by Andrew Jones
Verse X
Peace No More
Nova and Atreyu made their way through the fields that separated the Ancient Desert and Amaya's Village. It wasn't long before the humidity of the deserts wore off them as the air became more stable. Nova stopped and held her hands on her knees, bending down slightly as she caught her breath.
"Hold on... I haven't run so much in my life." She muttered as she panted for air heavily.
Atreyu looked back at her, crossing his arms. He looked as though he hasn't even broken a sweat. Nova stood up straight and cracked her neck as she looked to be back in shape.
"Are you all right, Atreyu?" Nova asked.
Atreyu nodded. Nova stepped toward him and tilted her head as she observed him.
"Are you sure...?" She asked as she looked up at him.
He gasped as he looked a different way, clearing his throat.
"W-Where is your dragon, anyway?" He asked, trying to change the subject.
She frowned and looked left, thinking for a moment. She eventually shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know."
"Surely you must have some sort of sense for him...?"
"Come to think of it, I have had these odd senses lately, or emotions."
Atreyu stopped her, "Before we do anything though, we have to report back to Amaya. She's probably wondering where we're at." Atreyu interrupted, seeing Nova nod as a response.
They began to run through the fields once again. The fields showed a beautiful image of tall green grass, occasional flowers that gave the colors of purple, white and sometimes pink into the mix with the green of the grass fields. There weren't many trees around, it'd always be a lone tree on a hill. The landscape changed as they traveled as well. There'd be a stream, with a bridge that gave access to the other side of the water border, from what they assumed was built by the ones in the past. Ancient inventions seemed to remain in the fields as well. There was a large bridge that you had to climb on with a ladder, that gave you the key to the mountain area. But that area has been off limits due to the recent cave-ins. It was rumored to have been a land of snow, but we hadn't ever seen snow in this time of age. They called the mountain, 'Snowpeak'. But that just looked silly, since the mountain looked drier than it was imaged to look like in the past. It was green, so it surely had a lot of grassland on it.
Before entering Amaya's village, a large lake awaited them. The lake was known in the past as, 'Heartland Lake' was the borderline territory for an imperial army who served the land of Fire Storm, famous for its fire storms, and extreme temperatures. But again, they hadn't seen any firestorms, apart from rare acid storms that would burn the land. But it wasn't bad. The weather they mostly encountered was heat, the sun was always out. There seemed to be nothing to cover the sun either, sometimes a little cloud, but it still felt like nothing.
"Nova, look!" Atreyu shouted.
The shout awoke Nova from her walking daydream. He was pointing forward, past some trees where some black smoke was as clear as day. It was flying high in the sky, and it was around the area of Amaya's Village.
"Is that the area Amaya and the villagers are at?" Nova asked, spotting the smoke.
"I don't know, but we gotta hurry!" Atreyu shouted, running faster toward the village.
The village was covered in burned ash. The wooden cabins were burned down, the markets were in ashes, some survivors had retreated outside the village and inside a small cave. Nova and Atreyu passed one of the small caves, as Nova's wrist was pulled from behind. She jumped back and pulled back her arm, spotting Jet.
"Jet, what's going on?" Nova asks.
Jet emerged from the shadow of the cave, crawling on the ground. Nova had noticed that his mechanic leg she had seen when she first met him was gone. He sat up, breathing heavily as he pulled his muscular body along the long way.
"I dunno, man. Once you guys left, we were attacked."
"Attacked?" Atreyu asked in a loud manner. "By who?"
Jet coughed, "I don't know.. We saw a dragon, and that's when we knew we were screwed." Jet coughed into his elbow again, looking down after as his voice became weak. "I was ordered to get any and all survivors out of harm's way."
Nova looked in the cave and observed the faces. It was dark, very dark. And all the people inside the cave looked very frightened.
"Wait, where's Amaya?" Nova asked, glancing at everyone.
"Not sure. She's the one who sent me to order everyone out of the village." Jet answered.
"So you just leave her to fight by herself!?" Atreyu yells right at Jet.
"Hell no, boy! I respect Amaya, I'll do anything for her! She wanted to ensure the safety of our people, it's the only thing she could've done for us."
Nova sighed, "We'll go have a look around and see if she's all right."
Jet nodded as he watched them walk forward into the smell of burning flames. The area became more and darker, there hasn't been an attack like this in hundreds of years when the Great War was still in effect. The trails of the village were littered with dead people or machines, wood planks from homes and just trash. Atreyu looked around the destroyed homes as Nova bent down and picked up a teddy bear. The teddy bear reminded her of Kryptonite. It was burned, but still somewhat stable enough to hold it's head up.
A gust of wind blew passed them, blowing all the rubble away as the Dragoona, Bastion landed next to Nova. Her hair blew wildly as she watched above as Bastion landed softly onto the ground. She turned away from him to get another good glance around the area.
Bastion scoffed, "This place looks like shit."
"Where have you been?" Nova asked him, glaring up at him now.
"I'm a Dragoona, I'm drawn to the Dragoona a rank higher than me."
Atreyu steps toward them as he tossed what was a useless item he'd found in one of the destroyed homes.
"Why is that?" Atreyu asked.
"I'm not sure. It's probably the fact that we're battle born. Born to battle one another." Bastion answered, quickly jolting his head back. "Human, what are you doing!?"
Nova shushed Bastion as she slowly climbed up the back of his neck, plopping onto his head for a seat as she looked around the area.
"We're looking for any survivors." She answered. "You too, Bastion. Help us."
"I suppose..." Bastion grumbled as he began his search as well.
Time passed as the sun began to drift to the underground. Atreyu kept his progress of calling out to her, but he had no answer each time he shouted.
"You don't think..." He muttered looking at Nova.
She shook her head, "I don't like to think that way."
As they sat down to take a short break, they are stopped by Jet, who managed to find some tree branches to use as crutches.
"Any luck?" Nova asked as she looked at him.
Jet nudged his head back toward a walking figure, the figure was identified as Amaya as the darkness dimmed.
"Amaya! What happened?" Atreyu shouted with relief as he jumped on his feet.
Amaya crossed her arms, "Don't get too excited. All's not well."
"Well, first; are you okay?" Atreyu asked, still sounding more optimistic than he should.
Amaya chuckled, "I'm fine, I supposed. As for the trouble, we were attacked by Drakkar."
Atreyu frowned and stomped his foot on the ground in anger.
"What'd he want?"
Amaya shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know."
"Are you familiar with him, Amaya?" Nova asked as she crossed her arms.
"I do. I knew him during my short time with the... Erm, Resurrection of Humanity- I think?" She crossed her arms as well, but she poked her forehead softly and repeatedly as she thought hard about it. "Anyway, like most stories, I was desperate for survival, he brought me in. He conducted multiple experiments to see if I was truly human. And when it proved that I was, he gave me a special mission. The mission was to go to this abandoned factory and kill BLAZE-0X119. Of course, I knew she was a machine, but she ha
d emotion."
"I thought she was dangerous?" Atreyu asked.
"She is, to everyone really. But not to me, I guess she's formed a strong bond with me." She admitted as she turned to Nova. "She even came all this way to save me." She smiled.
"I can sense the presence of a Dragoona around here, recent. Your friend must've been damn strong to be able to fight it off." Bastion roared softly, speaking.
Amaya nodded.
"Nova." Bastion called out to her. "I can sense your thoughts, your plans. I can sense the power this Drakkar and this Dragoona has. They also have a pact."
"What?" Nova asked, sounding concerned.
"Fear not. The last Dragoona has not been awakened just yet. If we get to him first, we may be able to use him to fight those two."
Nova raised an eyebrow, "If this is a personal matter, then I want a favor afterward as well."
"Fine. When the time shall come."
Nova nodded her head and turned back to Amaya.
"He has to pay for what he has done. He's basically wiped out the remaining chance of Humanity's survival... His power has enraged him, I feel." Amaya says as she holds her fist up to her chest, feeling the overbearing emotion run through her.
"I may not know how it feels to be human, or machine really. But I have some sense now..." Nova speaks out as a form of an emotional whisper. "I promise to dispose of Drakkar, for you all."
Amaya looked down, nodding her head.
"What will you do now?" Atreyu asked.
Jet shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not sure. It's harder to find a nice settlement. I even asked Blaze to stay with us, she seems so lonely and damaged out there." Amaya answered.
"We actually met her, while we were doing your errand..." Atreyu muttered as he rubbed the back of his head. "She does seem independent, at most."
Amaya smiled slightly.
Nova nodded, "All right Bastion, where are we headed?"
"The Sacred Realm, toward the depths of the Ancient Desert." Bastion spoke deeply as he responded.
"That place is real? No way it is." Jet chuckled.
"If a dragon knows of the place, then it HAS to be real." Nova mumbles. "It's our only real chance of getting back at Drakkar... Atreyu, what do you think of this?" Nova looks at Atreyu and asks.
Atreyu looked down at the burned ground and nodded his head. The ground grew silent as they watched his reaction. Nova assumed now that there was more to Atreyu's story than he was telling her, he had more relations with Drakkar than he admitted in the past. It seemed hard for him to even speak at that given moment as well.
"I want to kill him. I want him to suffer for what he has done to me, Nova, Amaya, Jet, and anyone else he tormented." He spoke quietly but deep as he shook from anger.
Amaya put a hand on his shoulder, attempting to comfort him.
"Don't get too worked up. With how much that virus has affected people, it'd be easy to contract it while you're enraged." Amaya whispers in a soothing voice.
"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!" Atreyu shouted as he shot his arms down with a strong force, pushing her hand away.
She gasped, looking upset. But she frowned.
"I was just-... Never mind..." Amaya sighed, looking back at Nova. "Thank you, Nova. I do hope to see you soon enough."
Nova smiled at her, nodding, "I'm sure we will. And good luck to you too, Jet."
Jet grinned and gave her a salute positioning as he wrapped his arm around Amaya's waist to keep himself up on his feet. Amaya looked to have had difficulties holding him, but she somehow managed to do it.
Nova jumped onto Bastion's back, holding her arm down to help Atreyu up.
"You know, you do have a chance to separate from me. We clearly have different goals here." Nova spoke, looking down at Atreyu.
He looked up at her and stared at her for a moment. He stared deep into her eyes, as he reached up and grabbed her hand softly. Nova smiled, her face growing a bit red as she noticed his staring right away. She gripped onto his hand and pulled him up with ease. He sat behind her, wrapping his hand around her waist.
"So, Nova-... Do you know what you're doing?" Atreyu asked, sounding a bit awkward in his voice.
"Not at all." She answered.
"Idiots. I am no mere average source of transportation! I can fly myself, just hold on!" Bastion roared angerly as he thrust a gust of wind up in the air and flapped his wings, quickly pushing himself through the created wings, speeding in the air toward the Ancient Deserts.
Verse XI
Descend into the Sands
It was a familiar feeling, it was. It seemed they were close to the area just a few moments ago, but the big incident at Amaya's Village felt like it changed the course of time's placement. It made it to where they haven't been there in several moments, months ago maybe. The climate and the heat felt unfamiliar, as the two who rode on top of the dragon in the air began to sweat.
"Ugh, does it seem hotter than you remember?" Atreyu asked, sighing as his face had become red from the heat's effects.
Nova nodded her head, softly letting a sigh escape her lips as she looked around aimlessly.
"We're in the desert now, huh?" Nova asked.
"That's right." Bastion roared as he concentrated on his flying.
"Say, Bastion. Do dragons ever feel hot? ... Or cold? Or anything, really?" Atreyu asked.
Bastion chuckled slightly, " No. Our scales prevent any scent of the environmental elements. The Gods' emotions cannot touch us."
Nova patted on the back of Bastion, hinting to him that he should focus on his flying more than talking. Bastion sort of became more comfortable with talking with Nova and Atreyu. Over the course of time, she could see more of his personality blossom out of nowhere. He liked to talk, especially of his own race of dragons and why they're so great and all. But, if it's something he despises, he'll quickly shut it down or not speak at all.
Bastion's eyes spotted a nice landing area, as he began to swoop down. Nova and Atreyu looked down at the sands that awaited their arrival. With a light gust of wind dancing under him, he landed right on the winds with a nice and slow pace, ensuring the safety of his passengers. Atreyu jumped down and had a look around, seeing nothing but an ocean of sand. Maybe a cactus and a big rock, but it was mostly sand. His face looked a little annoyed as he looked back at Bastion.
"Does this look like the Sacred Realm?" Atreyu asked harshly.
"This is as far as I'll fly for the night. The power of the Sacred Realm is greater as the sky is filled with darkness." Bastion answered, shooting a wave of black smoke into Atreyu's face as he scoffed.
"You can't expect us to walk to-... Where ever the hell this place is!" Atreyu yelled.
Nova sighed and laid back onto the dragon, looking up into the sky as there were no clouds in sight, but there were a few stars that helped brighten the sky. She stared at one of them specifically; it was the brightest of them all. But as it shined the brightest, it gave away and disappeared. She bit the bottom of her lip as she watched, closing her eyes as she listened to them argue and yell at each other.
"You insignificant machine, I bet you were made out of raw parts!" Bastion roars right in Atreyu's face.
"Oh, yeah? You're just a bitch ass lizard who has wings!" Atreyu shouts back, closing his eyes as he felt the dragon's roar.
Nova sat up and looked at the two in front of her. She turned her body to where she was laying on her stomach, still laying on the back of Bastion.
"So, I think our only option is to take the rest of the night to rest," Nova spoke calmly as the two stopped speaking.
Both Bastion and Atreyu quickly glanced at Nova as she spoke, keeping quiet.
"I suppose that is best." Bastion response, looking down and taking a deep breath as he attempted to calm himself down.
Atreyu nodded his head in agreement, as well. He turned from them and sat down against the boulder Bastion had landed on. Bastion looked over at Nova, meeting her eyes before
he laid his head down and closed his eyes. Nova couldn't help but feel Bastion felt something with her. The way he looked back at her. It wasn't a look of anger or domination he had beforehand. It was sincere and somewhat soft. Dragons are known for being aggressive, monstrous, lord of all beasts, but this look struck Nova as odd. She sighed as the quietness of the area came to be. She turned herself around and laid on her back against, laying down on Bastion still. She looked up at the stars once again until she closed her eyes and saw nothing but darkness.
With a scream that sounded like it came right in front of her ears, Nova opened her eyes and jumped up into a sitting position. She was panting heavily, desperately grasping for any air she could get. She checked on Bastion and Atreyu, seeing both of them soundly asleep. She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes.
"Are you enjoying your journey thus far?"
A voice erupted into her ears. But it wasn't from the person who screamed. It was a female who screamed, this newer voice was a man. She opened her eyes quickly and looked around, seeing no one within the distance of the darkness.
"Why do you go on?"
The voice erupts once again, scaring Nova enough for her to jump off Bastion's back and stand on the warm sands. The sound of her footing as they landed on the sand was loud, showing how quiet the area was. She stepped forward, toward the direction of where she heard the voice.
"You are a lie. Nothing more than nonexistent."
The voice continued on as an image appeared in front of her eyes. A little river presented itself, creating what looked to be a picture of bliss. Stones surrounded the edges of the water, and a long tree with rose blossoms consuming the tree's color.
"Nothing more than nonexistent."
The voice repeats as Nova stepped cautiously toward the water. Not a disturbance was shown in the water, it looked to have still been pure. She knelt down in front of the water and reached her hands into the water, placing them inside softly. The water immediately shatters into the sand, as the stones and the tree with the rose blossoms shatter into the sand as a wind's breeze blows them away. She stands up, quickly looking back, seeing a man.