Apprentice of Deity

-1:25 P.M.-

With my eyes closed, I analyzed everybody around me, whether dead or alive. There were tons of bodies on the path, but I couldn't recognize a single one.

I needed to find Orion, and fast. There was a certain point in time a few minutes ago that I saw his System had corrupted. Knowing that he can now kill whoever he wanted to, I lost my upper hand, I lost my only chance to stun him with Corruption. It was looking grim at this point, I needed a new plan.

I had an idea to kill him before he Corrupted anymore, but it was impossible to find him in this black smoke. What could I do... something, something I could do to lure him out...

I decided!

I pulled my sword out of its sheathe and ran as far forward as I could, running to the frontline. We made it a good distance, almost close to the back of the throne room. The frontline frequently took breaks, and as I made it closer, I seemed to have interrupted a break some soldiers were taking.

"It's Sky! Hey, we're making good progress! But... there aren't any more soldiers here. We're taking a break if that's alright." One of the soldiers said.

"Yeah, of course, that's fine. I'll take it from here." I told them. I heard gasps and felt stares as I walked past all of the soldiers that sat down. Once I got past the secured area, I could see some of Orion's soldiers working on a barricade right in front of us.

It wouldn't matter, they would be dead soon anyway.

"Hey! It's the White Stone!" One of them yelled out. That was exactly what I wanted, say my name, alert Orion. I could end this war right now if I saw him. I could save so many lives... if I just got my hands on him.

"Tell me where Orion is and I'll let you live," I told them. They seemed really confident in their ability to take me out, so I nodded in response. "Fine then. Waste your lives."

They charged at me in an unorganized form, taking wide swings that were easy to deflect. At a certain point, one swung and I grabbed him by his throat, slamming him to the ground. While he was stuck, I planted the point of my blade into the back of his skull, killing him instantly. Yet, I didn't feel satiated.

The world was dull with black smoke, I didn't feel anything, I had tunnel vision, and I only had extreme bloodlust that was pushing me. I tried to fight it, I tried so hard, but that euphoric sensation I felt every time I killed somebody was so pleasurable that I was slowly losing my mind.

"MORE! PUT MORE OF A FIGHT UP!" I smiled, yelling at the soldiers as they all took steps back. "TELL ME WHERE ORION IS AND I'LL LET YOU LIVE!" I screamed out again.

"We don't know!" I could hear them say. I didn't like that answer too much. I slowly tried to reclaim my thought process from its dark alternative, but no matter how much I fought, I just kept losing.

It was getting terrible at this point. I couldn't notice any details around me, I couldn't think, I was losing! Lia, Dani, Carl, Mandi, Charlie, all of them, I kept forgetting about them and if they were okay. I ran as fast as I could from the new base the soldiers were building, reciting the names of my friends as much as I could to stay focused.

Once I made it back to the soldiers resting, I fell to the ground and didn't move. The surge of violence I felt just a few moments ago was way too terrifying, and I didn't get up no matter what. Then... I was back in that god-forsaken place.

-

-

-

"This damn Black Lake... why am I here again?" I said out loud. I turned my head up to see Deity and Orion standing about ten feet away from me. I was shocked and ready to kill if need be.

"It's not worth it, Sky. Orion can't be killed here. Now, you wanted everybody here, so what did you want to say, Orion?" Deity asked him.

"It's about my last name and my heritage. I found Lia, Sky. She's okay. I saw what you did to my soldiers out there. Are you falling to the pressure of Corruption yet?" He asked me. I looked down at the Black Lake... I didn't have the three markings on my face here...

"Yeah, I am, but for good reason. It'll be satisfying to kill you, once I reach you." I told Orion. Deity stepped it.

"Anyways, go on with what you wanted to say, Orion." She interrupted.

"My name is Orion Danafall. I have several distant children thanks to Zeal's intervention. He violated me while I slept and had a White Stone like me help give birth to a child. That child was Lia's Father, and Lia is my granddaughter. We're connected on a family line, and you should know that Zeal will forever hunt her. If you surrender, I'll keep her safe no matter what may happen. You should also know that I learned about this special name I'm sure you've heard before... Asterio." Orion told me.

"I'm not surrendering, I can keep her safe myself. I don't care about your past, I care about what you've done to me since I woke up. My purpose in this world was to be born to kill you." I told him.

"If that's what you believe, then so be it. My purpose on this Isle was to purge the stupidest White Stone to be born. I haven't seen you since that bay, you look a lot worse now." Orion said, laughing with an exaggerated tone.

"You should see yourself. You have that big, ugly scar on your face, isn't that so sad? Lia told me about that. You're lucky you had that knife, otherwise, she would've put a crevasse in your face so deep you could go swimming in it. Don't worry, I'll make it much worse than it already is." I told him.

"I wonder how Dani is doing. Yeah, I know about her. I hear she was fighting Moon all alone while Lia ran off for Lily. Can you believe she would do something that selfish?" Orion asked me.

"Doesn't matter. I trust Dani enough to take on Moon even if she was blind. You underestimate her, and that's why Moon will lose." I told Orion. "Now... that name, Asterio. Where did you learn that?" I asked him.

"Learn it? It was in my library, all over, it was hard not to look at it. The Asterios are the ones who turned our world into this. They're the ones who created this Black Lake. They're the ones who ruined everything." Orion told me.

"Just like I was, right? I was the one to ruin everything, now it's the Asterios, now it's Zeal... it's never yourself, is it?" I asked Orion.

"It was always Zeal's fault, that sorry excuse for a man. He's ruined everything, but I never blamed you, Sky." Orion told me.

"What a load of shit. I'm not as stupid as you might think." I told him, but Deity shook her head.

"Don't be foolish, Sky. I already told you, Zeal and Elo were the only ones who wanted you dead. Orion wanted nothing to do with you." She said.

"I still can't believe that no matter what. Why did you send all those people to come and kill me?" I asked Orion.

"Because I thought you were closer to Zeal than you were to me. Your arrogance and the attention you pulled from all other White Stones made me skeptical of your true personality. They were threatened by you because you had the potential to become the Apprentice of Deity, I thought that meant you were like Zeal." Orion told me.

"So... you killed my friends on a misunderstanding?" I asked him. Orion nodded again, looking at me with a dull look.

"Fine then... I see. June is dead, Amera is close to being dead, Noboki is on my side, and Dante is missing both of his hands. Your soldiers are losing ground, they're all dead... I'm so sorry, it seems I misunderstood you." I told Orion. "Deity, let me out of here," I demanded from her.

"Careful how you talk to me, Sky. I wanted you to look at something while you were here as well." She said.

I walked over to Deity and Orion as they simply turned around. Once I looked where they were looking, at the ground, things got a lot more confusing.

The three of us were standing above a terrifyingly large continent comprised of seven Isles. They were circles with rigid edges, each with its own climate and geographical composition.

"Why did you want me to see this?" I asked Deity. She stood silent for some time.

"No reason. This isn't just an illusion, that's all." Deity said.

-1:30 P.M.-