The Esoteric Design: Disbanding Hope

by A. R. Crebs

  A portal opened beside him, and he did not stir. Aria emerged from it but remained still, her eyes locked on the corpse in Dovian’s arms.

  “You should not see this,” he harshly hissed.

  Aria didn’t say a word but fell to her knees next to him. She removed her helmet and dropped it in the dust. Just like that? In a matter of minutes, Ivory’s life was taken away. She covered her mouth, devastation slowly taking over. Dovian and she remained silent for a while. Neither moved nor spoke. Dovian held onto Ivory, his hand holding her head as he rocked her. Soon, his face fell into an empty expression. His eyes kept their light, but still seemed dead. Aria watched him carefully.

  “Now what?” she asked with a scratchy voice. Her own eyes were bloodshot from the tears she was struggling to hold back.

  Dovian slowly lowered Ivory to the ground. For a moment, his muscles twitched. His jaw jutted from side to side as he grinded his teeth together. His countenance chilled Aria to the bone. The Sorcēarian had had enough.

  “I end this,” he said. Dovian pushed to his feet.

  “How?” she asked, rising with him. She eagerly held out his staff for him to take.

  Dovian shoved the weapon back toward her. “For once, do as I say.” Aria listened intently. “You will activate a shield that will protect you and everyone else on the battlefield. You will hold that shield for as long as you can.”

  “Won’t you need your staff to fight Sapphire?” she asked.

  “No,” he numbly stated. Looking to the sun, he closed his eyes. “I can see the path narrowing. Everything is falling into place. There are few options left, and I know what I must do. I do not plan on fighting from a distance. If I need to, I will use my hands.”

  Dovian’s wings fluttered open, the white color glittering with gold and silver light.

  “Dovian,” Aria took a couple steps toward him. Finally, he looked at her face. “Thank you. You know…for helping us.” The woman looked at Ivory. Her gaze moved across the battlefield, her optic camera scanning for Troy’s beacon. Looking to the city, realizing the amount of debris that had fallen into the mines, she still found no sign of her partner. She gave a quiet sob, fighting desperately to remain calm. The outcome was looking bleak.

  Dovian merely gave her a quick nod. With a sinking feeling in his gut, he pulled the woman toward him, giving her a lazy hug.

  “Do you think you can succeed?” she nervously asked, leaning against his chest.

  Dovian’s brow furrowed. “Of course.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  He glared, not at her, but at the vision in his mind as the gates closed, locking his fate into place. Dovian gave a harsh sigh and lowered his head. Guiding Aria’s chin upward, he pressed his lips firmly against hers. She gave a quiet squeak, surprised by his sudden actions. It was a simple kiss, quick and soft.

  Looking at her with brilliant eyes set aflame, Dovian uttered the words in Legacy, “Æēçxϋßē € xμ ŧnē xræℓŧrxŧör. Ŧnē çnöℓçē ℓß μℓњē.”

  Aria replied with a weak smile, understanding him completely.

  “Because I am the Arbitrator. The choice is mine.”

  Not saying anything else, Dovian turned away from her, his body bursting with light. As if made of fire, Dovian’s robes took to a hue of gold and silver, his wings becoming four–a pair of white and a pair of obsidian. His unruly hair magnified in a halo, matching the pale lightning sizzling from his irises. He barely moved his body, and he shot away to where Sapphire was levitating and waiting.

  "The Gates Are Closing"

  Chapter 23

  The child had been watching Dovian since the very beginning. She saw him disappear for only a short moment and saw him save Aria’s life with his power. Sapphire was not surprised by any of this. In fact, she almost expected it. Still, the anger that burned within was becoming overwhelming. No matter about her throne being blown to bits, but Sapphire did notice the rogue Roman soldier that slipped through her portal and destroyed her entire Roman fleet. That robot had life contained inside, and it was not life that she had granted it. It had also gotten away, taking with it the Elixis Electro-Static Frequency Tuner and her nuclear weapon that was then used to destroy both her cave and the demonic forces based there. After that, the large gateway closed in on itself. On the opposite end of the battlefield–deep within the mines–she felt the doors close there as well. One by one Sapphire’s routes were blocked. Not only that, but Lilith had failed. Her terrible ego caused Ivory’s death, which had nearly ruined all of Sapphire’s plans. At the moment, she wanted nothing more than to finish the game and blow the city to pieces. That was precisely what she was going to do.

  As Dovian neared her at an impossible speed, Sapphire finally activated her system. With a hum, her thrusters guided her upward, metal wings sprouting from her back in long flapping blades. Her sight remained locked on the Sorcēarian. His hands were held out, whips of fire licking across her demonic forces, burning them to the ground. He spiraled, bursting forth with a deafening rumble. His flame turned blistering white, crawling up his arms, around his torso, covering his entire body. Sapphire, though tiny, held out her arms to embrace Dovian as he crashed into her. Her palms remained steadfastly against him, halting him.

  “You think you’ve won, Dovian, but what will you do when I kill your precious humans? What will become of you once all the humans are gone?” Sapphire questioned in her child-like voice.

  “You won’t be killing anyone. You’re too late. The pride inside of you has allowed you to waste all of your time,” Dovian rumbled through his teeth. “Your portals are closed. There is no escape for you. You’re locked on this plane.”

  Sapphire’s face fell, her anger exuding from her, filling Dovian’s lungs. He struggled with her, pushing her shoulders as she pressed against his.

  “We can fight an eternal battle, Dovian. You will never defeat me.”

  “And you will never defeat me,” he returned.

  From far below, Sapphire saw a bulbous dome-shaped light emerge over the battlefield. Aria had Dovian's staff, blue light growing around every figure on the cracked dry land. Sapphire’s eyes enlarged.

  “My plans are not all ruined!” she ecstatically exclaimed. “The woman is with child!” Sapphire gave a shrill laugh, thrilled by this revelation. “Your child I presume?”

  Dovian grimaced, his grip tightening. He gave no word.

  “I will destroy the city and take the human woman as my slave! Her child will be mine!” Sapphire shouted, flying higher and higher, her chest opening to reveal her nuclear warhead.

  “You won’t be doing any of that,” Dovian lethally stated.

  “You can’t stop me. No one can stop me! This world is mine!” Her tone dipped down into a menacing growl.

  Dovian looked upward at the sun, sweat beading on his brow. “No. I can’t.”

  Sapphire’s face fell into a look of confusion.

  A vibrant pulse of light spiraled from the white orb in the sky. It followed up with a few more flickers, the sun spraying waving beams. A moment later, a horrendous gasp sounded from the child.

  “What is this?!” she screamed.

  Suddenly, the whole world fell into silence as an invisible force smashed against the planet, creating an EMP disturbance so grand it wiped out every electronic device around the world. Each and every single one of Sapphire’s androids fell to the ground and remained motionless. The demonic creatures were abruptly dropping with ease as their shields no longer protected them. Sapphire’s numbers were dwindling fast. The child’s body sputtered and gave a dull hum. She suddenly fell heavily against Dovian, no part of her moving.

  “THIS ISN’T POSSIBLE!” the voice inside her screamed.

  “All things are possible,” Dovian reminded the girl. “And I am no longer hesitating.”

  Reaching for the bomb, Dovian activated it. It was better for her to detonate in the sky rather than on the ground, and her previous velocity was sending them faster
toward the earth.

  “YOU MAY HAVE ENDED THIS BODY, DOVIAN, BUT YOU WILL NOT SAVE THE HUMANS. EVEN WITH HER SHIELD, SHE IS NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH TO SAVE THE CITY. THE FORCE WILL ANNIHILATE HER AND EVERYONE. YOU WILL FAIL," Sapphire grimly stated.

  Dovian gave the child a sorrowful look. “Then today…we both fail.”

  Closing his eyes, Dovian focused on all of his energy and pulled it to the surface. White light engulfed both him and Sapphire in spidery tendrils. As the radiance tightly stretched around them like a taut web, a black shadow moved out of Sapphire’s body.

  “WE MAY HAVE FAILED, BUT NOT TOGETHER. FAREWELL, SORCĒARIAN. I ADMIRE YOUR RESOLVE, NO MATTER HOW FOOLISH IT MAY SEEM,” the shadow spoke, the words like clanging metal and music.

  Dovian didn’t care to chase after the dark mass, allowing it to extract from Sapphire’s body. Dovian clenched his fist, power exploding outwards as he detonated the warhead. A brilliant flare expanded outward, stretching Dovian’s protective orb to its limits. As soon as it warped as far as the expanse of the visible sky, the sphere sank inward and burst back out into a large ring of fire. Dovian’s body launched from the light. His form along with the power of the blast shattered Aria’s shield to pieces.

  Dovian’s wings were blazing, charring, and flickering to tiny black bits. He kept his eyes locked onto the gleaming sun overhead, feeling completely drained. Limply, he fell, his arms flowing in front of him. All he could hear was the wind in his ears, and he relished in the strange peacefulness only for a second before his body collided harshly with a pile of broken metal from a destroyed mech. He made only a quiet groan, his blood splattering from his torso as a giant spike cut through him. Dovian was pinned to the earth, his blood coating his robes. He felt entirely too heavy. The act of moving was impossible, and his breaths were quick and shallow. The white of the sun kept his attention.

  “Dovian!” Aria’s voice echoed from far away.

  A black silhouette blocked the sunlight, and his heart ached with each loud cry that came from the woman peering down at him.

  “Dovian!” she cried again.

  She was on her knees, moving scraps of metal out of the way. From behind, the war raged on, monsters and humans fighting one another. Dovian did not respond to her. Instead, he continued to stare blankly into the blue sky.

  Aria’s hands lit up. She urgently touched the man's body and gave a ragged gasp as she detected that nearly every bone was shattered. It was a miracle he was even alive, or conscious by Dovian’s standards.

  “Dovian. Can you hear me?” she weakly asked, gently pressing her fingers against his chest.

  Finally, his white eyes looked to her, his fire extinguished.

  “Ar…ia,” he croaked.

  “Let me heal you,” she whispered.

  “N-no.” He reached up with a shaking hand and dropped it atop hers. “You are too weak.”

  “I can at least help a little until you can fully heal yourself,” she replied quickly, setting the staff next to him. Aria gave a troubled intake of breath, noticing the light in the orb of his weapon was also missing. She worriedly looked to the man. “Dovian…are you going to be okay?”

  He was straining to breathe, trying to lift the corner of his mouth into a smile for her. “I’m…going to be just fine.”

  Aria reached for him, placing her hand on his forehead. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Ah,” he tried to laugh but groaned in pain instead. “Stubborn.”

  “Dovian!” she screamed, her hands flickering as she tried to mend his lungs.

  He snatched her hand with a weak grasp, his eyes watching her. He looked distressed.

  “No. You mustn’t. This…it…has to be…this way. Please. I…I want it this way.” His voice quivered as he talked. “I…I am so tired.”

  Aria’s lower lip trembled. “What do you mean? You said you can’t die! Are you dying?”

  Taking in a slow, shaky breath, Dovian spoke, “I learned a thing or two…from my mother. The life-force…can do many things.”

  “You gave up your life-force? To stop Sapphire’s attack?” Aria questioned.

  Dovian gave a weak laugh. “It worked…didn't it?”

  His face was colorless, and his body was turning cold. Aria’s shoulders quaked as she barked a sob.

  “Yeah, but was it worth it?” She palmed away her tears. Staring at her hand, she noticed the coat of blood on the side of her palm. “You’re dying!”

  Dovian gave a smile, his thumb running over the back of her hand. “Yes. You are alive, are you not?”

  “You can’t do this to me, Dovian! You can’t…” she paused, noticing that he had a faraway look in his eyes. “What’s next on the timeline? What do you see?” she frantically asked.

  Dovian’s attention was brought back to her. Like in a drunken state, he struggled to look at her face. “Hm…no. All…all I can see is…you.” He tiredly placed his hand on her cheek.

  Large tears fell from Aria’s eyes.

  “Aria…” he whispered. “You can’t…you can’t have the child. It will kill you.”

  “Don’t tell me that. You know I won’t give up.” Her hands were shaking. The man was not moving. “Dovian!”

  He stirred; his expression was empty, sight aimed at the skies. “My…only regret…is not being there,” he took one last scratchy breath, “…for…you.”

  Immediately his hand dropped from her face, smacking against the metal beneath him. Aria gaped at him, wide-eyed. Eagerly, she placed her hands on his chest, feeling him. No life signs. No energy. No blood was pumping. No brainwaves.

  “No,” she meekly whimpered, shaking her head back and forth.

  She had not noticed the crowd that had gathered around her–Kovacevic, James, a mixture of battered soldiers of varying nations, the other generals. Aren, saturated with a powdery dust and blood, pushed through the crowd. His mouth opened to speak, but upon seeing Aria, he stopped mid-step and made no sound. The rest of Team Phoenix emerged, covered in grime.

  Aria gripped Dovian’s robes, shaking him. “No!” she screamed. “NO! NO! NO! Don’t you do this! Don’t you do this to me!” Her eyes stung, her face bright red as she lost her composure. “Damnit! You planned this, didn't you?! You knew this would happen! You knew all this would happen! You’re not dead! You can’t die! You told me that! You said that over and over again! Why? Why would you lie to me?! DOVIAN!”

  The Sorcēarian’s body remained motionless with his pale eyes open. Aria abruptly halted. A drawn-out wail sounded from the woman as she looked the man up and down. It was a miserable sound.

  “Ooooohhhh.” She shakily drew breath. “Oh…no.”

  She curled over him, covering his torso as she sobbed quietly. Slowly, she ran her hand through his hair. Even the strange hint of light that once haloed around his head was missing. She couldn’t believe it. She refused to believe it. It simply was not possible.

  Aria’s memories rushed into her all at once, as crisp and clear as the moment they occurred. She saw Dovian absorbing the light in his cathedral, the way he swung his blade in battle, his awkward posture while in her apartment, his youthful smile as they chatted alone, his brooding stories, his charming laugh as he held her in bed, and relived the feeling of his lips upon hers. It didn’t help. It only made it all the harder to deal with as the man was no longer living. Aria’s chest heaved as she choked on her sobs.

  “Aria?” Spoofy finally called out. Her voice held a hint of urgency but was still apprehensive.

  Aria flinched when she felt the other woman’s hand on her back. Lifting her head, Aria looked at her friend.

  “We need you,” Spoofy whispered, pointing toward Team Phoenix.

  Aria’s eyes darted to the group, not caring that everyone had seen her momentary breakdown. Letting out another whimper, Aria stumbled to her feet. As if it were even feasible, things had just gotten worse. Held in Monkey's large arms was Troy's body. To her horror, Troy was unconscious. Kaino was holding the
Roman soldier. It also was unmoving.

  “Can you bring him back?” Aren asked. “He was fine, but then the EMP disturbance wiped out the bot. We were in the process of trying to transfer him back to his body when everything went offline.”

  Aria ran to Troy, her hands shakily covering his face. Monkey lowered him to the ground, and Aria went to work. She tried to pull up his DNAIS but realized it was offline as was her own.

  “Troy?” she attempted to call mentally. She was met with a kind of silence inside her mind that she had not known since she was a child. Even the mental chips were incapable of functioning. Aria’s body chilled. That meant Troy’s artificial heart was most likely not working either.

  “How long?!” she asked.

  “Only a couple minutes,” Aren said. “Somehow his heart’s capacitors didn’t fry. Most likely thanks to the static protection in his suit along with the barrier Dovian placed over the clinic. But his heart isn’t self-sustaining yet. That damn blast from the sun knocked out all of our equipment, and then we lost all readings on his vitals. Can you keep his body alive? Can you help him?”

  The rest of the team nervously watched.

  Aria let out a growl of frustration, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes as she realized that Troy was probably dead as well. She fed electric currents into his chest, trying to kick on the device. She looked upward at the sun, hoping that it would keep its solar flares at bay.

  “Come on!” she screamed. After a second shock, she felt a small bit of relief when she detected a pulse. Aria sent another jolt into his system, and the pacemaker kicked on. “I have a stable pulse…” she stammered. Placing her hand on his forehead, she concentrated. “But…but he’s not waking up. He’s…he’s not in there.” Any amount of hope she had quickly expired.