The Last Voyage : I will Always be with You

Year 2377, Vildralir.

Sector 8: 01.00 am.

"𝘍𝘶𝘶𝘩𝘩... 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵.."

A lone young man can be seen standing up while flexing his muscle. rocky soil crunching beneath his feet as he moved. Dry air entered his lungs while taking a deep breath, as he exhale cold air from his mouth which was slightly open; with blood dripping from its edge.

"One hour left... stay calm, you got this. Yeah, you got this." muttered the young man,

In front of him, a katana is buried deep within the burned corpse of a person; dead bodies surrounded him, piling up like rubble, a bloody tattered-ash military uniform barely covering their bodies.

Looking up, the moon shone brightly with a glittering star as its companion. in the middle of an industrial area, the young fellow stood still; eyes closed, the warm wind dancing upon his skin.

Dead and Blood.

The two mixed together. Tainting the very air one need to breathe. Fire crackling, the smell of burned flesh filled the air, and dead bodies scattered everywhere.

Pulling a katana in front of him, deep golden eyes reflected the moonlight as it opened. With an unsheathed katana by his right, his left hand moved onto his chest.

•thump-thump•

•thump-thump•

Trying to calm his pounding heart. Smile forms on his face, as a taste of iron, touch his tongue; even his katana is buzzing with a delightful humming. as if it said 'this is where I should be'

[On your left!]

Suddenly, a voice of a warning rang inside his mind, with an abruptly fast reaction speed, the tip of his katana already a few centimeters from his opponent's neck,

"there he is!! I found him!! He's here!"

Exclaimed a soldier who instinctively tilted his neck to avoid the attack, but unfortunately,

"Aargh!! Fuck! my hand!! He's here goddammit!! Fucking Chas-!"

The voice came to absurd silence, only a thud sound can be heard before the body go limp and dropped lifelessly to the ground.

[two a clock]

With a rapid step, a silent swish could be heard as the young man dashed from one structure to another, using the walls and the shadows as his cover.

"Man's down!! Man's down! Need back up!!"

he discovers a soldier yelling at a transmitter desperately. ash-white lips, bleeding legs. Sweat rolled down from his face. Eyes moving frantically like a cornered mouse in the gutter.

Observing his surrounding for a second, the young man silently approaches the soldier with a grenade already unsealed.

"Too loud. My ears hurt." said the young man. without waiting for a response, he tackles him and shoves it into his mouth.

"Wha-hhmmpp!!!"

•Crack•

Unbearable pain immediately spread throughout his entire face. when he attempts to break free, five delicate fingers immediately enter his view as the young man in front of him strongly holds his mouth and jaw, locking him in place.

Recognizing what is in his mouth; With bloodshot eyes, and a broken jaw, the soldier tries to scream, his hand tried to push the young man's legs away, and he even tried to push the grenade with his tongue; but in the end, it's futile.

A dreadful feeling slowly crept into his heart, only to intensify when the young man got closer to his ear and whispered,

"Sshh, sleep tight." said the young man that immediately continue to dash forward. and what was left behind, is a muffled boom along with a red rain pouring down the earth.

[on your nine]

without any doubt, the young man takes out two throwing knives, holds them between his fingers, and immediately throws them to his left.

"Die, you Basta-!!" one of the soldiers quickly collapses to the ground with wide eyes open; a red tiny line of blood vein still reflecting in his eyes. just like that, the soldier died without even finishing his sentence.

with a clinking noise, the boy grabs a smoke grenade from the soldier's corpse, unseals it, and tosses it toward the floor;

"See ya." with a low boom; the entire area slowly shrouded in smoke.

"Fuck! put your mask on!" Yell the remaining soldiers who frantically reach their pockets; searching for a mask to wear.

At the same time when the smoke starts to spread, the young man starts to cover his track, and runs again following the voice instruction to where he should run to.

[2 meters to the left]

"Fuck! we need eyes on the field!! C'mon soldiers!! Eyes on the field!" shouts a soldier, eyes moving frantically searching for him in every nook and cranny.

[3 meters straight ahead] the voice reminds him.

A swish echoes as he climbs up to the higher ground and silently hops from one building to another.

"Target is on sector 8! I repeat the target is-!" one of the soldiers in the back row yelled at his communication device to inform the higher up of what is going on, but it come to an end as soon as he yelled.

•Thud•

•Thud•

Nobody moved, as all of their attention is snatched out by something that roll aimlessly on the ground; a head, a bloodied head with a clean cut on its neck, eyes still glaring in shock, mouth open ajar with salvia dripping down.

"w..what...?" whisper the bodyless head on the ground before the death finally embrace him.

No shout, no gunfire.

Nothing could be heard. Only the thump of the soldier's shoes hitting the ground, gulping down with eyes wide open as sweaty finger strongly grips their gun, ready to press the trigger at any moment.

"Damn it! Where is he!!"

***

[turn left]

the young man turn left and manages to find a spot to rest. his back leaned over to the wall, catching his breath.

"Huff... Huff... Did we lose them?" said the youth seemingly to no one, nevertheless, he received a response.

[for now]

"Better than never. So.. What now?"

[Turn right then go straight to sector 7. we can find a teleport Crystal there. That's the only way]

"Heh. Easy to say, they are everywhere-"

"-I can hardly feel my legs anymore. Is there no other way?" responded the youth while checking his bleeding leg for any more injury.

[No... It's the only means to escape from here, and you knew it]

"Yeah, I knew, but our goal is not to escape..." he admitted.

[....]

Hearing that, the voice stays silent for a minute; taken back by his answer.

[Do you really want to do it?] answer the voice, seems to know what the young man means.

"Totally. My mind is already set, it's the only way we can finally be free." said the youth,

[Even though you knew the consequences?]

"Yeah, let me bear your burdens too"

[you truly are a fool..]

"I am indeed a fool, but I'll never go anywhere without you." the boy riposted, preparing to head out again, and still on guard while doing so.

[.....] dumbfounded by his answer, the voice chose to remain silent

"Heh. Let's go then, I'm curious about what they had prepared for us."

______________________________

18 years ago

Year 2359, Vildralir.

Sector 0: Underground Laboratory

A water bubbling pops up one after another, books and notes scattered all over the place, and beeping voices echoes constantly throughout the laboratory.

In the center of the room, stand two large tubes filled with green liquid connected with many cables with blueish-green bright colors that pulse every now and then.

Inside it, you can see two embryos. One with a shape like a humanoid child that looks no older than 1 year old, no heartbeats whatsoever just like a husk without life in it.

The other it's a kind of gold gemstone that glows radiantly; as if it is overflowing with so much life force in it.

"Professor, how about your experiment? Did you make any progress so far?" asked a person with a cigar in his mouth and a coat with 5 stars on his shoulder. tapping the tube glasses with his finger rhythmically, looking at the humanoid child with a cold look in his eyes.

A discussion can be seen between three people in front of the tubes. Two of them have muscle build and wear soldier uniforms.

The other one has a more slender figure, darker eyelids, and wears a lab coat that is stained with chemicals here and there.

"It's fascinating!! Very fascinating!!-"

"Every. Single. DNA. It's mind-blowing!" yell a person wearing a lab coat; with bloodshot eyes, heavy breathing, and arms open wide. A large smile could be seen donning his face.

"I manage to combine the best genetic makeup from the best soldier out there!!-"

"When I, oh! and I will. start to combine both the DNA and the Gaia embryo, we will have a perfect being!! Born from Venus herself!! Hahahaha"

"Can't you imagine Antonio?! I will make The Morning Star!! A personification of Lucifer himself!! Hehehe...Haha...HAHAHA!!"

"I will make an Angel!!!"

Answered the professor like a devoted believer, while grinning and laughing by the end of his little statement.

"How about his loyalty when we did succeed in creating him, professor?" asked the other person; trimmed brown beard, 4 stars placed neatly into his shoulder.

His eyes were still focused on reading the file in his hand, while occasionally glancing up at the Gaia embryo with heavy breathing, eyes contracting, and his muscle tensing up. ready to snatch it at any moment.

"You can brainwash him by making an agent act as his mother or raise him as your son. I don't care, either way, just give me all the resources we have."

"Oh? So It's still not Finished?" responded Antonio

"I still need to add something to his body, so I can make him perfect in every aspect." answer the professor still tinkering with it.

"Do as you see fit. Just remember, I want more like him, clone it like we always do. So I can have perfect soldiers as our main army."

"If you need anything else, you can ask Dutch anything. Just don't disappoint me Samuel" answers Antonio, as he and Dutch walk out of the laboratory leaving the professor to continue with his research.

With all the resources at the professor's disposal, he expects a result soon, he will not tolerate failure.

When the two of them had already left the laboratory, Samuel start walking toward a huge painting of Creazione di Adamo by Michelangelo at the back of the room.

Moved his hand forward; pressing a hidden button where the finger of Adam and God almost touched each other. The painting split and a secret safe opened behind it.

"Now, now. what should I have to do with you... Einherjar?" muttered the professor, holding a Cube with golden marking all over it.

______________________________

Present time

Sector 0: control center. 01:25 am.

The sound of many fingers clashing with keyboards could be heard in the entire room; sweaty hands, and dried eyes; as they need to watch the surveillance monitor all day long. And if you look outside, you can see a cloud everywhere, moving ever so slightly.

The men and women seem busy focusing on their monitor which shows a group of people frantically searching for something or someone.

"General Dutch we received a report from team Charlie that the target had been spotted in sector 8 sir!" said an operator that busies with the monitor in front of him, a cold sweat rolling down his nape from the intense glare he received from a tall, bulky man behind him.

"What is their status?" said the General with formal attire in the middle of the room; arms folded, fingers tapping rhythmically against his elbow.

"from Charlie's team, 16 were eliminated and 13 were incapacitated. Only two remained sir!"

"And what about team alpha and beta?" hand clenching hard; a tick vein bulged out beneath his skin.

"T-they all h-have been e-eliminated s-sir!"

Hearing that, he swings his hand forward, and a crack can be heard from the table in front of him.

"Then show me the fucking live feeds when the target is on their fucking sights!!"

'It's been a goddamn week! Just how did that lad still manage to immobilize three elite squads?!'

"Y-yes s-sir! Start transmitting the live feeds recording from squad Alpha, Beta, and Charlie right now."

Everyone switches their focus for a few seconds to the big screen in the middle of the controls room, and what they saw gives rise to wonder if this is truly a human being.

Because what they see is beautiful silver-white hair and deep golden eyes young man, dancing wonderfully in the red-colored rain with a gorgeous katana as his partner, accompanied by a chorus of screams that followed whoever the tip of the katana is facing.

With a loud BAM, the table broke by the General's hand, eyes contracting, and deep heavy breath exhaled from his mouth, infuriated by what he saw.

"Damn it!! I want all remaining personnel to encircle sector 7 now!! Don't let him escape!! Do you hear me?!"

"S-sir yes sir!!"

"Now move soldiers! Move!" a second BAM echoed through the room.

He starts walking back and forth, cold sweat rolling down his forehead, seemingly thinking something urgent.

'That marking on his katana... Isn't that-! Bastard! How the hell did he find out where that thing was?! And how did he break out from that underground vault?!'

'If he manages to escape with that thing.., I don't have any countermeasures for fuck sake!'

Dutch kept thinking and failed to notice his secretary standing behind him, a file in her hand with the title; Project Zero: Artificial Archangel could be seen.

"Excuse me s-sir, this is the file that we got about that young man s-sir. From what it said, the boy was indeed the source for projected zero: Artificial Archangel that failed twelve years ago."

"subject number 0; According to data that we gathered from project zero, He is by far considered the most successful subject out of 1.477 others."

"But subject zero can't comply with our order to kill Agent K who betrayed and assassinated the late General Antonio ten years ago, Thus, declared a failure." said the secretary,

"So it was indeed him. do we have any report on how he managed to get out of his underground prison?!"

"S-sorry s-sir about that.. we still have an n-no explanation for how he managed to escape our security system, sir, " the secretary, unsure of the answer herself.

"Then try a fucking harder!" the General hit the table again, failing to contain a dreadful feeling that slowly crept into his heart.

Suddenly, a soldier's voice can be heard by him,

"Sir the target manage to get to the gate of sector 7 sir!" reported the soldiers.

"Tell all Vice lieutenants to command all soldiers to regroup in sector 7 within five minutes! Instruct code red to all sectors active immediately!" yell Dutch

"Sir yes sir!!

"And you! Prepare the whirlybird I will go there and kill that lad myself!"

"Yes sir!!" answer a soldier with a salute.

_________________________________

Sector 7: Front Gate. 01:32 am.

A young man who looks no older than sixteen years old with a worn-out white hakama that have blood here and there, a broken black kusazuri on each side of his waist reaching out to his knees.

Limped right leg, cracked Saya with bloody kurigata on his left and a katana that is still dripping blood on his right hand.

Even with all of that; it still didn't deter his steps, which stood firm, walking step by step toward a colossal towering steel entrance in front of him.

"There is it. lo and behold, the gate to Sector 7. I bet there will be a lot of welcoming parties for us behind that gate." said the youth, marveling at the sights.

[you are hopeless.]

"We have 28 minutes left before the clock strike two. Time sure flies." shaking his head, remembering the time when he was still locked up inside the vault as a rat lab.

[certainly, I do hope your plan for the past week work] the voice shortly comments, can barely hide its excitement in its voice.

"You spoke more than ten words, Looks like someone is excited." he chuckled

[oh shut up!]

"Haha, well.. with my body conditions right now, I think surviving for 28 minutes is already too stretched out for my taste."

[Indeed, I can see that. A broken bone, internal bleeding, even my vessel already cracking down.]

"Yeah, note to self, never prolong a fight."

Finally reaching the front gate of sector 7, the boy stays silent for a few seconds with closed eyes.

•Thump thump•

•Thump thump•

Trying to calm his pumping heart; he remembers the purpose of his actions that lead to these right moments, and why he has to take this path to the bitter end. Even the katana vibrate softly to make him know he's not alone.

[Thank you.] said the voice, breaking the silence,

"So am I, thanks to you we survived until the finish line. It's an honor to fight alongside you."

[It's my honor to be wielded by you too.]

"Maybe this will be our last voyage..."

[Yes, The last voyage.]

"let's show them our greatest dance then."

The grip on the katana became firmer. An earlier wound that made a mark on his body and a limp right leg didn't deter him one bit.

His back stands tall, ready to face whatever his opponent throws at him. With a smile, he opens his eyes that softly glow with lustrous.

"Are you ready Einherjar?"

[Ready whenever you are, zero.]

And thus the oath is born and the world as its witness.

["All Einherjar shall swear oaths to the chosen one"]

Katana in his hand starts to crumble piece by piece, as golden markings spread out from it, marking his whole body.

The floors crack, and the walls break bit by bit. The winds start acting up by the second.

The alarms inside sector 7 start ringing like crazy; soldiers shouting, and arms vehicles start to move, encircling him from the top of the wall.

With steady steps, he continues to walk forward. didn't care about the roaring pain that he felt with each step he took,

Or with many soldiers that started to line up outside of the gate,

Or even with hundreds of armor vehicles and choppers that start to aim at him,

Even when his skin begins to crack

as blood started to flow out from it.

He didn't care.

["Army of one, master to none"]

The golden marking all over his body began to shine brightly, his heart at its center.

A second later, twelve 9ft to 11ft crystal figures begin to appear one by one; that is different from one to another;

Their body transforms into golden light particle and starts to move swiftly and materialize at the boy's side; walking and hovering beside him.

Armor starts to solidify on them,

one by one their figures start to manifest more clearly.

•clip• •clop•

•clip• •clop•

A sound of heavy horse hooves reaches his ears; behind him, two armored Centaur knights materialize, with weapons ready in both of their hands.

A golden-white armor can be seen donning from head to toe on one of the centaur knights; his right hand gripping tightly on the golden bow that shines dimly reflecting the moonlight.

While for the other one; was donned with deep blue armor like an ocean, a long lance in his right hand, and a large shield in his left.

Nodding in his direction, the two armored Centaur knights galloped rigorously, cracking down the soil as they dash forward; making a way for him, leaving only screams and horrible stench behind.

•Screeeechh•

A second later, a loud screeching voice echoes in the sky; as mechanical figures with deep purple-black wings and sharp claws start to form and hover above him.

With one movement of its wings, a booming sound exploded as it started diving down crushing any armored vehicles on the ground.

At the same time, many gunshots start ringing one after another, pouring down at him.

•Ting•

•Ting•

•Ting•

But, it never reaches him; an armored female figure materialized, with a left hand holding a shield, walking up front, deflecting all the attacks coming right at him.

On her back; two armor-like wings with half moon shape started to fly outward, erecting some kind of barrier around them, like a dome.

•thss•

•thss•

•thss•

In the middle of the chaos, many helicopters start to lunch missiles frantically. But, just before the missiles reach the outer layer of the dome,

•zzip• •zzip• •zzip•

•boom• •boom• •boom•

Half of the missiles suddenly dissolved, as a peculiar deep purple-black circle appeared in front of it, distorting the space.

In another hand, the other half exploded as it means to be. But, it's not because of the dome.

Looking closely; something can be seen moving in the sky, so fast that you can only see a trail of golden and bluish light wherever it goes.

A few seconds later, as the smoke from the explosion disperse. A buzzing sound echoed as two armored figures can be seen hovering right at the top of the dome.

Golden lining glowed gaily from head to toe, arms folded, head straight, eyes looking down as if looking at a pile of garbage.

On both of its sides, a golden and white-blue sword hovered sharply, its tip facing forward; ready to thrust at whoever it ordered to.

Not far from it, a metallic female figure with three pairs of armored hands can be seen in a cupping motion; with deep purple-black spiral energy rotating between them. Its head with three different faces scanned throughout the place below, like a hawk.

explosion one after another keeps happening all over the place, as another six figures manifest and run havoc, killing any soldiers on sight

Screaming, shouting, and even a plea can be heard by him

Amid the chaos, zero keeps walking forward undisturbed by it. he only has one goal in mind from the very start.

that's why he will keep moving forward, whatever it takes.

because this is his story and it is his responsibility to see it to the very end.

["I waked the Einherjar, Ragnarök will begun"]

Upon completion of the sentence, blood poured out from his mouth, his palm dripping with blood as he clench his fist so tightly making his nails thrust deep down beneath his skin.

Gritting his teeth; he can feel the marking all over his body start to move toward his heart, condensing at one point.

At the same time, all buildings in sector 7 start to tremble. A crack in his skin starts to wider than before.

The wind acted up more wildly while the soil split little by little.

•Step•

•Step•

•Step•

Arriving a few hundred meters away from the Gate, a little tremor could be felt when a towering figure grip his shoulder as it walked past him.

Bending its knee a little, the rock and soil underneath it immediately cracking down. in the next second, the armored figure suddenly jumps so high toward the giant steel gate in front of them; three pairs of hands already clenching, nocking back like an arrow ready to be unleashed.

•Bam• •Bam•

•Bam• •Bam•

•Bam• •Bam•

A booming sound echoed as the figure kept sending punch after punch to the gate constantly. Spark can be seen as six black armored arms colliding with the steel gate one after another. Making the towering gate of sector 7 begins to crumble piece by piece.

The shouts of the soldiers and the panic in their voices came deaf to his ears; he continued his steps, didn't weaver in the slightest.

["Shall the seal undone, no one can run"]

The twelve-crystal figure starts to dissolve, one by one; they fly straight to the boy's body, strengthening his entire cells, bit by bit they start to merge with him; to the very core.

Armor piece by piece began to take a shape, each piece representing each crystal figure. Head, Legs, hands, waist, torso, and back. Every part of his body is covered by sacred glowing armor.

When the last piece of armor already merges with him, a beautiful figure starts to float in front of him, carefully caressing his cheek, her eyes only focusing on him, like the world can go to hell for all her care. because for her, the world is already in front of her.

As a second passed, she start moving closer, smiles at him, and moves her lips; which read-

'I will always be with you.'

Zero starts moving his hand, to swipe the tears rolling down at the corner of her eyes, just as his finger touches the tears-

She dissolves into light particles and flies straight to the boy's very being. Completing the golden mark at his heart.

At the same time; wings made out of pure lights spread out gorgeously on his back far wide for the world to see, enveloping him with sacred brilliant light.

As the wings made of light disperses, a small smile reaches the boy's face.

with a serene and unmoveable will, he continues-

["As I alone am the honored one"]

By the end of the oath,

the world trembles.

______________________________