(23) Gate of Ashirai

Tetsuno held onto the slip of paper he had before. It's glow was now gone and all the magical aura it had was now faded out to nothing. He now sat on his knees in a large building of pearly white marble walls and gold trim.

"Well, it would seem you barely survived that, Hm?" Came a voice.

Tetsuno looked up, seeing the shadowy figure of God himself.

"Azazel. She… is a lot stronger than I had first thought.." Tetsuno spoke.

"I could see that. Our pawn died faster than I expected him to." Azazel said, referring to Mashihashi. "Her aura levels are absolutely off the charts."

"The little teleportation spell you gave me is the only reason I'm alive.." Tetsuno said, getting to his feet. "If we are going to get all the seven relics of Aro, we need to get rid of her."

"Yes. I am of the same opinion… I fear that she will get in the way of our mission to open the gates of Ashirai."

"What are gates for anyway? I know the end goal here is to reshape our own world… but you still haven't told me how." Tetsuno spoke. "I'd like to know."

"Well. We've worked together long enough now that I might as well tell you. Once the seven relics of Aro are gathered, the gates of Ashirai shall open, letting through a great being-the being of destruction and creation. He shall rend this world to nothing, then he shall create it anew, better, a glorious reincarnation of all things." Azazel hissed, "this is the fate of our world, the strings threaded tightly through one another, winding to and fro."

"Wait.. are you saying we are going to die..?" Tetsuno asked.

"Yes, even I will, but, we will all be reincarnated in greater forms than before, as the perfect versions of ourselves."

*Perfect version of ourselves huh…?* Tetsuno thought. He didn't quite know what to make of the things he'd been told, but he honestly didn't have much a choice. If he turned against Azazel he'd die anyhow, plus, his life wasn't exactly one he cared to continue as it went. *Oh well. I could care less, I'll just do as I'm told then.*

"Oh, I have something for you." Azazel spoke. "Some gifts."

"Gifts?" Tetsuno asked.

Azazel waved his hand and a wave of shadowy aura flowed through the air towards Tetsuno as items dropped into his arms. A plain red and white mask and a sword of obsidian.

"The Mask Odeala and the Sword of Chimerus." Azazel hissed. "I assume they shall serve you well."

****

"Well, that may have been a bit overboard, Yuna. I think you not only killed them, but the entire forest." Ygdran said, looking out at the decimated, burning landscape of ash, coal and cinders of blue fire.

"Shut it, useless." Yuna said as her aura faded in wisps, her hydras and her sword vanishing.

A moment later the markings on Yuna and Ygdran's arms began to glow, their bodies beginning to deform and break down as their vision went out.

The cloud of dark energy swirled around Yuna, blotting out everything so that all she could see was the swelling darkness, as though she were endlessly tumbling through a dark void of ceaseless shadow.

And then it stopped, the veil lifting away to reveal that now she stood within Xinoll. As she stood there, Gatekeeper and Tamashi looking her up and down, she felt her freedom stripped away from her, all that she had built and made in her freedom now gone.

She breathed in the air of blood, decay and smoke, and her eyes went dark. She almost felt the need to gag at the horrible air as she became dizzy.

Ygdran began coughing, and Yuna assumed he was going through a similar affect. She looked around at the decrepit walls of black stone and the dreary setting she now stood in. She felt cold and had a deep yearning for the fresh air, warmth and freedom that came with the overworld.

"Welcome home, my dear children!" Tamashi said with a grin. "How'd it go? It took you long enough."

"We killed a god named Mashihashi. Happy?" Ygdran said, glaring up at Tamashi.

"Oh ho. Mashihashi, you say? Well, I must say I'm impressed, he is quite the foe." Tamashi clapped his hands.

"I honestly expected less, even in the time you've been absent." Gatekeeper said.

"You think we're weak or something?" Ygdran asked.

"No, I just didn't expect you to be as strong as you are."

"Alright, enough chit chat." Yuna spoke, turning cold eyes to Tamashi. "I want to know what the hell is going on in the overworld, and I also need to know what these marks actually are." She said, placing her hand on the mark around her arm.

"Well." Tamashi shrugged, "I guess… that's only fair."