by Ivory Scott
The prince was livid now that he understood his current circumstances in full. He could finally remember the that after defeating Luerong, her bitch of a master, Sansa Blacc, cornered him outside the venue and attacked!
Worst of all, his younger brother tried to protect him in their last moments. Such love for the familiar was genuinely touching. To be frank, Prince Tricko had never even liked the kid before that moment. He was also planning to kill him eventually; less the talented brat try and compete for the title of Sephiroth. Sylvester would never allow this to happen, even if they were his father’s only living sons.
“In reality, Xavier’s True Hero bloodline has already disqualified him the throne,” Sylvester mused alone, “My worries were baseless.”
Of course, now his father seemed to no longer have a son left living. His brother and himself had both been murdered!
“That should have been the case. However, my nirvana flame has rewritten our almost abysmal fate. I should remember to kiss my mother when I return to the world of the living, haha." Though he spoke harsh words to cheer himself up, hope was ultimately dismal. Unlike his brother Xavier Tricko, Sylvester Tricko was not a human, and he knew only a limited amount of information regarding the affairs of the hero clan.
Prince Tricko's mother was an Infinity Black Phoenix, an original pharaoh beast of the Pharaoh Bird Clan, and a progenitor of the Infinity Monster race. This was one of the twelve primordial antiquity races. His father was also an original pharaoh beast, a mighty World-Devouring Sky Jackal of the Heavenly Dog clan. His father was a true king amongst his race, and the absolute monarch of the Anubis Great World.
Due to his mother unexpectedly experiencing her third phoenix nirvana during her pregnancy with the prince, he who had endured it with her could manipulate her nirvanic fire since birth. Essentially this flame was born within them both at the same time. From another point of view, this flame also gave birth to Sylvester.
The Nirvana Flame. The bane of all souls.
The flame that the original pharaoh beast, the Phoenix, produces during their rebirth process, the Nirvana. There is nine nirvana of the Phoenix, and the Nirvana Flame is a gift born from the first, third, or sixth nirvanic tribulation. The birth time and level of the nirvana flame decide the talent of the Phoenix. These flames are unique to the Phoenix but could be shared with offspring through a single method. Rumor suggested that the Queen Mother of Prince Tricko's Nirvana flame was stronger than most Divine Flames.
What kind of concept was that?
One must know that sky flames were naturally created by the laws of the universe, they could not be replicated or mass produced! They were each existence unique to themselves. A divine flame was the highest tier of sky flame! Some of these flames had even evolved into solar stars, and many had sentience! His Queen Mother's nirvanic flame could even swallow a small sun!
This was the Sky Fall Flame, also known as the devouring flame! Unknown to all but Sylvester and his mother, the Sky Fall Flame actually tried to devour him while he was in the womb! The end result? 65% of the flame's essence was instead swallowed by the yet born prince.
This meant that his mother made her mark with a flame that only possessed 35% of its original might. The remaining fire was within her son.
This was a child that caused even such a heaven-defying existence to suffer a loss.
This happened even before his birth.
Due to the flame's eruption, Prince Tricko's soul was sublimated, and he once again recovered more of his memory. This time he indeed remembered how he had ended up here.
"That damn hag dares to banish my soul? MY NOBLE SOUL!? Should it then be my fault that her disciple Luerong Blacc was not my match? My fault that her trash disciple lost in three moves? To think, I even had the thought to spare the lass." Prince Tricko shamelessly referred to a girl who was at least ten years his senior as a child. After all, appearances aside, heroes aged differently from the fey.
"Alas," sighed the prince. "I wonder what happened to my little brother. Before I was hit with the spell, he jumped in the way and released his power. Such a freakish ability definitely has something to do with the current circumstances. And to think, I had even been thinking of ways to kill him. I almost feel guilty or something." He didn't feel guilty. In fact, the prince wasn't sure what such a thing actually felt like. Who told him to be born amazing, attracting this catastrophe because of his outstanding performance? It was a freak accident at best.
Prince Tricko slowly floated on. Time was irrelevant here. There was no way to know how long he merely floated there, ever drifting forward. The only one among a sea of souls sitting with crossed arms and legs. As what seemed like years passed by in silence, Prince Tricko felt like he understood new mysteries about the inner workings of time laws.
This was naturally incredible.
As a member of the monster race, his law comprehension ability was actually lacking. He was only proficient the laws recorded within his lifeblood, as he didn’t need to understand them, they were apart of who he was. However, even though it was harder for monsters to grasp laws, it wasn’t impossible. After being trapped in this temporal zone for so many countless eons, Sylvester had, of course, began to comprehend some things. This would benefit him much if he weren't merely an apparition. The idea that caused Prince Tricko to be baffled was that there was one soul different from the rest.
The Event II:
The Great Escape
When Prince Tricko first sensed this abnormal soul, he was still very far away from it. What he found odd at first sight was that, unlike the rest of the infant souls, this soul was completely stationary.
Or, at least it WAS utterly immobile. Up until the day he finally moved past its location.
The moment prince Sylvester Tricko reached it, that infant soul immediately begin float around him in an orbital pattern. It was as if this soul had taken the prince was its sun, it’s everything. So every few seconds he would see lifeless husks where the infant soul's eyes should have been, as it kept passing the front of his own face.
Occasionally the Sky Fall flame, which was merged with the soul of the prince, would erupt and devour all infant souls in an ever-increasing range. At first, it was merely ten feet. It evolved to be a few kilometers. Then, it expanded to swallow a few dozen kilometers worth of souls. Finally, over 100 kilometers worth of souls were devoured and converted into pure energy. The energy fed the nirvana flame and sublimated Prince Tricko's soul.
Sylvester had no idea how many poor souls he had exterminated, but he was unconcerned with this. Was their current fate much better than obliteration?
His soul light turned from forest green to baby blue. Prince Tricko, however, had no control over these eruptions of the sky fall flame at first. It was involuntary. Perhaps it was the nirvana flame's own survival instinct, or maybe it was his own. The line that separated his spiritual awareness and the fire was obscured. If before this the two could be considered close to merging, then they had now finally fused completely.
However, despite the constant eruption of power, the soul who was treating him as the center of its universe remained unaffected. It was as if it could never be destroyed, or the Sky Fall flame simply had no effect on its divine soul. Every time the blaze erupted Sylvester felt a profound aura of dignity from the orbiting infant soul. In fact, the more the sky fall flame erupted, the more this parasitic infant soul begin to glow in golden soul light.
“Is this the so-called disaster that attracts a miracle? What's the deal with this guy? My Sky Fall Flame basically can’t even sense him, it’s like he doesn’t exist. The only other existence this flame does not react too is my mother. Totally weird.” Thought the wandering soul of Sylvester.
He had recently spent his days incinerating and devouring other souls, plundering all that remains of them. Many fragmented memories and thoughts were burned away as well as he assimilated the purest soul force he had ever known into his own soul.
“C
urious, curious…” said Sylvester, “Come on little guy. Is it not a bit rude to just sleep and eat? At least wake up once for this prince, it's so boring here.”
It felt like more and more eons had passed. As Prince Tricko couldn't always maintain his spiritual awareness, he would frequently have to rest. Doing so allowed his mental energy to recover enough to trigger an eruption of flames. After which, he would have the power to spare. To his delight, he noticed that his soul was growing ever more powerful every time it bottomed out completely. However, whenever he cast his spiritual awareness to open his "eyes," the first thing he would always see is the little pale gold baby directly in front of his face!
What was with this guy?
Lately, instead of orbiting nonstop, this guy would only orbit if Sylvester’s spiritual force was active. The moment it was withdrawn, the infant soul would stop moving. However, once it was active again, the damned thing would be right in his face!
After the tenth time it happened, Prince Tricko urged the Nirvana flame to attack to no avail. The prince was, nonetheless, excited that he was now able to move the fire with his will alone. He could even command it easily! Such prowess was a significant improvement. Due to this, he eventually calmed back down. Prince Tricko saw nothing but random souls all flowing forward into the darkness. Now and then a white light would flash as another new soul appeared.
'Where do they go? From where did they come? Why do they float so much faster than me? Why won't this one piss off!' Prince Tricko had no clue how to define his current circumstances. He never saw any new souls appearing, yet even when his nirvana flame eradicated the souls in the surrounding, then a few breathes would pass and Sylvester would eventually find himself wholly surrounded as if he had never done anything.
He felt significant resistance whenever he attempted to move. This feeling was like being held firmly in someone's hand. The most he could do was sit up with difficulty. Of course, his little buddy in orbit seemed oblivious and impervious to this rule. The prince had grown attached to this infuriating little guy. He was a real anomaly, just as the prince himself was here. It was his one an only companion in this timeless abyss.
However, after devouring countless souls and converting them instantly into pure soul power, prince Tricko could feel some pressure weighing on him. This feeling was like the room getting smaller, and the hand holding him previously begin tightening its grip. His soul light had now changed to pale blue, and he looked like an eight-year-old. Though the prince didn't know much about the workings of the soul, due to the circumstances he was able to infer that this was a good thing.
As if the soul in orbit around him was benefiting from his effort, it’s golden glow was becoming ever brighter. The prince found this to be very intriguing, though he was mildly annoyed. What made this little fellow so different? This soul was beginning to give him an old and ancient feeling. It was also a bit familiar. This soul seemed unaffected by the pressure.
'Could it be that I've become too powerful for the laws of this plane to govern properly? What happens if I continue to disturb the natural order? Will I become golden as well?’
"Well whatever, I'm was willing to try anything even if it means eternal damnation or even the destruction of the realm itself! What could be worse than being one of those lifeless grey ghost babies again? Oh wait, I know! I was drifting endlessly in this river of eternal boredom!" Thinking like this, the prince didn't hesitate to make the Sky Fall Flame erupt into a massive explosion of green and black gaseous flames dancing intertwined. This time he destroyed millions upon millions of souls, as he pushed the enormous sea of fire to and fro.
Prince Tricko was not sure how this would affect the karmic wheel of his fate, but can anything be worse than having your own and possibly even your baby brother's soul banished? At any rate, these were all souls of victims destroyed by the hands of fate! His fate stolen from him! However, how could he go down without a fight now that he had another chance?
He would absorb their hope, their dreams, their essence, and he would use it to fight for survival! The only risk was reckless burning his own brother’s soul to nothingness.
Such a thing was, of course, impossible. The prince wasn't worried about destroying his Xavier's soul for he believed the kid to be the embodiment of luck. There was no way he would be like the rest of these ghost babies, as he was likely the reason they had survived in some way. The prince was even less worried about his indestructible little buddy in orbit. It was as if his flame couldn't directly affect this guy at all. Less than that, it even seemed to be benefitting him!
"Fuck it. I'll burn this whole world down if I have too!" Sylvester Tricko's eyes briefly flashed with madness. He chose to risk it all! With a thought, the flames raged endlessly in all directions. The realm began to tremble slightly as a wild devouring force begin reckless ravaging this realm. The prince's soul slowly changed from a pale blue to royal blue.
After a few breaths, he was pale gold.
After an hour his soul glow began transforming into a deep golden color.
As the sky fall flames begin to recede to the wayward soul, his soul form flickered before finally resting on a shining platinum colored light.
The previously gold orbiter was now emitting a dense dark exotic glow, as a gust of ancient aura rushed out from the infant soul as his spirit form developed legs. He had evolved from ghost baby to ghost toddler but remained otherwise unchanged, and the aura then vanished as quick as it came. He soul glow returned to golden. Prince Tricko was in shock. What in the world just happened? Such powerful aura…and then nothing?
How anti-climatic was this?
“You’re a dramatic one,” Sylvester watched the toddler suspiciously as he orbited endlessly.
Suddenly the entire space began to shake. A world-shattering might was radiating from every corner of the realm. Sylvester Tricko reeled his shock as he summoned the sky fall flames around him to manifest into the form of a 12-meter tall fire wolf.
The realm continued to make a terrifying commotion before a giant hand tore open the void and pulled it back until it was like an enormous eye slit. A huge dark gold colored face peered through the crack in the plane. To be more specific only the left eye was visible. That huge eyeball alone was more than 20 meters tall. It was multi-colored and fragmented as if it was a priceless and exotic diamond or crystal, rather then a pupil.
"Ancient Titan?" the prince pondered. "What the fuck is going on now? What could this mean? Weren't Ancient Titans known to be banished from the universe by the supreme Sky Nova of the 12 Antiquity Races?"
Suddenly there was a booming voice that shook the entire void with each word.
"BANISHED ONE! STATE YOUR NAME." the voice thundered word by word.
BOOM~
Prince Tricko urged the Sky Fall Flame to combust in brilliance with all his might and concentration, as he continued devouring the essence of the unfortunate souls that drifted ever forward. His spirit form suddenly shook, then begin to wriggle as it took on the form of an 11-year-old boy with long straight jet black hair down past his shoulders and a third of his back, which begin fluttering in the void. He looked dignified and imposing. Other than the platinum shining ghost baby circling him in orbit.
Surrounded by the Sky Fall flame in the form of a giant wolf, the prince stood straight as a sword, with an incomparably calm and dominant face as he announced proudly,
"I am Prince Sylvester Slyknarius Tricko, heir apparent to supreme Sephiroth of the Anubis Great World.”
Silence.
More silence.
For the second time in his continued existence, the prince felt a bit anxious. Just then, the world began to shake with volume again, "YOU ARE OF POWERFUL BIRTH AND BLOODLINE, BUT YOUR BLOODLINE DOES NOT EXIST HERE. YOU HAVE ENTERED THE RIVER OF TIME, AND YOUR SOUL HAS BEEN SEALED HERE FOR WHAT MAY HAVE BEEN MILLENNIA ON TOP OF EONS. IN THIS SEAT’S OPINION, ONLY SOMEONE POWERFUL FROM YOUR TIME COULD DO THIS. IT IS THE SAME FOR YOUR SOULMATE. YOUR
SEALS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME."
Each booming syllable was like a stab in his heart. 'River of time? I was aware of that. The river of time is terrifying, but I am aware none the less. Sealed? Soulmate? Same seals? He should be referring to my little brother, Xavier Grindarios Tricko. Or is it…?’
"I AM T'ZHANE. I HAVE EYES THAT CAN SEE THROUGH DESTINY, TO A CERTAIN EXTENT. THE DESTINY ON THE TWO OF YOU IS THE BIGGEST I HAVE EVER SEEN. I AM ALSO AWARE THAT YOU BOTH EXISTED IN AN ERA THAT HAS YET TO COME. HOWEVER, YOURS IS EVEN LATER THEN HIS.”
The prince was shocked. 'The two of you? His? Who..', He then glanced at his little buddy in orbit. A vague memory flickered through the prince's mind and things suddenly made more sense.
"THERE IS SOMETHING THAT I NEED TO KNOW. IF YOU CAN ANSWER MY ONE QUESTIONS, PERHAPS I CAN HELP YOU.”
'Help?' Thought the prince, 'So then there was a solution?
"DO NOT BE SHOCKED BY THIS,” boomed T’Zhane.
The prince was shocked! ‘Could he be reading me…”
“BY THE WAY, I CAN INDEED SEE THROUGH YOUR THOUGHTS. THIS IS VERY EASY GIVEN YOUR CURRENT FORM. I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW WHAT I AM AND THAT IT MAKES THAT DANGEROUS THING WITHIN YOU ACT APPREHENSIVE. I WILL EASE YOUR WORRIES SO THAT YOU WILL DROP YOUR GUARD. “
There then was a loud and mystical sound accompanied by a divine blinding light. After the light faded, in front of Prince Tricko appeared a 30-foot tall giant. His chest was bare, with rippling muscles that seemed to contain explosive strength, it was genuinely manly and impressive. His skin was dark bronze, but covered in golden rune lines that resembled a series of intricate tattoos.
Merely, they seemed to be natural, as if they had always existed. The titan's pants were white combat trousers with a strange language running vertically up the left leg, and his feet were exposed. He stood in the center of the space crack, and behind him, there were streams of rainbow-colored chaotic spatial energy dancing about strangely. How strong must one be to stand within that? Mighty as he once was, the prince had no notion of such prowess. Perhaps, only his grandfather would know.