Impervious to attacks made through [Azure Arts] and so massive that it could have encompassed several castles within its dimensions; that is the structure known as the Demon World gate. Etched and carved into an enormous obsidian platform were countless sigils and glyphs all inside of an enormous pentagram with an obelisk stationed on each point of the star within.
A conflict numbering in at hundreds of thousands of combatants, the Demon World gate sealing was the finale to a war that had gone on for decades. In reality, this legendary battle was far from glamorous.
A ragtag wall of dirtied, muddied soldiers and adventurers with the remainder of the archery and artisan units bringing up the rear. Mixed in among them were knights on horseback, though most had been cut down in the initial charge to secure a landing point on the beach. Those were the forces that stood against the bristling and blackened horde of demons amassed atop the hill where the gate stood on this accursed island fortress.
Already strewn throughout the battleground were the corpses of man and demon, evidence of the previous engagement in combat. That fight had been short, a harassment of their forces which ended in the demon’s retreat back to the gate. Following them, the army under the banner of the [Azure Spirit] came to a standstill before the base of the hill which their opponents occupied.
Silence pervaded the field. Only the shifting of armor, the sharpening of claws, and the clinking of metallic weapons could be heard. Feets shuffled on the pure black ground which would show no indication of the countless gallons of blood spilt.
“CHAAAAAAARRGE!”
A yell shouted out by some nameless soldier.
One by one, more and more took up the call, the repetition of one word turning into an ear numbing chorus. Slowly advancing forward, then changing into a full on sprint; they desperately climbed upwards towards the gate to meet the forces of the Demon World in their final encounter.
…
…
At the very forefront of the battle was the [Hero], the first one to witness the blue sun shining down on the landscape of the Demon World as he materialized out of the gate onto the other side.
“I want all soldiers up front, put yourselves between the clergy and the demons! We cannot let the chant be interrupted!”
“Yes, Sir Hero!”
With the destruction of the gate an impossibility, the only solution left to them was to lock it down. The seal could not be so simply accomplished however. A simultaneous chant by the clergy from both sides of the portal would be required.
Being defenseless against the demons however, it fell to the many foot soldiers in the vanguard to protect them. As friend after friend was cut down on either side of him, one such soldier continued slashing away at anything in front of him under the blue light of that world’s sun.
“Simon Falfig. Will Travor. Ernst Hrye.”
The only things that he thought of were the names of those who had fallen, the rest of his mind dedicated to surviving.
“Block the cut from the right. Step in and thrust. Twist the blade and fall back. Deli Ralts. Anton Port. Mark Comay.”
The names continue to pile on just like the growing number of lifeless bodies at his feet.
“Bores Numkin. Drake Qures. Lars Feris.”
Suddenly he felt the pressure of a hand on his shoulder and a shout ring in his ear.
“Hey man, they did it! They finished the chant! WE CAN GO BA-“
An arrow punctures the messenger square in the chest knocking him over, killing him instantly.
“Oars Wilk.”
Registering the order to retreat, he starts to fall back towards the gate where the clergy are already homebound. Bringing up the rear, his feet slip on one of the many puddles of blood that had gathered and filled the grooves of the sigils and glyphs on the floor.
Hitting the ground, he hurriedly moves to cover himself with a shield just as an arrow thuds into it, yet another flower in the bouquet on the shield. An axe follows swiftly afterwards, thudding into the shield, embedding itself in the sheared metal. The axe is strongly wrenched away, ripping the shield right off of his arm to show the scar ridden face of a grinning demon.
“…Victor Viyor”
Victor’s own name flashed in his mind as the smiling demon raised its axe high, the weapon preparing to take his life away.
“The clouds go quite beautifully with that green sunset.”
A man leaps past him swinging his sword downward in a swift slash which brings the blade to the ground. Demon blood splatters his face as its head flies off, disconnected from its owner. Looking through bleary eyes, he can only see the back of a man, an azure cape, the [Hero].
It was at that moment Victor felt someone grab the back of his jerkin and yank him into the gate.
…
…
Of those who survived the other worldly battle, they were rewarded with coin or the titles of nobles in their home country. Victor was especially lauded for surviving the frontlines, and would later receive land set aside by the Southern Union. It was the head of the clergymen who took the initiative in having them all swear to never speak of the Demon World, later propagating their own story of the barren wasteland and a cruel blue sun.
“I’m…I’m really still alive.”
The idea seemed so foreign to him after returning to his normal frame of mind.
“H-Hey! Is there someone who can write here?” yelled Victor as he toured the makeshift camp of survivors. One of the clergymen treating the wounded raised his hand to signal that he could.
He would then go on to rattle off the names of as many as he could, a record of those he had known who had died. Eventually other soldiers, ones that he did not know began to join in too, adding on to the list of named casualties.
Victor would later go on to erect a monument on his estate, though it would not be an obelisk on account of the gate’s own possession of them. It was a simple structure that he had made, just a slab of stone shaped into a box with the names carved in by stonemasons.
I leapt out of the bed and ran towards the window. Who knew I could have such energy so early in the morning after waking up?
Of course this was no ordinary morning after all. Pushing off the desk with my arms, I raised myself higher to get a clear look. Confirming with my eyes once again the color of the morning sun, I fell back and slumped into the chair next to my desk. The energy that had spurred my short burst was already draining away.
“It really is…a blue sun.”
It was only on my second glance that I noticed something just as abnormal.
The ocean is really beautiful. Or rather, that is what they call an ocean right? A giant body of water that you can’t see the end of? To my left was a beach open to the great open water and to the right of that was a splendid forest with green foliage.
What exactly was abnormal about the situation you might ask? For one, Viyor is a landlocked country. Panne had detained me following one of her trips to refuse yet another persistent suitor in a far off country to talk my ear off about how much water there was in the ocean and how surprisingly salty it was unlike a river or lake. Of course seeing it for myself was completely different and on top of that for it to be outside my window?
“Unbelievable…”
In between the beach and forest was a giant clearing where only short grass grew. Well, I say clearing, but there was one thing in there that made the clearing not so clear. That ‘thing’ would be great-great grandfather’s monument.
“But something’s happened to the box, why is it black?”
The monument had been made of rather ordinary stone, such that the names on it had to be re-etched every couple years because of the corrosion by the weather. Father had even allowed me to touch it once when I was young, lifting me up high such that I could reach the upper edge of the box. It had a smooth feel, but left grainy gray dust on my hands after brushing it.
The box was now a distinct black with a curious sheen to it, a striking contrast to the green grass surrounding it.
“There’s an ocean, forest, and that old man’s box has turned a strange black… Not to mention the sun is blue on top of all of that.”
A forest wasn’t something strange for me to see, there were plenty in Viyor after all, lumber being one of the country’s main exports.
“No no! The problem is, where is the town?”
Where the forest was should have the castle town connected to this very castle, where the subjects under father’s ruled lived. There was no such place that I could see.
The world had inexplicably changed outside of my room and I had not the faintest idea as to the cause of it all.
“I suppose it must be that then”
The only thing that truly made no sense at all, I shielded my eyes in an attempt to get a better look at the blue sun.
Was it odd that there was an ocean? I can’t even crack a joke about it, but it certainly is something that exists outside of Viyor. While the black box was similarly odd, it’s possible someone had gone out and painted it.
There had been a project led by the castle wizard to make something that would protect the monument from damage, but he had changed gears suddenly in trying to make that high quality antidote.
Bracing my elbow on the hand rest of the chair, I rested my chin against my curled up hand to assume a thinking pose.
“Would father really let them discolor great-great grandfather’s box though?”
I couldn’t imagine he would, but it was a costly structure to maintain after all.
And while the appearance and subsequent disappearance of forest and town were very worrying, they weren’t as blatant a change as the azure sun at daybreak causing a green dawn.
The idea of a blue sun, it was troubling to think about.
After all, the blue sun only rose in the Demon World according to the church.
Recastdev 