Nawx (Project IzeBorn Book 1)

by Andrew Jones

  "N-Nova...?" The ball of light spoke.

  Every time the ball of light would speak, waves of light would flicker around the ball, like the waves within water after it had been touched physically. Nova tilted her head as she attempted to poke the ball of light, but her finger had gone through it, not feeling anything as she had tried to touch it.

  "That voice..." Nova whispered as she stared at it with confusion.

  "How did you not turn into a ball of light?" The voice spoke within the ball of light, "You made it through to the New World... I knew you were stronger than you looked."

  Nova raised an eyebrow, "... Evol?"

  The ball of light floated up and down lightly as if it was nodding to her, "Yeah! How could you not recognize me?"

  "You... Don't look the same. You're a ball of light." Nova answered she had sounded more sarcastic than usual.

  "Oh." Evol spoke as she gently fell to the ground, giving off some kind of upset aura as she did so, "I must've not had a strong enough heart."

  "Strong enough heart?" Nova asked.

  Blaze strolled through an empty wasteland, a wasteland that had no form of shapes around her. It was like she was walking through a land of nothingness, a land of no physicality or form, a world that was not just. Though it felt like it had more emotion around it than she had felt in her own world, her own corrupted world. She sighed and dropped her backpack on the ground as she took a few steps away from it. Kryptonite shuffled through and popped his head out from an opening in the bag.

  "Lady Blaze, where are we?" Kryptonite asked.

  Blaze chuckled sarcastically, "The so-called 'New World'."

  Kryptonite glanced around and only saw the surrounding whiteness, "Looks incomplete." Kryptonite commented as he wiggled himself out of the bag and dropped onto the ground, "Do you think this is for real?"

  Blaze looked back at him, "What is for real?"

  "You know... The Dragoonas? It looked like Drakkar had full control of them, as well. How is that possible?"

  She shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno. I sure as hell know I can't kill a Dragoona."

  "You can't kill one of those insolent dragons." A voice came forth.

  Blaze and Kryptonite both looked toward the voice only to spot another ball of light. Blaze frowned as she remembered that voice very well.

  "Densetsu?" She asked.

  Densetsu approached them slowly, letting his form grow a bright light, "Didn't think you'd make it down here, at least not yet."

  "What do you mean?"

  Kryptonite interrupted, "A ball of light... You've embodied your soul." Kryptonite spoke as he observed Drakkar, "Your heart was filled with darkness and rage, wasn't it? Not even the power of the Dragoona could set you free from your inner darkness."

  "I know." Drakkar answered, sighing, "I tried to repent, and better myself. But that asshole Drakkar manipulated me again. He unleashed his inner darkness somehow and forced me to unleash mine as well..."

  "Like how Atreyu did it?" Blaze asked.

  Densetsu's ball of light jolted up in sudden excitement as he agreed, "Right! You think it has something to do with this Ruse bullshit?"

  Blaze shrugged her shoulders, "Anything is possible at this point. Listen, have you seen Atreyu or Nova around?"

  "Nah. But I hear there is a city forming to the north of here, you wanna check that shit out?" Densetsu asked.

  "Couldn't hurt, I guess," Blaze answered as she prepared to follow Densetsu's ball of light in a certain direction.

  Nova walked around the forming city with Evol, the streets were being formed, as well as the large buildings, buildings far larger than Nova had ever seen. She looked up and saw the faint outline of the building as the sun from up about attempted to blind her.

  "So they really are trying to create a new world..." Nova whispered.

  They carried on, and as they explored the city more they found a group. Four balls of light had circled around each other on the sidewalk.

  "It's finally happening, a world with no problems is finally happening!" One of the balls of light shouted with it, it had sounded like it was an older woman.

  "But why are we balls? Have our bodies not been created yet?" Another ball of light asked, that one sounded like it was a young boy.

  "I don't care. A world as blissful as this will be, I don't care if we're destined to embody out souls. As long as this world is livable, I'm good!" Another ball of light shouted along with them, it sounded like an older man.

  Nova sighed as she watched them, looking up at Evol as she floated above her shoulder, "Am I really the only one who hasn't embodied their soul?"

  "I don't know."

  Nova shook her head as she looked back at the group, "It's odd how they're acting. Are they really that desperate for a perfect life?"

  "Who wouldn't want a perfect life?"

  "I understand... But life wouldn't be balanced out. If you don't go through challenges in your life, you won't have anything that would drive you to become stronger, to become a better person... Are Humans weaker than we had thought? Are they really so easily manipulated and driven into things like that?"

  Evol grumbled as she flew right in front of Nova's face, attempting to distract her, "What's your main objective?"

  Nova jumped back slightly as Evol flew into her face, "T-To find Atreyu. Then... I don't know. Our world is currently being destroyed by the Dragoonas."

  Nova suddenly heard Kryptonite shout for her, her eyes lit up as she looked back at them. Blaze was walking toward her as she had Kryptonite sitting on her shoulder. Kryptonite was waving at her, but on the other side of her, she noticed another ball of light floating around her. She frowned as she walked toward her and looked up at the ball of light.

  "I'm glad you are all right," Nova muttered at them.

  Kryptonite nodded his head, "We were in the middle of nowhere! But an old friend came along and helped us out."

  "Yeah, Densetsu had the heart to help us out now." Blaze chuckled.

  "It Is true, I want to repent and make myself better. I don't want to spend all of the next eternity held up inside a ball of light. I don't think my future selves would like that."

  "Future selves?" Blaze asked.

  Densetsu chuckled, "Descendants, dumbass. When you die and your soul goes on to find a new embodiment."

  Nova tilted her head, "Do you think that is what's going to happen here?"

  "It would explain why you guys aren't a ball of light and we are. We died, and you guys didn't, I hear. It's a new world, so the new world needs to dispose of the people who've corrupted the last world. It's... Scary to think about, to be honest."

  Blaze sighed, "It is. They're going to delete everything that has happened in our world. The people, the memories, the corruption. It sounds like a good idea, but it just sounds off..."

  Kryptonite jumped on Blaze's shoulder as he shouted, "It isn't! That isn't how the fate of Humanity or life, in general, should end! Drakkar has found a way to manipulate and gain control of the Dragoona, so he is trying to create a new world himself!"

  "Right. But I'm still tearing through my brain, trying to find out why he would do that." Densetsu muttered.

  "Yes. But our main focus right now should be to regroup. And we have to find our missing member, Atreyu." Nova interrupts them.

  Blaze frowned at her, "My main focus is to find out where Augur is. If he really is dead, then he has to be around here somewhere."

  Nova sighed and walked in front of her, placing her hand on her shoulder, "Blaze, we will help you out with that. But Atreyu is one of us. And we need him just in case we have to fight anything here. It's only right to find out what happened to him, and Eerie while we're at it."

  Blaze grunted and nudged Nova's hand off of her shoulder, "Conrad! His name is Conrad..." She shouted at her before looking down to the ground, "I think they died, anyway."

  "W-What do you mean?" Nova looked shouted as she hesitantly asked.

  "Atreyu and
Conrad either died or merged together. They were built to be one person- machine. But the creation was too powerful to be kept under control. So Drenawx split them and created Conrad first, the original Atreyu. The Atreyu you know... Is just the secondary Atreyu, a mimic at best."

  "So... They could be merged together here?"

  Blaze nodded her head, "That's what I'm thinking."

  "We have to find them... Evol, Densetsu, are there any places around here that house most of these people. A popular place for these people, perhaps?"

  The balls of light that were Evol and Densetsu both look at each other as they thought for a moment, but as both of them came up with an idea, they immediately look back at her.

  "The Purity of Life," Evol answered calmly.

  Nova and Blaze tilt their heads and speak at the same time, "Wha...?"

  "The Purity of Life is a shithole. These people believe a 'magical' waterfall can help speed up the process of the embodiment, so people tend to sleep and hang around there until they gain their bodies back. It's pretty fucking stupid, but laughable."

  "That is pretty stupid." Blaze muttered, "But maybe if it is magical, Augur would be there looking into it too, hopefully."

  Nova nodded her head, "All right, that will be our next destination then. Guys, please lead us there."

  Evol nodded her head as she flew off in a different direction with quick speeds. The group had a hard time keeping up with her and they managed to lose her multiple times during the escapade. It seemed like they crossed different parts of the land, as the shapes of the different lands appeared to take a different form. The new land was shaped like farms, a barn was clearly pictured as the outer lines had been drawn out. It was like as the Dragoonas destroy more and more of the world, the New World was being created more and more. As they followed Evol, the white ground began to gain a faint color, it had a mixture of a very bright green with a faint brown as well, evidently, they were running on what would be grass and dirt of the outer lands of the big city they had left.

  But it didn't take too much longer for them to notice the area that had balls of light all over. The light their souls had unleashed were so bright that Nova, Blaze, and Kryptonite all had to cover their eyes as they went through the crowds. They could hear the surrounding people talking about them as well, as they chatted and whispered about how Nova and Blaze had been able to gain their forms so quickly.

  "Hey! How did you gain your embodiment so quickly!?" One of the people from the balls of the light shouted at them.

  "Ignore them," Densetsu whispered at them as he continued to follow Evol.

  Nova sighed and Blaze grumbled as she had clearly been annoyed by the surrounding balls of light, who soon started following them up a hill. It was strange, the whole world they were on had no hills, but they part had one big hill that guided their way to the magical waterfall.

  Evol stopped just before hitting the waterfall, it looked so peaceful and the water that was pouring out had its usual color, a soft and majestic blue coloring. It was the only thing in this New World that had color so far. The sound of the water falling down into the puddle it had created sounded so blissful and somehow even gave them an aura of sanctuary, a sense of innocence and peace within the area.

  Verse XV

  What Lies within the Inner Darkness

  The water sparkled as it spilled out of the hole in the white wall. The white wall was suddenly forming into a humongous mountain right in front of everyone's eyes. The people within the balls of light started to scream and shout as the world begun to shake and create an all new form, it was starting to finalize its form, the New World was speeding up its creation. Nova wasn't paying attention to it though, she only stared at the water and listened to the sound of the water collapsing into the puddle of water that had spilt out a little while ago. Her eyes narrowed as the world shook around her, she could only stare at the sparkles the water created. She couldn't move, she couldn't even blink her eyes.

  But she managed to close her eyes once, or they just forcefully shut. As her eyes closed, she could only see darkness. The inner darkness she had within herself. Everyone had a secret inner darkness, just like everyone had something they had regretted in their lives. There is always something someone has done that people would not forgive them for. But what was Nova's inner darkness?

  She heard a voice up ahead, it was the voice of a little girl. She tried to step forward, one footstep at a time until her eyesight had adjusted to the surrounding darkness enough for her to see somewhat clearly. It seemed like she had been walking for hours, forever more or less, but soon she saw a small waterfall in front of her, similar to the waterfall that had been called The Purity of Life. She stared into the waterfall, hearing the exact same splash sounds from before and seeing the same sparkles in the waterfall. Was it the same?

  "You are the hope these people need."

  A voice appeared and surrounded Nova, as if it was the darkness that was speaking to her itself. She looked around, frightened of the sudden voice before looking into the waterfall again. She could see her own reflection, but her reflection was smiling. It was a very dark smile, but as she looking into it's eyes, she could see that her reflection had been crying. Her eyes were sparking along with the waterfall, and her eyes still resembled the beautiful turquoise coloring she, herself had.

  "Don't turn away from your fate, Nova. This is why you were created in the first place..."

  Her reflection had continued speaking as she began to light up. She had bloody marks along her body, the marks were mostly shown on her arms, legs, neck and even her face, and as the marks lit up she would whine loudly from the pain.

  "Who... What are you?" Nova asked.

  Her reflection laughed a little, as her eyes hid behind her silver bangs. Just under her bangs, there had been a few tears falling down her cheeks but she quickly wiped them away. Nova could tell the person was in great pain.

  "You are the hidden light in this world. Realization, you are the Nawx."

  "Nawx?" Nova asked.

  Nova blinked and watched her reflection as she held her hand up and pressed it against the water softly, barely tapping the edges of the purified water. Her reflection gasped and watched her hand, but she slowly rose her hand so she could press it against Nova's hand.

  "You are our only hope."

  "Nawx...?" Nova whispered to herself as she seemed to come back into reality, "Why does that sound so familiar?"

  The people within the balls of light all gasped and shouted as they watched Nova. Nova looked back at them all, wondering why they were staring at her, but that was when she noticed that her hand had been inside the water.

  "She poisoned the purified water! She's attempting to bring corruption to our new beautiful world!" One of the balls of light shouted.

  And as it shouted, the whole crowd of people within balls of light begun to shout and yell at her. Blaze pulled out her battle axe and held it toward each of them and shot a glare at each of them.

  "Back the hell up," Blaze grunted at each of them.

  Within that second, a big wave of darkness had shot into Blaze and sent her to the ground. She screamed and grunted again as she shook and tried to stand up. Kryptonite and Nova looked behind the crowd and saw a figure, perhaps a person who still had their embodiment, someone who didn't die in the other world. It was Atreyu, and he had a huge blade with him. His eyes were completely red and his body was completely black. Whenever he would take a step, the crowd would back away from him because he would shoot a dimming dark mass around him whenever he took a step forward toward them.

  "A-Atreyu!?" Nova shouted, looking a bit scared of what he had become.

  Blaze stood on her feet and aimed her battle axe at Atreyu intimately, "That's not Atreyu anymore. Remember what I told you? He's not your Atreyu, he's the true Atreyu. The being who created Ruse in this world!"

  Atreyu laughed as he morphed his sword into a battle axe similar to Blaze's battle axe, "You're clever,
Blaze. But from the last I remember, you were just an innocent little girl. Did Augur's death really affect you that much? Did the machine find a way to have feelings for someone?"

  Blaze gripped her fists tightly and yelled, "Shut the fuck up before I cut your damn head off!"

  "Machines don't have the ability to feel emotion, we're just as weak as Humans!"

  Nova's body shook as she felt like she was going to cry, but she frowned and pulled out her dual swords. She jumped in front of Blaze and aimed one of her swords at Atreyu.

  "Atreyu, stop! This is not you!" Nova shouted.

  Atreyu glared, "No, Nova. This is me! I was created to spread Ruse throughout the world. Don't you get it? The existence of any living beings is inevitable!"

  Nova grunted painfully but she felt Blaze place her hand on her shoulder. Nova looked back at her and saw Blaze nodding her head at her. Nova looked conflicted as she looked down, but she looked back at her and nodded her head.

  "Humanity isn't just something that should be destroyed! It's more charitable than that! It lies within the hearts of these people- whether their hearts are filled with light or darkness, a person is a person! And that shouldn't be taken advantage of!" Nova shouts.

  "Huh, very well. I suppose if I take out the Nawx right now, then nothing can stop the building of the New World."

  Atreyu lunged forward at Nova, but at Nova had her dual blades up for a clean block, Blaze dashed forward and stabbed him in his forehead. Atreyu stopped moving as Blaze pulled her spear out from his forehead and kicked him away. His body just laid on the ground, and his black blood had dripped onto the ground. The people within the balls of light had begun to panic even more so as they all dashed away from the scene.

  Nova looked down at him and sighed. "Atreyu..."

  As she spoke, the dark mass of his blood begun to take a giant form. The giant form grabbed onto Atreyu's body and tossed him into its mouth, eating him like he was a snack. The giant form looked like a big sludge, and it had been made of Atreyu's dark mass or his black mass.