Prophecy Of The Parody

The story had come to an end, with the underdog making it to the top. It's a classic one, isn't it?

He had fought against a hundred brittle children and elderly, surviving in the end by grossly slipping through them and allowing them slide to their own demise.

When that maw of death opened up to gobble him up in turn, he had sacrificed a literal arm and leg, only to get a breakthrough and escape with a pitiful bit of his life.

He was then thrashed around, torn up, beaten, cursed to a fate worse than death, died with his eyes still conscious and then thrown towards danger again, as a decapitated zombie.

His bloody tears weren't the reason he was still alive, his knowledge was clearly still on par with an educated grade school child, and it was by no good deed, prayer, assistance, wish, or even his cursed body that he was the last one standing.

Was what saved him the unruly natures of human beings? Was it his cunning, greed or stubbornness as he clung to life?

No, Equinox... Nox had given up on life too. His mind was not superior to the others. He had also succumbed to the seduction of the painless afterlife.

But,

"You must not die by their hands. Live on your own terms till the day you get to watch them... to watch their corpses from above as their graves are filled with dirt."

What had saved him was the continuous chant of those words in his head. What had saved him was the blessing of his mother on his head, and the great curse she had spat on those who wished him harm. Those tears of hers that woke up even the highest from above were the exact reasons he was still alive!

All of the Earth, the Realm and even Heaven cannot touch him, so long as that one blessing continues to protect him.

A prayer had been recited to guide him through the Night. And would you believe it? That was what his Totem was.

[You have received your Totem. It bears the name: VESPERIA, a Totem that is abstract. Let it guide you not astray.]

In this case, Vesper means, evening prayer, while the suffix, '-ia' evoked a certain ethereal feeling and feminine vibe within Ikky.

[You survived the most extreme of trials. A feat so impossible, it has to be false. And as boundless as your potential is, so will your spiritual capacity. Hence, you have awakened with the MARK OF MYTH.]

The 1st-grade/ Mythical Grade Mark was a privilege bestowed only to the most worthy of Prophets. It was proof of their superb potential in learning and holding spiritual essence in their bodies.

[You also reek of a sad, pitiful fear and loneliness. Like a jump scare that was made to be funny while not—]

"Hold the damn phone! Who're you calling sad and lonely?" Ikky yelled with tears still in his eyes from reading the previous messages. But he continued nonetheless...

[You are a nobody, yet known by thousands. But despair not, for their insults have but won you a True name: Ikky, SHIVER'S PARODY.]

"..." His eyes widened.

A True name was a privilege granted to true chosen. It was just as rare as the Abstract type totems. However, just as having an abstract type totem didn't directly mean superiority to others, it meant prestige in human language. It was a badge of honour.

[Let your Virtue guide your path, and guide it as well, as it is a manifestation of who you are. Let your Virtue be: The DIVERGENT NIGHT.]

In summary, this was how his Prophecy looked like in writing,

[REAL NAMES: Equinox/ Nox/ Ikky.

TRUE NAME: Shiver's Parody.

HIERARCHY: Seer.

MARK: 1st-grade (The Mark bears the same name as ones Virtue.)

TOTEM: Abstract type - Vesperia

VIRTUE: Divergent Night.

VIRTUE TRAITS: Child Of Night, Night Chant.

AUGUR SPIRIT: Yaga]

Since he had only just conquered his first omen, Ikky was still at the bottom of the Prophet Hierarchy, a Seer.

Now, the only things that were unexplained from his Prophecy were, the new trait, Night Chant and his Augur Spirit. But those informations were acquirable by just asking his Augur Spirit about itself and then thinking about what the Night Chant could do.

"Yaga. That's your name?" He asked, sitting on the moist floor of the dark cave.

"Yes. But you can call me Abbie... If you want." She answered.

Floating in the air above his shoulder was a small black creature. She looked like a... demon in long tattered black and white tinted outfit and a cape covering her small body almost completely like a dress, as she sat on her flying plate. Her skin was grey like ash and one of her eyes seemed hollow with the other having a dim white colour.

There was a pointy horn just above her forehead, peaking out of her grey hair and curving towards the back.

In all honesty, other than her innocent smile, she resembled nothing of what Ikky had pictured Augur spirits as. But what did he know?

"Why Abbie?"

"Why Ikky?" She asked back with a weird cackle.

Ikky scratched his head as he explained, "I had to pick a name out of Equinox and Nox, but I couldn't. So I just mashed them up and cancelled the letters, 'N, O and X'."

"Ooh, I get it now. Equi got turned to Ikky!"

"Hm mh." He nodded. "Plus, it sounds really friendly." He added.

"It does."

The two laughed and then fell into silence.

'... Mmmmmmmmmm! Oh shoot! Did that make me sound desperate? It sounds really friendly? Oh man! She probably knows that I don't have any friends! But wait, we're bonded for eternity now, right? Does that automatically make her my friend?! My very own friend?! But eternity is a long time! Wait... Can Prophets can get married to their —'

"Deep breaths. Compose yourself. Our minds are linked now, so if you don't block me out, I'll hear you~"

Ikky's breath seized as soon as he realised that she had heard everything he'd just said.

"I– I didn't mean that! It was just a weird passing thought, I swear!"

"No no. You have a curious mind. That's good."

"Ah, I do. Yes." He turned away and scratched his cheeks. "How the heck do I get out of here?"

"... Open up a gate. You have the keys, you know?"

Hearing her words, the answer suddenly came to him. "Oh, right."

For first omens, the keys were their received totems. But there was something wrong with this situation. Ikky couldn't manifest his totem as a key since it was abstract, meaning it was infeasible.

Yet again, the solution came to him like a memory he had once forgotten.

"Vesperia." All he had to do was call its name.

Space soon started to contort and warp around a singular point in front of him, making the environment look like it was collapsing. Then, at the center of that chaos, a small hole opened up and then widened.

Ikky took one last look at the cave behind him, trying to find traces of the ashes of the once resolute Captain of the knights.

"Can I stay here a little longer?" Ikky suddenly asked.

The spirit above his shoulder opened her jolly eyes with curiosity but still nodded. "It's your call. The key is in your hands."

Ikky walked away from the portal and went to pick up the Knight's white sword from the ground.

"What do you plan on doing?"

Ikky sighed. "Well I have to say goodbye, don't I? After all, that b#stard did play a part in bringing me to this world." He checked the blade out.

"I see." Yaga nodded with her squinted eyes exhibiting calmness. "But if you're planning on doing what I think, then you don't need to go that far."

"Hm? What do you mean?" Ikky questioned, but then the sword in his hands suddenly vanished into white mist, making his body shiver a little.

———

Weeks had passed in the land of Nocturni, and the nation was finally convinced that they had been relieved from their catastrophe, and with such few losses at that!

Just a few of the 'proper' citizens had died. But still, the loss of too many knights did impact them greatly. But life moved on, and there were always delusional children around who wished to become heroes. Those harvested children, with time would later come to replace the old rotting knights. Everyone was replaceable under the current government.

Frankly, the kingdom was a twisted one, one that smelt even worse than any other slum in any other known kingdom. It was perhaps by a blessing that Nox was kept out of it.

"Where have you been, Luna?" A man in a fairly lightweight brown armour and a mask asked as he approached another heavily dressed soldier sitting on a rock.

"I just went for a stroll." The female knight answered through her helmet.

Knowing that the little female knight had definitely been off doing something she shouldn't, the man shook his head exhaustedly.

"Whatever. It's not like you've ever disappointed before. Do as you please." Sitting on the ground beside her, the man looked into the distance, captivating a large portion of the land from the top of the mountain.

A moment of silence soon passed and the female knight spoke again, "The arms of Nocturni are weaker than ever. I surmise that only the both of us could raze it all down to ashes."

The man laughed. "You really are itching to go at them. You know, we wouldn't have agreed to take down an entire kingdom by one soldier's request, if it wasn't for what you've done for us. But, what did they ever do to you?

With a sharp glint of silver burning through her visor, the female knight stared at the far away kingdom before answering indifferently,

"Nothing at all."

'But it would be a waste to leave so many crystals behind. Killing is not good. But these ones count as evil-spirits, don't they? That's all I see anyway.'

Dusting her white waist-cape as she stood up, she ordered the hundred soldiers standing behind them, to attention.

"Steel yourselves and polish your blades!" She drew out her longsword as she finished,

"We move at night."