Chapter 57: The Forgotten God: Aeolus

I decided to help the small figure and yelled out, "Hey guys, let's help him. At this rate, he might be in trouble." As a team, we rushed over to the scene; the boy didn't seem to notice us yet as he defended another strike from the snake. Upon closer inspection, the boy seemed to wield very powerful armor with runes engraved in it, along with a sword that glowed with fire. Each slash from the boy was clumsy, but the arc was wide enough that it cut into the snake. Lulith was the first to attack the giant beast; she effortlessly struck the snake with her legs. The beast hissed, recoiling from the blow. The boy finally turned around, looking at us with a surprised expression. The aura he gave off turned from surprise to murderous intent rapidly.

His stance changed, "Aeolus! Intruders, we need to stop them from reaching town!" As Lulith distracted the snake, his voice changed suddenly. He shut his eyes for a moment as a bright aura overtook him, his sword glowing a bright red, and his eyes changing from red to gold. His demeanor changed as he spoke with a deeper voice, his body seemingly also looking a bit older. The boy smiled confidently, "Ah, humans?" He looked at Lulith with a frown, "Using the power of the old gods? Disgusting; clinging on filthy beings will only drag you further into the muck. Looks like you were right Finn; the blasted cult tried to use this entrance."

The snake, seeing its opportunity, tried to strike the boy down, but this time, instead of taking the blow, he easily dodged. He effortlessly jumped off the ground into the air, doing a backflip as he landed on the snake's head. My jaw dropped; how could someone so small carry such heavy armor with such dexterity? He landed on the snake's head, lazily putting the sword to the ground as he ran along the snake. Cockily, he shouted, "Excuse me, slimy, I was talking; would you mind?" Once he got to the end of the snake's tail, the beast froze in place; he did a flip off the tail as if to show off. Suddenly, the ground beneath us began to tremble as the snake stopped in place; the ground opened up beneath the snake. Before it swallowed him, the snake was split perfectly down the middle as his body split apart into an ocean of red blood.

I regained my senses and said, "What was that! Wait, we don't want to fight; we just came to see what was inside here." The boy put his sword behind his head, "Yeah, yeah, talk to the sword, buddy. We already know your little group has set up operations in Aquamere." He pointed the sword at our group, "Unfortunate for you, Finn and I were ready for this. Don't worry; I will end this quickly. No matter how many of your little trash gods try to block my path." Before we could argue more, the boy slashed forward; he seemed to be targeting Yuna first. Before we could provide backup, Yuna, the boy mocked, "Ah, a puppet of the illusionist Mathara, how dull." Yuna tried to feint using her classic attack, "Eyeless Slash." The boy dodged effortlessly, not even trying to find out which was the real blade; he then punched her in the stomach.

She fell to the floor as he looked at her with amusement, "Illusions are only for those who are too weak to fight normally" Next, he targeted Lulith; his movements were quick as he threatened to bring down his giant blade, "I only need one of you alive." However, Lulith was ready; she used her strong legs to kick small rocks in his eyes, and then she punched him, sending the boy back. The boy grunted, his face bleeding a little, "That aura. Syravella?" He spit out some blood, "Troublesome one. No matter, I will show you the power that once sealed you away." His blade glowed, and right as he was about to attack, Quinn stuck out a giant hand.

The boy looked at the hand with annoyance, "What is this? A mimic? Siding with humans? How interesting." Quinn shouted, "Put away your weapon; we don't want to fight. You have us all wrong; we are allies, not enemies." The boy stopped, his face still defensive, "Allies? I would never ally with such unclean..." He stopped a moment, appearing to listen, "Ah no, Finn, they are cultists... no, we need... alright fine, I will try speaking to them." He sighed, "Alright, say your piece; I will crush you where you stand if you try lying to me." I spoke up, "We are just a group of adventurers sent by King Whiteford to scout out Aquamere. We are hunting a group known as The Covenant. We have no intention of doing anything else, such as trespassing here."

The boy frowned, "Oh? The Covenant... I don't detect you are lying. I guess you were right, Finn. We both share the same goal." The boy froze, his eyes returning to their red color; his body shrank down, his armor looking bulkier on him. He spoke in a voice that was more his age. The boy smiled, "Ah, sorry about that; Aeolus can be a bit impulsive. I am Finn; nice to meet you. Thanks for the help with the snake." Lysandra responded, "Well, you really took it down, kid. I didn't do so much as lift a finger." Finn blushed, "Ah, no, that was Aeolus, not me. I couldn't fight that monster." Quinn questioned, "That voice, are you hosting some kind of entity inside you? This Aeolus?" I have heard that name many times; I remember the story my grandpa passed down of the god that was cast out from heaven, Aeolus.

Finn nodded, "Yeah, that was Aeolus. He lives in my body for now. I am trying to help him get his body back, actually." I asked, "Uh, there is no way, but this isn't the god Aeolus, is it?" The boy frowned, "Yeah, it is. He was sealed here centuries ago." Suddenly, the boy swapped back to Aeolus. Aeolus stated, "Right, I was tricked by the goddess Seraphina centuries ago now. She sealed me here until Finn accidentally broke the seal. She took most of my key memories relating to my power, and most of my rune magic. Without the power to even form my body, I had to use Finn's body as a home." I asked, "There is no way that is true; come on, the god Aeolus? That god? He is ancient; he is supposed to be asleep still." Quinn was shaking slightly, "L-Lucius, I hate to say it, but he is the real deal. Even without most of my memories, I can tell this person is beyond anything I have experienced. My own mother, Seraphina, is the only thing I can compare this presence to."

Lysandra mocked, "Aeolus? Really? Isn't that the guy that cheated on his wife or something?" Aeolus got defensive, "N-no, well maybe a little, but what can I say with these looks? It was hard not to fool around." Lulith followed with, "Deadbeat. I think I remember hearing you also betrayed Azura for power." Aeolus grew more defensive, "Now just wait. I may have cheated on her, but I never betrayed her. She only thinks that. She always goes on about Aeolus, you cheated on me. I don't doubt you also stole my power. However! I was swindled; Seraphina tricked me into signing that contract. The books have it wrong; I am the victim here." This guy somehow gets less intimidating every moment he opens his mouth. Finn seems to push him out, "Uh, yeah, moving on from my friend's past insecurities. Why are you here again?"

I explained, "Right, like I said, we are hunting down The Covenant by orders of Everglint's king. Our friend was kidnapped, so we want to save her from their hands and wipe them out for good." Finn smiled shyly, "Right, Aeolus and I are doing the same thing. We were just searching this cave in case they tried to use it as a hideout or passage of some kind. We have heard bad rumors that they were using our town as a hideout, and given I live in Aquamere, I wanted to snuff them out. We have heard they are a group of contractors aiming to wipe out all mages. Something we obviously can't stand for." I nodded, "Oh great. With that settled, why don't we fight them together?"

Finn paused, "Together? As a group?" I nodded, "Yeah, should give us a huge advantage with you on our side." Finn nodded, "I haven't been in a party before. I hope I don't slow you down." I frowned, "Why would you slow us down? We just saw what you can do, man. Have some confidence." Aeolus spoke up for Finn, "The boy isn't used to combat yet. I am his guardian; I fight for him. But I can only last a limited time given my lack of power. That is why I was also trying to have Finn train on things like that snake. I only step in when needed." Quinn frowned, "Makes sense. Well, either way, join us. We are on our way to Aquamere right now."

Finn nodded, "Alright, I will give you a tour of the town. Honestly, the town is very peaceful. That is why we didn't understand the rumors. I mean, why our town? We had to try every option even if it meant this cave. My father will explain to you a bit of the town's history, and we can even have some lunch." The promise of a peaceful town tour and a glimpse into its history left me intrigued, ready to discover the truth behind the unsettling rumors.