- Spoiler:
- "Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show."- Charles Dickens
The clockwork darkness shone down, blasting an epiphany upon the fabric of Jahangir's shirt, a rattling could be heard breaking the silence of a empty room. White would fill the walls of a cabin, if it had not been for the forbidding darkness. On the other hand a window would cast a sliver of a light upon the face of Jahan, and through the clear portals of glass the stars could be seen dancing through the night, leaving silver trails and lanterns in the night. As if it were connected to Jahangir's blood, the boy awoke, rolling his legs to the side of a plain bed, stretching his arms out into the void surrounding him.
He stopped, his arms retreating to his lap, hands crossed a biting patience; there was silence, and nothing but it. A bitter breeze would come from a burglar opening in the window, the shock of the air would flow in rushing towards Jahangir and he would shiver as he thought of how things would be the same, and how incompetent he was, and how he regretted everything that had ever happened, and how the darkness consumes him. The wind would stop and his shaking would subside, he would get up not unnerved, not unused to the rattling of his soul, or the plague of the night.
Jahan was never a man for poor sentiment. He was a boy of superfluous eccentrics, he was youthful a free spirit who lamented on nothing, and never regretted. He was mysterious enigmatic and attractive, and he was so in a way that shouted boldly to the world, and the universe shouted back. One couldn't help but notice the way the sun shone on him, the birds sang for him and the sky wept for him. His life was about the extremes, he either wanted to much or little, was overly excited or dreadfully
bored. He would shed his fury with every bit of his soul or show mercy with all of his heart. A glory boy he was, but "was" is just that, a pretense--a speck lost in time.
- Spoiler:
- After the world went to hell, Jahan got sick, ironically infected by a being of the stars he admired so. Weeks of doing nothing led to his decline in ability, he had lost a lot in a small amount of time, or so he thought. So he set out to find something he could call himself. The boy rummaged through a cupboard, looking for something, anything to eat. He scoffed unable to produce a thing, before taking a sigh he gathered his belongings and headed out into the night.
The sky was beautiful as ever something constant in Jahans life, no matter what at any instance if he had peeped the night sky there was wonder to be had. The stars would delight the boy's sense, which had grown dull as of recent, igniting a tinge of child like awe inside him. He would follow the stars out further into the woods inspired by them wondering if he would find something. As if to answer his desires, he would hear the familiar clang of a sword and the smell of a fire. The young veteran stopped for a moment, taking in his surroundings, with a brief moment of hesitation, he turned and followed the sound of battle deep into the forested area, without warning he was faced with the whirl of a blade.
Reflexes barely keeping up he managed to draw his blade by the skin of his teeth. The force of the strike parried his sword back, forcing him to take a step backwards. The assault continued, Jahan however recovered quickly and sent a powerful sword strike forward in efforts to break the attack.
Clang! Clang! Ting
There was a flurry of swipes and at the end of the malicious exchange Jahan was left with several hair thin cuts. As blood oozed from above his eye he could see that his opponent was completely fine. Taking a closer look at the girl, he notice of her attractiveness, the curve of her sword and while he was at it the curves of her hips.
"You really suck you know" she said. Jahan sucked his teeth. "Like I needed anyone to tell me that" he thought to himself. He could tell her type. a bombshell with a "fuck you" attitude, and a probably a fucked up past.Her pointing out his inability, only served to mar his already sullen pride and continue to aggravate him. Irritated with himself and thinking rather rashly, he took a powerful leap backwards.
"I'll Kill You" he muttered plainly. Jahangir touched his crown, feeling a noticeable cold to it.
"The sword of the king decimates, the commandment of the king divides, the heart of the king brings forth life."
There was a brief pause, and before anything spectacular happened, Jahan experienced a flash of incredible pain. Jahan would experience the same pain from his first entrance into Gremories Dungeon. The peculiar sensation now housing a more sinister and foreboding presence, as if it had once been a warning. Now it was a deadly consequence.
"Agh!!!" Jahan screamed, before succumbing to the pain, then the boy would fall back into the dreaded darkness. Jahan had fallen unconscious.
There was a rustling amongst a brush as the sun rolled over the hills, a bird song could be heard coming from a babbling brook. Jahan awoke, his eyes slowly fluttered open before he jackknifed to his feet. Looking around cautiously he gathered his belongings from a pile near him. He took a second to dust himself off before noticing his wounds had all been dressed.
"The girl?" Jahan mumbled, he scratched his head, assuming that either the girl he had encountered dressed his wounds, or someone found his body. It wasn't the first time Jahan had been defeated, but this time seem to have struck something within him.
He sighed dropping to the ground again, Jahan picked a tree providing a convenient shade to sulk in. Dropping his head for a second he lamented on his defeat, he was truly unable, he began to remember the feeling of self pity and inability he had while conquering Gremory. He slammed his fist against the ground causing a small crater to be formed.
- Spoiler:
- "You finally up?"
He remembered that voice. Jahan rolled his eyes in aggravation, out of everyone that could have possibly been here it would have to be here.
"What are you deaf?!" The girl said this time far less calmly. She stood above Jahan her arms crossed in a agitated manner, in a matter of agitation her and Jahan were near equally at ends to see each other. The latter rather having died then too meet his savior in this way.
"What do you want-, Why am I even alive?" Jahan spat the words cold and ungratefully, not that he took it as an offence to a warrior. If anything Jahan would rather see another day than die in battle. Rather he was curious to why a foe wouldn't have finished him off in the first place.
"You werent who I was looking for" the girl said plainly
"Oh?" Jahan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Bandits have been attacking this village recently, I'm out for their heads."
Jahan sighed, it was the same old news, he had heard tales like this for all of his life time. Bandits have been attacking villages since there has ever been villages, and they will continue too for the rest of eternity. Its simply the way of this world, or so Jahangir was convinced. The girl however was not so convinced, or ready to accept this reality.
"Come with me."
The two warriors arrived in the village just outside of the forest by the start of noon. It was early morning and in a village like this everyone was busy, off to doing tasks to make things work. Rather, there was little of anything being done, the energy that would be exalted in any early community like this was lost. The village was a sore sight to behold, the charred debri were scattered stacked upon the ground; as if they were forts made of used matches. The men of the village, hardy as they were, were in low morale.
They had little time to soother their families, those who had survived, and while it may not have been the worst attack it was obvious that the village was hit rather hard. The smell of charred bodies and remains was still fresh, and it was easy to spot blood splattered on several of the villagers shirts. There was very little talking going on, nothing could be heard but the barked orders of men over the reconstruction of the town. Oddly enough there was an air to the event, as if this was the norm, and they had all been through this before.
"A burning?" Jahan said somberly, trying to avoid any awkwardness. The girl had been quiet for the longest, only passing by the streets in never saying a word.
"Since I was a child this village has been the source of many attacks, with it being so far out in the woods the capital pretends it cant hear our complaints." She explained.
"These burnings, are the result of us villagers fighting back, Its a message to show what happens to those who rebel..."
Jahan was careful to not say anything that would quell her anger, he didnt want to be too insensitive, as his normal self could be. It had all made sense to him now, everything that had happened here.
"You thought I was one of those bandits then huh?" Jahan asked
"Yea...I was looking for revenge.." she looked up at Jahan. " I'm sick of this world! Those at the top who have power claim to be there for their people, but they can eat and sleep well as whole villages are burned!"
The sentence made Jahan think, why? Why indeed where those in places of power able to live such simple easy lives, while these guys were lost to suffer?
Jahan had began to realize something vital to his survival, his entire life he had been blessed. Barring his parents death and that circumstance, he had survived well in some of the worst situations. He had always been the most fortunate of the least fortunate, he had a group of uncles, as eccentric and bad role models as they may have been to take care of him. He had made it from rags to riches quicker than anyone from his city. He had survived a dungeon, became a leader, he was truly blessed.
Jahan didn't understand it, it bothered him. He didn't deserve a damn thing, but fate had showed him otherwise, even now at his weakest he had survived, while these people, they were being knocked down at their strongest.
"Why? Why am I being blessed, when I'm so worthless" he thought to himself his mind was blank, he didn't know what to say. His eyes fell to the girl, and then to the village around him. A anger built up inside himself, something that just didn't feel right, it was an adgitation. These people were no different than him, they didnt deserve any of this. With that Jahan turned around. With anger and passion moving him again, the boy had found something that he had recently felt he lost.
- Spoiler:
- "The sword of the king decimates, the commandment of the king divides, the heart of the king brings forth life."
With a flash Jahan felt Magoi pool into his crown and transform the metal vessel into the immaculate crimson blade which emanated strength. It was back, no more pain and no more bull shit. Jahan grinned. He remembered his purpose again in life, and was prepared to take it once again.
"I have to get stronger." Jahan said to himself before throwing his shirt off, taking a look at his body, he noticed hs muscles weren't as defined. He gritted his teeth, he had let himself go, while he wasn't fat, as a fanalis his body was a symbol of pride and power.
"Real smooth Jahangir" he said verbally condemning himself. With a sigh he began a run, and he ran longer and faster than he had in months. He had to get his body back into pristine shape, So it was a full hell course fanalas strength boot camp, Jahan style. After the run, he did a solid 400 push ups, that is per arm. He practiced his swordsmanship for hours, and then began his daily meditation. At the end of it, he felt renewed, it was work, but it was as if he had worked of years of weight from his shoulders. He didnt really get it, what he had been doing for the last month, wasting time? He was supposed to be uniting the world, moving it towards something better.
"First I'll have to start with myself" Jahan said before sighing. He stood up, remembering the form of power that the blue haird magician had assumed while they were in the jail. It was all a strangely intimidating experience, their where so many more powerful beings in that room than Jahan. It was overwhelming, but then again who where they?
Did they deserve power? Was power safe in their hands in the first place. Jahan shook his head, in order to fulfill his oath and become the man he wanted to be he needed great power. Much more than what he had at the moment.
His incompetence, that which he had showed in the dungeon did nothing more than to anger him now. He was sick of being suck, screw being sorry, fuck self pity. He would go out and claim what he wanted and show the world that he had the ability.
Jahan focused his magoi into his crown, concentrating as much as he could, forcing massive amounts of magoi into the crown. He focused, his desire to solve the mystery behind the form he so desired, he had been giving his efforts to conquer this power but all seemed to fail. It had been over the span of months, him trying only to fail again, time after time. He just didnt understand it at all. This time however he was even more determined to get it, he couldnt allow himself any more failure time. He had already had enough of that.
"The sword of the king decimates, the commandment of the king divides, the heart of the king brings forth life." Jahan spoke those words again like his life had depended on them. The illustrious flash appeared again, and like many other failed attempts, his crown simply disappeared forming into the crimson blade.
"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!" Jahan shouted in frustration, birds would flee from the monstrous yell of the boy. Everything became silent again for a second, and Jahan flopped on the ground feeling defeated.
"There has to be something I'm not getting"Jahan thought to himself. He contemplated finding the blue haired man, going up to him and simply asking him to teach him how to do it. The idea almost made Jahangir barf.
"No theres no way in heaven hell or Earth that i'll go seeking answers from any of them" Jahan spoke. It was true, the boy had the pride of a lion, much like his father or any other ember of the fanalis race. He couldnt show anyone another drop of inability, not now and definitely not with this. Jhan sighed and started to think in efforts to solve the peculiar puzzle. If anything this was perhaps the hardest amount of training he had ever went through simply because he had no idea where to begin. He had to just figure it out, fighting had been something that came naturally to Jahan. As a fanalis and a boy raised by military men, it simply felt right.
Him as a scholar, not so much. Solving the equation of why he couldnt transform was no simple task. He knew very little about magic or rukh or even djinns. What he did know very well was magoi, but no matter how much energy he put into the transformation. His technique was practically flawless, there was nobody who put the time and effort into developing their magoi and their ability to control it as him. Regardless he sought answers, and what did he do when he dd that? Meditated.
- Spoiler:
- The boy gathered his belongings, he moved in an effort to find a more suitable place to train. He ended up going deeper, far deeper into the forest. Following his gut more so than any path, he simply wanted to gain even more solitude. He would find a opening to a cave in the forest, a tiny spec of light shining through the otherwise pitch black darkness. Jahan walked into the cave, not being the type of man to fear much of anything. He wandered deeply in, until he came across the source of the light, which was a 3 meter thick gap in the ceiling, creating a sort of skylight.
Jahan sat down in the middle of the Skylight, crossing his legs into lotus position and placing Gremorie's Crimson blade over his lap. He laced his fingers, and then there was silence. Jahan meditated, going from simple to more complex ones, time moved by rapidly, however everything was still for the boy. Things had remained that way for a while, everyday Jahan meditated concentrating on his Weapon equip. Trying to look for answers within himself.
There in that cave isolated from the world, Jahan learned more about himself and the world then any other time in his life. However it wouldnt be until he ventured back into the outside that he would come to realize it. While he would go over in his mind the steps to reaching Djinn equip, not that he really understood any of it. Though he would devise all sorts of plans on what to do to achieve his desired form never the less.
Time ticked on in the quiet dark atmosphere, Jahan had exhausted himself attempting the Djinn equip. Panting and huffing he toook large heavy breathes, he would sit up and wipe the sweat rolling over his brow. After the long series of attempts he felt like he had finally gotten somewhere. He could literally feel the transformation begin to form as he covered his body with the magoi. The feeling was intense and magical. Yet there was something more, a feeling, a sort of feeling that he was doing the right thing.
He no longer had the usual doubts which lingered through his mind, the same doubts and despondency which kept him awake during the cold nights. He smiled, and laughed. Somehow Jahan knew that it was gremory, he had a feeling in his gut, call it intuition, that Gremory had been both the cause of depression and his joy.
"It seems regardless of how I feel my actions are set in stone huh?" Jahan said seemingly to the Djinn he housed above his head.
"You old fart"
It was ridiculous honestly, Jahan couldn't believe the simplicity of it when he came to think about it. He only had to coat his body in Magoi, then chant and the rest well the rest just came naturally. The most difficult task he had to ever accomplish in his life had came naturally to him, the irony knew no end. While he wanted to complete the transformation that he was sure he had figured out, he had expended all of his energy while doing so. So for now the boy just slept.
"FWUSH THUMP DUM THUMP"
The sounds of the scream of several flaming arrows seemed to be a chorus of death.
"No not again!"
Screams could be heard through the small village still in shambles from the recent attacks. Families and villagers ran in fear of the impending doom.
"Dammit!" a girl screamed. It was Jahanghir's assailant, and savior. Gripping her sword she ran through the chaotic sea of villagers, heading straight towards the conflict. Her targets had done the worse possible thing, come back to her, and they would pay dearly for that. She gritted her teeth, eyeing her enemies a small band of no more than 20 bandits. She had no fear even though she was obviously at the disadvantage, only vengeance and the faint aroma of justice motivated her actions.
"Fwoooo- CLACK!"
The girl knocked an arrow well placed for her head down in a quick stroke, never slowing down as she came into range of her targets.
"CLACK CLACK CLACK"
She knocked arrows down one by one, moving her head fearlessly to dodge the ill attempts of gaining a headshot on her. She was definitely skilled. She would have her revenge tonight, or die trying.
Jahan yawned long and thunderously, stretching his hands out wide to the side the boy wiped his groggy eyes. He had spent so much time in the dark solitude of the cave he had completely lost track of time. Whats more over, he had grown more than tired of darkness. Twisting his back and giving his spine a refreshing pop, he jackknifed to his feet and ran out of the cave with a triumphant rhythm to his movements.
"GOOD MORNING REI-"
Jahans sentence was cut off and his eyes went wide. There were plumes of smoke and fire that could be seen burning in the direction of the village. Jahan took off in a run, his heart racing, and adrenaline pumping. He could only but hope top get to the village before it had been completely decimated. He had wasted to much time learning the secrets of djinn equip. Now he would make them pay for their transgression, the man was convinced that the genesis of his ideology would begin here. As he approached the village he could see the woman who saved him charging in on a band of bandits.
"She's going to get herself killed" Jahan thought. He gritted his teeth, feeling a warmth from the crown atop his head. He closed his eyes reaching up to grip the black metal rim of his Metal Vessel.
"Guess its now or never huh?" he muttered to himself. "well fine." Jahan sent magoi through the course of his body never stopping as he began to catch up to the bandits and the girl.
"The sword of the king decimates, the commandment of the king divides, the heart of the king brings forth life."
A sensation like nothing Jahan had ever felt before erupted through his body, with a flash of light he transformed magnificently. The sudden flash caught the attention of enemy and foe alike. Jahans form was beautiful, his skin was hardened black and dragon like across his lower torso, leading up to the brown shades of human skin he normally had. His back was adorned with 3 sets of wings, a dirty silver, a deep crimson and a pure white set all flapping in unison. On his head his crown had disappeared and been replaced with ruby horns, Jahan was something like a fallen angel.
For a moment all was still even in the moments of utter chaos, the bandits and villagers just watched mouth ajar unsure of what to do for an angel had descended upon them from their perspective. Jahan he held his dark, clawed finger inches from his face and stared in awe as he felt the power course through his body. in fear the bandits sunk to their knees, many of them dropped their weapons right at the moment. They had surrendered, utterly unable to stand against him. There in the battlefield, Jahan had learned his most powerful skill.