by Andrew Jones
Nova grunted, "But... I have to see if Atreyu is okay!"
"He's likely not okay, Nova. A blast like that could kill any machine being." Blaze muttered.
Nova grew speechless, but she looked at the smoke with a pounding pain hitting against her heart. She quickly wiped away a tear from her cheek as she took a deep breath.
"Atreyu..." She whispered.
Lilith watched out the window as the area was consumed by the black smoke. She looked back in the room and nodded at Drakkar before sitting back down in her designated seat at the table.
"It is done."
Drakkar grinned as he stepped toward the window and watched, "Then it should happen any moment now."
Journal Entry IX
Illusions…
He was just a beta by the time I met him. His voice was that of the updated version, so it sounded so mellow. So smooth and pitched just right. But he had no vocabulary engraved in his memory chip yet. He had no clothes on, but his body was just a shell of what is was to be. His skin was still the silver color, and his eyes were always bloodshot. The veins popped out each time he would blink. Drenawx showed me pictures of when I looked like this, same with Nova, Atreyu, and Blaze. We were the first of the machines to be created, and we were designed to be the blueprints of the future machines and Synths. If we were to fail, we would be dismantled so failure wasn't an option. That was my first lesson in my early life.
My second half was soon completely, and he was updated to be just like me. Drenawx would have us complete tasks, but it seemed to become very competitive. He would soon beat me at everything, and I felt like Drenawx was going to have me dismantled because I lacked the progress I should've had.
The jealousy I had consumed me, it enraged me. But I became even madder when my twin copied me at that as well, he would become enraged at absolutely nothing at all. Drenawx explained to me that he had the same heart material I did, which made us into the same person, but it still made me mad.
We were to become the UltraBeam. I didn't entirely know what that was, but it was my purpose in life and I took pride in becoming this UltraBeam, but my twin did not. He took more interest in the studies of Humanity like all of the other machines. Was the UltraBeam designed to destroy the Human race? I did like to think that.
Because of Atreyu's obsession with the Human race, he completely forgot about his purpose in life. He would impersonate a Human, and everyone thought he was the perfect replica of a Human. And he treasured that, I could feel that pride deep in my heart, the heart I shared with him. But I felt envious, the rage he had stolen from me. I wonder if he gets rageful because of me, and I feel so prideful of the UltraBeam because of him.
We are a strange bunch, it seemed like Drenawx had planned a lot for us, like with Nova. I had heard that Blaze was being dismantled soon, it was in his classified schedule. I knew of that because I was able to hack into Drenawx's systems. But when I learned of that, the alarms through the laboratory began to go off. It was the beginning of Blaze's so-called, "escape from the torturous homeland", but I knew of her true intentions.
I remember my twin one day, out of the blue, saying he was a Human. It was the oddest thing and I found it to be offensive. But I had a sense that Drenawx wiped his memory away, similar to what he had planned for Blaze, but she managed to escape and bring along most of the machines including my twin.
I stayed with Drenawx and helped him fix up his laboratory, but afterward, he wanted me to leave as well. He said that he wanted me to find my twin and after that fate will decide where we shall go. It's been a long time since I've seen my twin. I honestly gave up on fate. Until I met up with Lilith again.
That was when I knew what my true fate was. I was destined to bring genocide to the Human race with or without my twin's help.
Verse XIII
Broken Wings
Drakkar walked out of the castle and had gone into the field of vision for Nova, Blaze and the rest of them. All of them gasp as they watch him walk out into the open, as he was accompanied by Lilith. Blaze frowned and grabbed her spear as she dashed forward toward the two, but a big shake in the ground stopped her. Curious, the group looked around the courtyard to see what the occurrence was, but they did not find anything. Afterward, the laugh of Drakkar filled the silent air, which quickly gathered the group's attention.
"Come forth, my Dragoona," Drakkar whispered.
He raised his hand in the air, and like a command, a strong gust of wind brush upward. It blew against Lilith and Drakkar. Their hair started to go crazy with the wind and Lilith needed to hold her hands downward to keep her dress from revealing herself. It seemed like the two antagonists who summoned the Dragoona were resistant to the powerful winds because Nova and everyone else flew high into the sky. Everyone screamed as they looked down and saw Drakkar and Lilith, who looked like little ants which determined the distance that was between them.
With a bright light that materialized in front of their eyes, a dragon flew out of the light, ripping through the void to create an opening through. After that dragon flew out of the void, another dragon aggressively ripped the opening to the void even more, and the last dragon just flew out more innocently. All the dragons flew through the sky and looked to have begun battling, or had just continued their fight from within the void.
The Dragoona were a more enhanced form of dragons, dragons were mere lackeys to them. The Dragoona are fierce beasts that have immense strength and intelligence, intelligence that would surpass Human intelligence by quite a lot. They were created to rule over this world- at a given time, and that time had appeared to be now.
As the group begun flying back down to the ground, they were forced to dodge the powerful attacks of the Dragoona. There were magical attacks flung their way and also physical attacks that dashed their way, as well. The powerful beasts were trying to establish some domination between the three like they were deciding who would be the one to lead the three, and possibly the world. In history books, there were documents that stated that dragons would use magic to interact with each other, but it was not like they couldn't speak the Queen's tongue, they were smart enough to speak and form words. Magic was, to these people, a foreign language exclusively for the dragons. Magic was not common in this world at all, no one had the capability of using magic. So Humanity thought magic would be what brought the world to an end. And judging from folk legends, tall tales, and children's books, it was to come true.
"Grab onto the beast's backs!" Kryptonite shouted into the speedy winds.
Everyone nodded their heads and dived toward a Dragoona's back. This was dangerous because the possibility of missing the beast was extremely high. They were able to move their bodies along the given winds, the winds they created from the air around them. It was no form of magic, it was more of air manipulation with the use of their wings. But luckily, everyone was able to grab onto a back of a Dragoona.
Drakkar snapped his fingers and whispered, "Come forth."
As he whispered, the Dragoona took no time to come and crash down into the ground. The world shook ferociously for a few moments as they fell to the ground and stood forth in front of Drakkar. The group took this chance to jump off of their backs and observe the situation.
"Drakkar! ... What have you done!?" Blaze asked, shouting.
Drakkar chuckled, "What does it look like? I'm about to bring resurrection to Humanity. And these Dragoona are going to assist me." Drakkar explained as he looked up at each of them, "Zephyr, Bastion, and Septimus- I am your God. I am the God of this world-"
"God? There is no God!" Nova shouted toward him, "H-How are you controlling these beasts though!?"
"Oh, I'll have Lilith here explain that." Drakkar shrugged his shoulder.
"The ritual, of course." Lilith muttered as she stepped up beside Drakkar, "The three keys must be present, along with limitless bloodshed and the sense of the world's problem. If all of this is together, the Dragoona will come forth to repair this land."
> "Demolition, at the hands of the three pedals of Life," Zephyr muttered.
As the Dragoona muttered, he turned back toward the group and gave them all a death stare. He exhaled, breathing a thick fog of black smoke into all of them, which forced them all to cough.
"Zephyr, you have no time for these games. I'm leaving these fools to Lilith." Drakkar spoke.
Lilith frowned, "Huh?"
"I'm going to have the Dragoona start their repair process while I go into this New World and determine it's worth. You want to stay useful to me? Take out the only problem we have left."
Lilith sighed and looked down, "Right."
Drakkar nodded as he looked up at the Dragoonas. They all stared down at him and looked like they were ready to fly up into the air. Drakkar nodded at the Dragoonas, giving them the approval to fly high up into the sky. And within seconds, they disappeared into the sky. But it wasn't long until a high pitched sound erupted the air. It was loud, and it heard the ears of everyone in the world, even Lilith, and Drakkar.
Drakkar grunted as he held his ears, and as Lilith and everyone else watched him, he jumped high up and fell right through the open void, the void the Dragoona had flown right out of.
"That must be where the New World lies..." Lilith whispered as she watched him.
Blaze watched Lilith as she too covered her ears. She grew worried for Lilith, and she knew that Drakkar was somehow controlling her. But that didn't stop her from approaching Lilith. As Lilith noticed her sneaking up on her, she jumped back and frowned. As she frowned, the corpse of the mechanical Eerie flew up in the air and dangled in front of her.
"Just stay away, Blaze! Accept what we are doing!" Lilith shouted as she stood behind her cover.
"Lilith! I don't want to fight you!" Blaze shouted as she edged closer to her, "Please... I just want to know what happened to Augur... You have to know!"
Lilith peered her head around the edge of the mechanical corpse. He voice was soft like it had sounded like she was emotionally hurt, or she was just unable to speak. Regardless, she stayed behind her cover.
"Please! I'm not going to fight you, Lilith. Remember the times we shared in the laboratory? The books we shared, the times we talked about how we desired to Human? I know how much you hurt, Lilith. But... I loved him." Blaze muttered softly, as she shut her eyes and felt her heart beat begin to increase from her having to admit that.
"You loved him?" Lilith asked as she peered at her again, "But machines can't feel love."
Blaze smiled as she attempted to approach Lilith again, "Yes, they can. I love you, like a sister I never had. You're like my family, Lilith, all of the machines are like a family. We stuck together through everything Drenawx threw at us."
Lilith didn't move when Blaze slowly reached for her hand. She felt Blaze hold onto her hand, but she only looked down at the ground. She tried her hardest not be manipulated by another person after she allowed Drakkar to manipulate her. She felt like she owed him for letting her out of her vault, but she was more afraid of the world now than when she was always in her vault. Inside, she had access to the world's knowledge. The weather and temperature, the number of Humans and machines, as well as animals, but she didn't have any documents or articles of the old world, and the knowledge of the old world was precious and valuable enough for her to leave her shell to search for it. As of now, she regretted the opportunity of leaving her vault for good. But she felt so lonely, so became so desperate for someone's company. She missed Blaze. Blaze was the only one who was there for her, the only one who didn't try to manipulate her. Lilith had this power that could overthrow almost all of the machines, so it was common for someone to try and take advantage of that.
Drakkar was a strong person, his physical appearance and the tone of his voice showed that. He tried to act like he was a reliable guy, and that he could be trusted.
"My name is Drakkar... Why are you stuck in that vault?" Drakkar asked.
Lilith looked down at him. His response was kind of stupid, because most people had known who she was, but it still managed to make her giggle and smile.
"Drakkar, I'm Lilith. I'm the one who helps secure the safety and protection of the machines. I'm in charge of the Synths."
Drakkar chuckled, "How long have you been cooped up in there?"
"Um... I don't know, it's been a while, why?"
Drakkar tapped his finger on the glass door, "Don't you ever imagine what it's like outside?"
Lilith looked down at her fiddling hands, "Sometimes..."
"Then allow me to let you out."
Lilith shook her head, "I can't... If I am not in here, I cannot protect the machines..."
"I'll bring you back. Just consider this some time away from work."
Drakkar smiled at her as he started to press a few buttons on the device.
"You know, you remind me of someone." Lilith mumbled as she looked down at him and watched, "You remind me of a man named Augur."
"Hm, can't say I've met an Augur before."
He answered as he pressed a button that would finally open the glass doors. Smoke filled the room, but it was thick white smoke so it wasn't bad. Lilith was weakened, so she weak that she fell forward right into Drakkar's arms. He laughed as he caught her, and his laugh made her laugh.
"He reminds me so much of Augur though..." Lilith muttered as she looked down at their hands.
Blaze was finally able to stand next to Lilith, but she noticed that Lilith was still a bit shaken up. She was still able to hold onto her hand and try to comfort her, but she grew concerned as she mentioned Augur.
"How so?" Blaze asked.
Lilith shook her head, "I can't say. But you should be more worried about these Dragoonas."
Nova stepped toward them slowly, looking upset.
"Lilith? ... What has happened to Atreyu?" She asked.
Lilith looked down and sighed, "He... He isn't the Atreyu you knew before."
Nova looked at her and tilted her head to the side.
"He merged back with Conrad- Erm... I mean, Eerie. They merged together."
"So Atreyu isn't dead? Where is he!?" Nova shouted.
Lilith sighed again as she looked up at the opened void. As she looked up Blaze, Nova and Kryptonite looked up as well. They didn't say anything, it was like they were waiting for Lilith to say something, but she never did.
"Is that the New World, Lilith?" Blaze asked.
Lilith nodded her head, "Yes. If Atreyu is still alive, he will be there. He died, but he passed on to the New World."
Nova's voice sounded shaken as she looked at the void, "Atreyu..." She whispered before looking at everyone, "We have to go there."
"Can we just go to the New World? There isn't some special way to go there without dying?" Kryptonite asked as he popped his head out of Blaze's bag.
"No. The Dragoona have opened the void that opens up the New World. It is left open- exposed until they are finished destroying this world."
Blaze chuckled, "I see. The Dragoona are trying to bring an end to the Human and machine races to create this New World? But what does Drakkar have to do with this?"
Lilith shrugged her shoulders, "He never informed me."
As they all spoke, the sky began to glow a bright red. The redness grew deeper and deeper as time passed. These strange symbols began to manifest within the coloring of the sky as well, which meant that the Dragoona were now starting the countdown that would destroy the world. Nova gasped as she saw one of the Dragoona flying through the sky and shooting down a large beam, and as that beam hit the ground the floor beneath them began to crack.
"It's starting." Lilith sighed, "You have to go. If you believe what you're doing is right, I'm with you Blaze. I lost my place, and I don't think I'll ever find my way again. But I believe siding with you is better than Drakkar."
Blaze smiled at Lilith before nodding at her and turning to Nova.
"We have our own goals within this world. Why don't we stick together and fin
d our targets? After that, we can split and act like we never met each other." Blaze says.
Nova frowned, "What do you mean?"
"I tried to stay hidden, I wanted to hide away from everyone. But ever since all this shit happened, I had to reveal myself again. Once this is all over, I want to be alone again and wait until I die and pass into the New World."
Nova grunted and nodded her head, "If you think that's best, I won't stop you."
Kryptonite looked up at her, giving her his moping face, "What about me, Lady Blaze?"
Blaze looked down at him and placed her hand on his head, patting him, "I'm sorry, bear..." She whispered down at him.
Blaze looked back at Lilith and didn't say anything as she jumped high up and into the void almost instantly. Nova looked at Lilith as she just stood there calmly as the ground began to crack even more.
"Are you coming with us?" She asked.
Lilith shook her head, "Look after her, please. Make sure she finds Augur. I want her to smile one last time before the time comes."
Nova sighed but she nodded her head and jumped up into the void as well. She managed to jump right before the ground caved in and created a massive hole under where Lilith had been falling down. The hole was filled with darkness, an endless darkness. But if one were to look deep enough, the sparkles of Lilith's soundless tears could be seen falling slowly down the hole where her deceased body lays on the bottom.
Verse XIV
Wallow In Humanity’s Filth
Within a bright beam of light Nova managed to land safely on the ground as she entered through the void. She took a look around before she got up on her feet. The land was filled with an endless amount of white, with some shaped of buildings that made the form of buildings. She proceeded forward, looking for any signs of Blaze and Atreyu, but she stopped as a ball of light had appeared in front of her.