Chrysalis

by Kayne Sampson

  No, he was alive. And he heard the sound of a voice that made him angry. Of all the people to be saved by, this was the most embarrassing.

  ***

  Keta stood in front of Pent, who was doubled over coughing. Beside him was Formetis, who had different hair and eyes. They were opposite the woman in white, who had the same features Formetis now displayed. And at the altar in the midst in a puddle of blood lay Master Inferno.

  Focus now, grieve later, Keta thought to himself, fighting back his emotions. He had wanted things to end differently between him and his former master. But now, he was facing down the enemy and he needed to concentrate.

  The first thing he had seen when he arrived in the chamber was the woman in white, strangling Pent. He reacted as quickly as he could, moving to intervene. The woman had dropped the boy and escaped his blade, then merely regarded him with a curious look.

  “Are you okay, Pent?” Keta asked simply, keeping his eye on the woman in front of him, who was looking at him distastefully.

  “If I said yes, I’d be lying,” the boy said, massaging his neck. Keta was glad to see the boy, but surprised to hear the fear in Pent’s voice. What had happened here? What could any of them do? There was only one way this would work. But, as he looked over at Formetis, he wasn’t sure how well that would go over.

  No, this was to be his battle.

  “That sword you carry,” Kalezstros said, nodding at it. She had been silent since he had made his appearance. “That is Kataro’s weapon, is it not? So the Kitaan has passed and made you his replacement?”

  Let me talk to her, Kataro’s voice rumbled inside his head. It may avail to nothing, but I was acquainted with her back when I was still Elthea’s guardian. I will try to appeal to her.

  Keta was reluctant at first, but he knew it was the best option. He was still wary about giving control of his body to another, after what had happened with Abyss. To be locked into the back of your mind while another rules. But he knew Kataro was different. And so he allowed the transfer.

  “Kalezstros, it has been some time,” Kataro said in Keta’s voice. When the goddess raised an eyebrow, he added, “My soul has been sealed into Reikon. Keta carries my blade now, and can allow me to use his body. I wish to talk.”

  Kalezstros seemed to accept this. “You’ve quite the gall to speak to me after all the trouble you have caused me, Kitaan. Xalphora’s betrayal, my eventual defeat and imprisonment, it was all due to your actions.”

  “My apologies, my lady. But mistress Elthea gave me very specific instructions before her demise. I was to guard the lives of all mortal creatures. She didn’t think it right to lord over them like they were puppets,” Kataro said.

  Kalezstros frowned at hearing this. “Kataro, I never sought to treat them as puppets. I am far too busy to pull their strings. I am the goddess of war, and they are my prey. That is all there is to it.”

  Keta could sense Kataro’s frustration. “Lady Xalphora had changed. She became the goddess of shadows and light. It is not unthinkable that you could become something new. Has your time in solitude taught you nothing?”

  Kalezstros broke into a wide grin. “Oh, it has taught me something all right. It has taught me how much I despise tranquility. For millennia, I have sat alone with nothing. Without connection to the Mortal realm or the other goddesses who ruled it, the Realm of the Heavens fell into decay. I have seen nothing but void since that day you imprisoned me. That is what you had condemned me to.”

  Keta felt a flash of guilt from Kataro, even as he himself felt pity for the goddess. To be alone and isolated for so long must have been painful. It would have driven a lesser man insane. So how was it this woman was still lucid? Was this the willpower of the gods themselves?

  “Do you want to know what kept me going, even after all these years?” Kalezstros asked sweetly. Keta could hear the malice hidden behind the words, but Kataro nodded anyways. “I replayed every battle I had ever been in, over and over in my mind. And I relished the thought that, someday, somebody would free me and I would be able to fight once more.”

  She turned on her heel and crossed her arms across her chest as she looked at Formetis. “I never thought that it would be you who freed me, dear sister. And for that, you have my thanks. And as for you, I think it’s time we settled the score.”

  Kataro sighed. “I had hoped that it would not come to this, though I would be lying if I said I did not expect it. However, my time has passed. I am no longer the Kitaan who protects this world. If you must fight a champion, then Keta will be your opponent.”

  Keta was suddenly thrust back into control of his body. I am sorry, I was unable to persuade her. But I thought that I needed to at least try. Forgive me.

  “No,” Keta said out loud, “You did what you thought was best. And I appreciate it. Kitaan are not monsters. We try to save everyone. But if necessary, we must fight to protect. Goddess Kalezstros, I am sorry for what has happened to you. But you don’t need to repeat the past.”

  “I don’t need to, Kitaan. I want to,” Kalezstros said.

  Keta gripped Reikon. “Then forgive me for what I must do.”

  The woman raised her hand and a sword dropped into it. Keta moved quickly, closing the distance between the two of them and drew his blade in a quick slashing motion. The goddess stopped the attack with a simple motion and pushed his guard away before making a counter attack.

  Keta ducked the blow and aimed a slashing cut upwards. Kalezstros raised her other arm and a shield appeared in it, blocking the attack. Surprised, Keta barely was able to avoid being cleaved in two by jumping backwards.

  Look out!

  Kataro’s voice warned Keta just in time. He had moved out of the woman’s reach, but suddenly she was back in front of him. He sidestepped being skewered by the sword and leapt backwards to gain distance again. The woman turned to look at him with a smile. “Impressive,” she said.

  Don’t forget that she is the Goddess of War. She is stronger than she looks, and can move much faster than you would imagine. Keep your wits about you, Kataro said.

  “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll try and keep that in mind,” Keta said, though he was sweating a little from the anxiety. Was she using Gale Step? It had to be, right? But how was she doing it without becoming weightless? Her attack should have done nothing.

  The shield in her hand dissolved and she snapped her fingers, a glowing light pulsing from it. Keta tensed, and he heard Kataro’s voice. Above!

  Keta’s eyes darted up and he saw a rift appear in the sky twenty feet above him. From it, swords rained down on his position. Keta dashed out of the way to avoid being impaled by the downpour of steel.

  This is ridiculous, Keta thought, panting. If I’m going to make any progress here, I can’t just be on the defensive. I’m going to need to attack. And so the moment he dodged, he made his way to the woman, ducking under the wide swing she employed against him and slicing upwards.

  It was a clean hit, but it bounced off her. Just as the attack landed, Kalezstros had armor materialize around her, a brilliant white tint on it. His attack had been rendered useless.

  “That was a good move there,” Kalezstros said, as Keta retreated. She stepped forward, and her entire body became encased in the glowing white metal. “However, did you think a goddess of war wouldn’t have her own set of divine armor. You can’t win.” She raised her hand and a helm formed in it, which she placed on her head.

  “Keta!” Pent had risen and was running forward. He grabbed his fallen weapons from the ground and started towards Kalezstros. “I’ll rush her head on and you flank her.” Keta nodded. It was a good plan. Well, as good as any considering the circumstances.

  “Oh? You still think you can win?” Kalezstros asked. She raised her left hand and a second sword appeared. “When will you realize that you are but mortals amongst a god?”

  Keta brought his sword up to block Kalezstros, who had struck out at him. The power of the goddess pushed him to one
knee, and he gripped the sword with both hands to avoid being crushed into the dirt. She raised her second sword, but before she could swing, Pent came to his aid, driving her off.

  As the two of them clashed, Keta struggled to his feet. His body hurt like hell, realizing that he and Pent would never be able to defeat the goddess alone.

  No, I can’t think like that. Not after we’ve come so far, Keta thought to himself. He looked around, letting Pent deal with Kalezstros for now. There has to be some way to gain an advantage.

  She’s in the Mortal Realm, her power isn’t as great as she would think. Keta stopped, hearing Kataro’s voice. Of course, he once lived alongside the gods. He would know how to best handle this.

  “Tell me, is there any way we can defeat her?” Keta asked desperately, watching Pent fight. He missed a strike and was forced to evade, Kalezstros swinging wide with those weapons of hers.

  Keta felt Kataro’s conflicted mind. He was struggling with something. This knowledge must remain between us, as Kitaan. The power of the gods comes from their connection to the Mortal Realm. Thus, this should have weakened Kalezstros greatly when Lady Xalphora sealed the realms.

  Finally, some good news. “So we can beat her?” Keta asked.

  Hardly. Even weakened, she is the Goddess of War. You and that boy wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Keta groaned. “That’s just great. So why even tell me any of this?”

  Because Kalezstros is weakened. And despite her circumstances, that one is a goddess.

  Keta turned his attention to Formetis, who was sitting on the ground. She was staring at the fight between Pent and Kalezstros with a blank look on her face.

  Keta crossed the distance to the girl and extended a hand to her. Gods, she was different with that hair and eyes. “Formetis...you need to snap out of it. If you don’t help us, we’ll die.”

  There was no change in her demeanor. “We’re all going to die anyways. She is the Goddess of War.”

  Pent grunted in the distance, and Kalezstros let out a sound of glee. “You are a goddess too. Can’t you deal with her?” Keta asked.

  The girl shook her head. “Even considering the fact that I just regained my divinity, she was the most powerful of my sisters. It took Kataro, Elthea and myself to even hold her back long enough to seal the realms.”

  “Hey Keta! I could use a hand here!” Pent shouted, ducking under a sword stroke and using both blades to block the other. Even with both hands, he was having trouble holding his ground.

  “Yes! Come, Kitaan. The more the merrier,” Kalezstros said, nearly singing the words.

  Keta turned back to Formetis quickly. “There’s three of us and one of her. At the very least, we could try to fight,” he said. He gripped his weapon tightly and joined the fray.

  Kalezstros spun around and met his blade effortlessly. As Pent tried to strike from the distraction, she stepped away from the two and gained distance. She tossed aside one of her swords and raised a glowing hand.

  “Move!” Pent roared, and pushed Keta aside roughly. He was lucky, for not long after, spears erupted from the ground that would have skewered him.

  “Yes, give me more! More!” Kalezstros screamed. The armored goddess attacked again, a spear appearing in her empty hand. Keta attempted to match her movements, but it was pointless. This was an ancient being whose sole purpose was on the battlefield.

  Keta avoided being stabbed in the foot with the spear, but he fell for a feint and was subsequently disarmed. The goddess then came at him swinging with her sword at his neck, aiming to take his head. There was nothing he could do to stop this one.

  But he didn’t have to. Kalezstros let out a roar of pain, her sword stopping in mid air. Pent had used the moment to strike, using Abyss to impale through the armor. He pushed it deeper before the goddess turned on him, lashing out.

  “I am...impressed. I never imagined that a mortal weapon could penetrate my armor. Or that a mortal would be the one to do so,” Kalezstros said calmly, though she was quiet. She placed a hand where the blade had penetrated, then gasped.

  “My blood? Do you know how many years it has been since I have seen my own blood? Are you...the one who might finally show me glorious battle?” Kalezstros said, eyes wide as she glanced at the blood on her hands, then turned her gaze to Pent.

  She was completely ignoring Keta right now. Was this his chance to strike? But when Keta moved, she turned her head to him swiftly. “Forgive me, little Kitaan, but playing with you has grown tiresome. I have my eyes on new prey.” With this, she discarded her spear and Keta leapt back to avoid swords rising from the ground between him and Kalezstros.

  He began to run back, but Pent waved him off. “Don’t worry about me, I think the goddess wants a duel. You’ve more pressing matters at hand,” the boy shouted, nodding at Formetis. The girl was on the ground with hands on her head, shaking violently.

  Keta looked from Formetis to Pent. “I can’t just…”

  Pent interrupted him. “You can and you will. I don’t really see another way out of this.”

  Keta’s hand tightened around Reikon, but even he had to realize the wisdom behind Pent’s words. Turning, he made his way towards the girl. He only hoped that doing so wouldn’t doom Pent.

  22

  “You’ve given me cause to respect you, boy. I don’t know many that would oppose a goddess. And as a child, nonetheless. Simply fascinating,” Kalezstros said, striking low at Pent’s legs.

  Pent focused his will, and called on Abyss for power. The sword growled in his head, but it was more than willing to lend power to him. He brought up his sword to stop the attack from the goddess, struggling from both her power and the pull of Abyss trying to control him. But he was able to hold his ground.

  The goddess lifted her free hand and a battle axe appeared. Pent let some of the blood from his open wounds be absorbed by Susanoo to empower the sword. When Kalezstros brought the axe down on his head, he deflected the attack. He used the opening to stab forward, aiming for the heart. But Kalezstros danced away from him.

  “I am growing more and more fascinated by you, mortal. You show great courage, despite your age. Those weapons you wield, they are no ordinary swords. And yet you have mastery over them. Marvelous.” Kalezstros said, her weapons vanishing into mist again, holding her arms across her chest. Her helmet had vanished, revealing the face of the deity who eyed Pent with interest.

  Pent’s eyes blurred and he stumbled, but righted himself. Perhaps using the power of both swords so frequently was not the best idea. What other choice do I have than against the damn Goddess of War?

  “You seem tired. Why do you persist with this useless endeavor?” Kalezstros asked. “For all that effort you expended, you’ve managed to hit me once. And you must realize that my body is much tougher than yours. How long can you keep this up?”

  She still hadn’t resummoned her weapons. Pent meanwhile was panting, holding his weapons at the ready. He was scared, but he was also thrilled. This woman was the strongest being in the world. And he had landed a strike against her. But no, he had landed that hit while she was distracted. He wouldn’t be satisfied until he had landed a clean blow on his own merit.

  Don’t get too over eager, Pent. We can’t win if you aren’t focused, Susanoo cautioned, though Abyss and his bloodthirst threatened to drown her out.

  “Yeah, I know. Keep calm, watch my stance. Master Xuan taught me all this,” Pent muttered, and then he raised his weapons again towards the goddess. “Draw your weapons. Let us continue.”

  “As you wish.” Kalezstros spread her hands and an array of weapons plopped into the ground beside her. She leaned over, inspecting them with her hand on her chin. She stole a glance at Pent, and then lifted one. “Let’s see how well you fare against this.”

  Pent subconsciously smiled. He was well versed in handling an opponent wielding the greatsword she had just chosen. He stepped forward, knowing that against a weapon with greater reach, he needed to get in f
irst to set the pace of the fight. Kalezstros grinned, before her helmet covered her face.

  Pent tried swinging in with his left first, but the goddess held her sword in a guard stance and took the blow easily. Ducking to the left, he swung at her unprotected side. Kalezstros merely shifted her stance and lifted her weapon to take the brunt of the attack and sliced upwards. Pent was forced back.

  Look out! Abyss shouted a warning, and Pent heard the whistling of metal. He swung backwards with the purple sword to knock a sword that had come flying from behind out of the sky. With his eyes, he saw a halberd coming towards him and he sidestepped, slicing the wooden shaft clean in two.

  Pent let out a loud curse. He didn’t like the fact that he needed a weapon to call out warnings for him. It felt like cheating. Abyss rumbled in his head loudly. I suppose her having access to magical weapons that she can send to attack me with her mind makes us even, Pent thought to himself.

  “Why do you oppose me, mortal? My sisters created you, but I can sense a familiar spark in you. You are a warrior. You could become so much more at my side. I do not offer such a thing carelessly,” Kalezstros said.

  “I fight so that the people I care about don’t have to. I am not a weapon,” Pent muttered defiantly.

  “Aren’t you, though?” Kalezstros asked, holding the sword to the side and pointing her freehand at him. “A weapon can be employed to defend people. There is no shame in it. But don’t delude yourself into thinking a weapon can exist in a world wrapped in peace.”

  When Pent didn’t respond, she continued. “Embrace your own power. Ideals only bind you, they limit your potential. Raw talent like yours can be cultivated. You can free yourself from these shackles if you join me.”

  Pent shook his head. “Keta was right. Damn him, he was right. I agree with you for the most part. But you see, I just can’t turn my back on everyone else. I am a Demon after all. We are nothing without our pride.”

  The goddess didn’t move at first. Pent expected another speech. Instead, Kalezstros placed both hands on her weapon and raised it. “I don’t know why you would pass the chance to aid your goddess, but I respect it. You wish to make your own way in the world with your own strength. I respect that. And because I respect you, I shall cut you down here and now.”