the Central Dominion.

We would have to head west and circle around the continent of Verdana Tempus, around the Western Dominion and its major seaport Artorius. Then we would have to go south and then west again to arrive at Kraken's Coast, a remote dwarven port rarely used by anyone.

The only possible threat there would be that the Southern Dominion was nearby, but that would be ruled out because of the alliance marriage between Aurele and Ernsta.

The Southern Dominion was over the Kingdom of Dwarves but it was relatively devoid of demons and half-bloods, making it the safest of the 5 dominions.

And with the dwarven Princess on our side, the chances of an offensive against us were very low.

There were talks of a possible revolt and re-establishment of complete dwarven rule in Dhara going on in Mystis City, the talks being spearheaded by Aurele, the next King of the Dwarves.

In my opinion we should have stormed the Southern Dominion and retaken it after securing a ship from Port Carrius. We could rest in Dhara safely and maybe even bolster our forces. But the old man turned me down.

He said that the dwarves were a tricky bunch to deal with and without someone who knew their way in Dhara, we would be sitting ducks for the demons of the Southern Dominion.

Nevertheless, that conversation ended with the decision of storming Dhara after this rescue operation if the divine switchblade Riptide could be secured from Zelandia.

It was now midnight and there was no moon in the sky to illuminate the dark waters. Nevera headed off to one of the rooms to rest and told me to join him soon. Arthur said he would be sitting here and monitoring the course throughout the night.

I had Minerva and Lia join him; in case he wanted some shut eye.

Sapphire was eating curry and rice in the mess with Venti and Cecilia. Kathyln was drinking a milkshake and had fruits and salad on her tray. Viviane had curry and rice alongside some cottage cheese and some corn.

"Do you like corn?" I asked as I sat beside her.

"It is pretty tasty", she said after carefully munching her food.

"Do you want anything else? I think I saw some meat there and it looked fresh too"

"No, I don't eat meat, none of my people eat meat"

"Is there any reason why you don't eat meat?"

"Our ancestor Arael Lapis was a very kind God, he told us to never hurt others or dominate others, he taught us peace and the true meaning of power. He told us that all creatures primally starve for peace but the language of violence corrupts them."

Arael Lapis…I had read this name in one of the books back at the Classrooms, a book about the origins of descenders, that they were originally angels and that they were sent by a god to destroy the tenants of this world.

I now knew that the demons wrote those books that way, but even then, I couldn't switch sides easily. I had some lingering doubts.

The Demons were the ones who fought against the angels' apathetic approach of saving the living and they deemed it 'Nothing more than killing without Karma'- a concept taken from the dwellers of the east.

The Yakshas use Karmic energy to fight and live, Karma works in ways completely unknown, even today no one truly knows how Karma works.

"He seems to be the polar opposite of our god Morax."

"Morax?"

"Yes, Morax, The God of Demons, a god of many names and many stories. Even though he is our god, we know basically nothing about him except for a few titles and that Asmodeus, one of the Seven Star Demon is searching for him".

"Asmodeus…another name I have never heard of"

"Perhaps it is because your people are accustomed enjoying peace and protection under a kind god."

"No, that is not true, our god Arael was indeed kind but he had another side to him which led to his disappearance 10,000 years ago."

"What happened?"

"As far as I know, Arael was sealed alongside 5 other goddesses by a descender who wielded a sword, a black longsword."

She looked into my eyes and opened her mouth to speak, I already knew the words which would come out of her mouth.

"Your blade, Aether, is the one which that descender wielded, though his power was on a completely different scale."

I looked at her with a clear expression, not knowing how to respond to what she just said.

"Tell me, a bit about Morax, what type of a god- no, demon? What is he actually?"

"He is a god, but of many ideals and strengths, he is called the God of Demons because he killed the King of demons Satan. After the demon king was defeated by a god in battle, the demons didn't know how to respond, some pledged their allegiance while others plotted against him in the dark. To strengthen the trust between the god and the demons, Aurora- the Princess of demons married Morax."

"Morax was heralded with various titles, Conqueror of Gods, Lord of Demons, God of Power, God of Storm, Lord of Dragons, Overlord of the Dead Sea and the Master of Goddesses. The God of Demons is only one, of his great many names."

"Aurora…wait I know her, she is the mother of the Five Winds-", she stopped midway and collected her thoughts.

She continued, "Of the Five Winds, The North Wind Boreas, South Wind Notus, West Wind Zephyrus and East Wind Eurus."

Just then Cynthia appeared out of nowhere, "I see, this is a very interesting conversation you are having brother". She used to call me her brother for some reason. "Where is sister?", she called Kathyln her sister for reasons unknown to both of us.

"She is over there with Cecilia, and Cynthia-"

"Sure brother", with that she lazily walked over to Kathyln and pulled her into a hug, she then fell atop her as if she was a mech that ran out of energy.

Seeing that the others were pretty exhausted, I decided to take some rest too.

"Viviane, let's rest up and continue this conversation another day."

"Okay, Goodnight Aether."

"Goodnight."

With that I went to one of the unoccupied rooms and jumped on the bed.

∞

Soon it was morning. "Good morning everyone!" I heard Venti say with enthusiasm.

"Morning."

"Mornin."

"Yo."

Others still seemed to be exhausted. Shortly after, Nevera came to me. I told everyone to gather around as it was time to lay out our objective for today.

"Let's start with…you… Arthur, how much longer will it take for us to reach Port Artorius?"

"We should be reaching in 2 hours, this ship we took seems to be one of the best they had around, it's fast and efficient, I didn't have to refuel it with mana even once."

"I see, that is welcome news, be that as it may, we will undergo checking once docked in Artorius, I highly doubt that word would've reached Artorius by now so we should still be good."

"After docking and undergoing inspection, we will immediately set off for Kraken's coast."

Everyone seemed to understand the situation, except for one person.

"But Artorius is a great tourist spot, isn't it? And there is often a festival at this time of the year, right?"

To Viviane, a girl who had never seen anything beyond snowy mountains, all this must've been new, well not that I had seen a lot beyond the Classrooms.

"We are on a mission, spending time at Artorius will only lead to trouble, I don't see a single merit in staying there. Vetoed."

"I agree, sure Artorius is a famous spot, but the Corsiwa Festival will be coming soon and I heard that during these times, the cities are filled with demons. The security is doubled too, so staying will only cause problems for both us and the people."

Sapphire agreed with me. In my opinion she was looking gorgeous this morning, now that she was in casual clothing, I could see more of her skin. I felt hot again.

"I see, okay…", she said dejectedly.

"Leaving that aside", Cynthia said, "We still haven't gotten our weapons and FV, all we have are repulsion gloves."

"Hmm she is right, we can't possibly fight with repulsion gloves"

Minerva started checking the map for blacksmiths in Artorius, but Artorius being a Port City was barely involved with wars fought on land so finding a blacksmith here would be challenging.

"Moreover, we don't have money with us, how are we gonna get weapons even if we manage to find a blacksmith?", Sapphire scratched her head and took a sip of her coffee.

"This is quite the unexpected predicament..." Kathyln said slowly while narrowing her eyes and then took a sip of my coffee.

Viviane seemed to have noticed that the coffee I was drinking now was different from the one I gave her back then, and just as she was going to complain, I stepped in.

"That's not a problem, think back to the plan, we will dock again at Kraken's coast and receive weapons from the FMA stationed there, if needed we may also ask Aurele for help."

"Ah, that's right.", Sapphire said and finally finished her coffee.

I was having some blueberry toast and black coffee for breakfast. The round table was filled with different foods. Kathyln and Nevera were having the same breakfast as me but the others had clearly put the variety to the test.

Venti was having waffles dripping with honey and butter, he had some iced tea with it too (an unusual combination…)

Sapphire was having some fruits and juice while Lia was eating chocolate.

"Chocolate? In the morning?", Arthur looked at her with a surprised expression.

"I missed it a lot, for some reason there was no chocolate back at the mountains", she eyed Viviane like she was expecting an answer.

"In my homeland, chocolate, meat and alcohol are considered demonic."

"O-oh I see." Lia tried to focus on the chocolate and not on the deathly smile Viviane gave her.

Viviane was having some cold coffee alongside fruits, awfully balanced in my opinion. Minerva was having some scrambled eggs and bacon; Cecilia was eating a cheese omelette. Cynthia was- wasn't there?

Two hours passed and we were arriving in at Port Artorius.

"We're her-"

Suddenly an explosion rocked the ship.

"What the heck?!"

Arthur grunted out in pain. We were hit by surprise. "Gather yourselves and grab whatever weapons you have." My voice echoed throughout the ship.

"We've been surrounded!", Lia shouted. Sirens were blaring indicating heavy damage taken by the ship. The girls ran to get suited; they were all in casual clothes, vulnerable to even a handgun.

Even I was dressed casually.

Another alarm blared.

"Brace!" We were hit with another explosion, looks like the Western Dominion had gotten word from the Central Dominion.

(This shouldn't have happened, no it wasn't possible, there was simply no form of communication which would allow the dominions to interact and exchange information so easily.)

"The worst-case possibility has occurred. Arthur, we need to turn around immediately, forget Artorius, at this rate we are going to go down. Brace!"

Another shell hit us, the impact was terribly nauseating and before I knew it I passed out. This was after all, the first time we were engaging in actual combat. The ship was sturdy, and so it didn't turn over even though all its passengers were being tossed about.

"Ah-shit..." My vision faded.

∞

When I regained consciousness, I found myself on the deck, holding onto a railing, as I heard my friends shouting. I felt powerless from the impact and my legs refused to move.

A black-haired woman approached me. She had a pistol in hand, I felt my heart race, I had never seen her before and certainly didn't know her intentions. I don't even know how she got on the ship.

"You're alive"

"Who?" I felt strangely exhausted. Even if it was because of the impact, it shouldn't have had so much of an effect on me.

"Doesn't matter, let's go before you get killed."

She put my hand over her shoulder and started walking towards the inside of the ship. I saw all the others knocked out. A group of men were packing them into black bags.

(What? What is going on? Where are we going? I don't know?)

Another explosion occurred and now the alarms were really loud. I felt extreme discomfort at the loud sound buzzing every second.

"Did you get all of them?"

"Yeah, we should go now."

"Let's go then."

We went down to the lower levels of the ship where there were escape pods. The lower level was completely flooded. We jumped into the water.

"Ahhuugh…" I was really feeling sick and the cold water made it worse.

My clothes became wet and I couldn't open my eyes. I felt my breath slowly escaping the confines of my lungs. Just when I was about to run out of breath, I felt something hard.

I was lifted and tossed into something. A loud sound echoed and I passed out in what I assume was a submarine.

***

I finally woke up. My clothes were stuck to my skin. I didn't feel good but I needed to know what was happening.

"Good morning kid." It was the black-haired woman who greeted me with a smile on her face.

"Who are you?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Where are we?"

"Underwater."

"Where are we headed?"

"To the Kingdom of Perpetua."

"Who are you?" I asked her once again.

"You can ask me the same thing three times but I will not tell you."

"Where are the others?"

"They are already awake," She sighed. "Come I'll take you to them."

I stood up, my clothes, dripping water.

"Can I get some clothes?"

"No, we don't have any."

Unfortunate.

I followed her to what seemed to be the control room and found my other friends standing in front of me, their backs leaning on the submarine walls.

"You're awake", Nevera said. "I'll bring you up to speed."

"Please."

He told me everything with small additions from everyone else. It seems that the Central Dominion had indeed informed the Western Dominion about our status and had estimated that the route we would take would include stopping at Artorius.

Following this, the coastal forces hit us with a barrage of missiles. We didn't get taken out but they were preparing to board the ship to take us into custody.

About our rescuers, he couldn't tell me much so a young man spoke up. He was wearing a steel gray blazer and a black undershirt with a red tie. He was also wearing black boots and steel gray pants. A nametag on his chest read 'Cedric M Phoenixia', he was ranked a captain.

"We are part of the Naval Forces of Perpetua and we were tasked with taking down the Verdanian Ship Focalors."

(Perpetua…forces of a kingdom of another continent here? In Verdana Tempus?)

"But we found that you kids were already being attacked by Verdanian forces, so we decided to do the opposite," He stopped, looked around and then spread his arms.

"This continent is our enemy after all, so it would really hurt my pride to help them in taking down a ship."

"So that's why you saved us." Cynthia said.

"Pretty much."

"But what now?", Lia asked him with some uncertainty, something that all of us shared.

"Even I don't know, but I think we can take you to Perpetua and employ you as slaves there."

"Cut the bullshit. No one here will become a slave.", Venti burst forth.

"Do you think you are in a position to say that?", his eyes became daunting, he was serious.

"Oh, I think he is." I stepped in and raised my hand. Energy swirled around my hand before I called out-

"I wouldn't advise that."

"Vaj-" I fell down. I couldn't call it. I was gasping for air and felt my head tighten. It was as if my blood vessels were about to explode.

"Aether!"

"Aether!?"

The sounds of my friends drowned out and once again, I fell into a realm of darkness.

***

"He's young!"

"Very young."

"Is he fine?"

"Is he capable of wielding that blade?"

"No, but he still is."

"He has no idea who we are."

"He is exhausted, he is not capable of seeing us yet."

"Oh, in that case,"

"Wake up child." A powerful bolt of purplish-red lightning struck the unlit dark floor.

***

"Haaahaaah." I woke up, panting heavily.

(What in seven demons name was that? that presence…that)

I failed to find words to describe what I was feeling.

It was something that could not be bound to mortal principles, that is what came to my mind at the time.

I looked around and found myself in a room. It seemed to be an infirmary. I stared at the ceiling.

I saw the creamy white coloured fan spinning rapidly. The room was filled with a sweet smell that tickled the nose.

While lying down I looked towards my right and saw curtains with floral patterns fluttering, allowing light to pass through the gaps they made.

(Sunlight.)

I got up immediately and opened the curtains, a fresh breeze blew in my face causing my hair to sway.

I looked at the place outside the windows which was previously covered by the curtains.

The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was a deep shade of blue with only a few white, fluffy clouds, blocked by massive trees. There was a massive lake, in fact it seemed like this entire place was built on the lake.

(Impressive architecture…)

"Gigantis ardeberia…", the massive trees, I had read about them back at the Classrooms.

The air was filled with the sound of laughter and the delighted screams of children, from different races, as they flew through the air and jumped into the lake.

"Where am I?"

Just then I heard a door open.

A young woman wearing a nurse's attire entered. She looked at me and her mouth opened halfway.

"He-He's awake!", she shouted as she left, running out of the room.

***

"So, how long was I out for?" I asked the small gathering in front of me.

"3 complete weeks."

Kathyln answered my question right away while sipping some coffee.

"We thought that you might never wake up again.", Nevera said while setting down a tray with coffee and bread beside me.

They all started talking about each of their thoughts and about what happened after I passed out.

There were different expressions on each of their faces and minor differences in how they spoke of the events that occurred.

A lot of things happened while I was out. It took them nearly 3 hours to finish speaking.

I spoke.

"What's that?", they asked.

My voice seemed to be weak and raspy because I hadn't been able to use it for 3 weeks.

They leaned in closer to hear what I said.

I said, "It seems that you guys are helpless without me."

They smiled and laughed.

A doctor entered the room. 'Vortigern B Cerebera', his nametag read. He was a young man, probably in his 30's.

He sat down on an examining chair beside me and then flipped through some pages on a report card, "Hmm let's see… patient…Aether Nightblade…found it. Any dizziness, body ache, nausea or uneasiness?"

I replied while shaking my head, "No doctor, none. I'm feeling perfectly fine."

He seemed impressed and nodded his head, "Good then, I will discharge you immediately, come over to the reception in half an hour, there are some paper documents that need your signature."

With that said, he got up and headed out, his unusually large white coat brushing against the ground.

The others left saying that they would be waiting at the reception.

I went to the bathroom to get prepared.

While taking a bath, I thought of all that happened after I passed out.