The Guardians held their hands over the roots of Yggdrasil, the Infinity Guardians held each others hands over their root. The Guardian of Light's eyes stared at the bruise under her lover's cowl where she had been struck while trying to assure the people that what they had been done in their previous life was for the good of humanity, that daytime was the time of safety, while nighttime was the time to hide from the dangers lurking outside. 788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wxUyFRL6Y
She remembered when she had struck back in the Guardian of Darkness' defense, still her arms trembled, even when she focused on just one thing in the present there was a cold, sinking feeling in her stomach.
The Guardian of Light had killed a man, she hadn't even tried to. It was all a blur, he had a his gauntlets on and used a light attack on the Guardian of Darkness, and suddenly her fist, shrouded in a blazing white haze, found his cheek and sent the man to the ground.
The others tried to assure her that she couldn't have been as aware of the power gap between her and other humans as she was in her former life, having spent much of this one apart from humanity.
Her lite haired lover spoke in hushed tone as her face twisted in agony and rage at the haunted thoughts echoing in her heart, "You were only trying to protect me; it's not your fault."
"I keep asking myself why I did that...he had a family, he had friends..." she replied under her breath.
"He made a choice to attack me with light, if I hadn't been a guardian, I could've-"
"No!" the dark haired girl clenched her teeth and subconsciously squeezed the hands under hers. The surprised gasp and wince that followed made her aware of the pressure she applied and loosened her grip, "Sorry...I...I don't really know what came over me."
"It's okay, I'll be more careful in the future." she gave her dark haired companion's palms a tender squeeze as she held her gaze. Steadily the air around them swirled faster, until a large black and white crystal rose up between them. Their hands slid from the others to the crystal and slowly backed up until the crystal--a bit taller than the Guardians and as big around as a tree--ceased growing.
"By gathering the elemental power into one place," the Guardian of Light murmured, listening for the light echo that was her counterpart's voice, "I withhold it's might from all but myself, and maintain authority to use it as I see fit, and bestow a portion of it upon those I deem worthy...Infinity Seal!"
"Their voices prompted us to follow, and we named our seals after the elements we preside over, the humans poured from the cities and surrounded Yggdrasil afterward, they labeled us all murders, even though the only human death by any of our hands was the fault of a murderous human who was struck back by a Guardian trying to defend the one she loved." Feyerous shook his head at the miserable result of that endeavor, "They stupidly rushed at the tree, brandishing swords and waving hands. Magic was the backbone of their strategy and when magic didn't aid them, they turned to the black and white crystal, it caught their attention for having two colors present, and the humans realized the correlation between the number of crystals and the Guardians, black and white, they knew then, were counted as one.
"They, detesting the guardians of that crystal and naming them the source of their woes, charged at the marbled gem and struck it, one by one they fell to their knees, the shock of the opposite powers reacting from the attacks was too much for them as white flashes and dark mists sent them running back to the nearest town, they killed each other thinking that the person behind them was a Guardian chasing them down."
"It was pure chaos." Banshee summarized emphatically, "And what happened next made things worse...it seems every following countermeasure we placed bore worse nightmares than what we started with..."
"It's all your fault, you attacked the crystal without so much as a care for consequences!"
"While you lot were standing around, we were going to make the most of the situation!
"And we left empty-handed anyways!"
"How were we supposed to know what would happen? We thought we could possess the power of the Infinity Guardians; that should be our goal, it would enable us to replace the traitors who abandoned us!"
"A human reported this to us, and begged us to do something; so the Infinity Guardians gave access to their crystal and told her she could act in their stead, this arrangement worked well for a while, with her acting as the first elemental priestess." Feyerous paused to consider how for ahead in the story to jump, when Banshee cleared her throat to speak.
"So we sent her back to the people, she managed to prevent a war by showing the results of a conversation with us, and the humans apologized, and asked us to directly defend them again, and so we did. Little did we know they had vile intentions towards us."
Their was a celebration to mark the last day of autumn, where the Guardians stepped into the world and at dusk they sang "Separated by Dusk", the song Banshee sung to express what she felt as she saw the Guardian of Light leave her dark counterpart.
No one saw the club wielding warriors that emerged from the crowd until the Guardian of Darkness hit the ground. Archers from above shot arrows with thick, woolly heads through a brazier, the arrows carried the fire down to wooden buildings, spreading chaos and prompting the crowd to panic while carts of dirt were emptied over the Guardians to blind them.
Valkyrie cleared the smoke and the Infinity Guardians were encircled by their fellows.
"Hang on, please..." the Guardian of Light whispered, holding the bloodied Guardian of Darkness against her.
"I'm sorry." began the wheezy reply, "I'm trying to, but I feel...like I'm being pulled into sleep...hey, remember when you took me with you that one time? Why don't we live in the sky again?"
"I-I remember...but we've successfully bound our elements to the sun and moon, there's no need for that now, we can spend every waking moment together now." she was tempted to bolt out of the city without the other covering for her, but they could only protect each other while running so fast, "Why didn't we just teach these monsters a lesson while we still had the chance?"
"Cuz we're not monsters, we just wanted them to be happy...it's the dream we share." the Guardian of Darkness clutched at her chest and visibly struggled to breath, "I just wanted to be happy...so I'm real sorry for abandoning you so early, but I can't help it..I'm not gonna make it much further."
The Guardian of Light grimaced as she leaned down and gently brushed her lips against the white haired woman's, "We'll be out of Infinity City soon enough-"
She had been interrupted by an unexpected kiss that ended when the wounded girl's arm slowly unwound from around the other's shoulder, "I love you."
"I love you, too!" the dark haired girl couldn't keep the desperation out of her voice, "I'll never let this happen again, I promise, I'll get to work right away to make this world a better place for us...I-I'll keep you safe next time, I swear!"
"We'll fall in love again, and then go up to the sun and moon and remember all the times before...then we'll come back down...let's explore the world next time."
"Yes, yes! I'd love that!" she stumbled to her knees as the eyes of the Guardian of Darkness slowly closed, "Sweetheart..."
"That's me...now and forever...next time I won't leave you behind...my love." she smiled and caressed the dark haired girl's cheeks, then closed her eyes and brushed her head against the other's shoulder.
"M-my love." the guardian closed her eyes and held her lover tightly, she took a deep breath and held it in for a moment. She opened her eyes, voice cracked as she heard the final breath of the Guardian of Darkness. She screamed whenever she found her breath, only to lose it again as her tears rained down on the silent girl under her, "Why did you take her from me?!"
She stood up, shaking with seething fury, and stepped past the Guardians fighting back the humans, a ring of light floated around her to keep her safe as she addressed the humans there, "I hope you're all happy now, because that will all change very, very soon, prepare for obliteration at the hands of death incarnate! Follow me to Yggdrasil if you want to stop me."
The Guardian of Light turned and fled the city, followed close behind by the human army that had gathered from the other cities to aid in the battle. She quickly reached the tree, and turned around to face the horde that had gathered behind her. She glared at them, a bitter smirk on her lips as she backed up, "Hah, I see now, petty and arrogant, you really think you can stop me, mortals? Even if you slew me in one lifetime, I'd just come back later and finish you off, you'd never recognize me. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed deluding yourself into thinking you had me cornered, because despair is the only thing you'll know for a century."
She held her hands over the Infinity Crystal and called out blasts of light from around the tree until the roots had split from the earth, and then sunk the tree into void beneath it until only the branches were exposed. The darkness grew around her and a blood curling screech tore through the air, "Fellnyx, devour these fools, torment their souls for a year and then regurgitate them as your slaves! Let the monsters they've become show in their outward appearance, as it does in their actions!"
The monster happily obeyed, snapping up those gathered, pushing futilely against the barrier that had been set up around them to keep them trapped, "Foolish, arrogant, cowardly...you dared to end the life of my beloved...and now you try to escape your death when I've already sealed your fate...you really are a pathetic bunch, I hope you squawk for mercy as your brethren run you through!"
She watched as Fellnyx destroyed the army and let up the barriers as the last of them was swallowed up, the only sign that humans had been there were the scattered weapons they left behind. The Guardian of Light pointed back at the void, and glared at Fellnyx, "Back into the darkness with you, I'll no longer shield you from the effects of the light."
"What have you done?!" she turned to find a bewildered Banshee leading the others, a white block of ice in tow.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcm5C1bVqZ
"I'm cursing them with the fear of wild, untamed death itself; I've come to the conclusion that they will always find something to hate, and so I have given them a monster worthy of their foolishness...it is their place, it is what they deserve."788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4yx8RFUV7
"I understand your rage, but wouldn't killing them have been enough?" Feyerous pointed at the swirling vortex where Yggdrasil once stood, "Was that really necessary?" 788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVphizsICT
"Great, then you understand I'm sick and tired of those humans, right? You understand how meaningless this all is for me now, how hopeless it is to try to work with them when they don't have their way, whatever that may be, that it may change from what it is today, that they would expect me to struggle to meet that end? Look at where we are! Apparently if we're not busy killing things for humans, we're not doing our jobs! So let me kill the humans for the humans, let me rain death on them so that their pain limits their actions, I know now that that is the relationship they desire!" she snapped, shaking as she fought the urge to cast a beam of light in a random direction, but she couldn't bring herself to risk hitting an innocent bystander, "Look...just leave the mess for them for once in my lifetimes, they aren't worth your while to help...oh, wait, you don't have to spend time learning who or what you are after dying and coming back again, I guess helping them isn't even difficult for you, so I'll make it difficult: Just try to seal the vortex; I'll take you all on!"788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs6QksfBOue
"Will you?" Banshee stepped forward, staring icily at the brunette, "Then fight me now and get it out of the way, because I'll close that portal myself if I have to, protecting the people is why we're here in the first place."788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKF27JwCaIf
The Guardian of Light charged a white glow in her hands, but fell to her knees and let the power fade, "Tell me what I'm supposed to do, then! I'm not like them, I still remember how naive I was when I first came here, how happy I was, and they keep finding ways to hate me for whatever I do, it's pointless trying to protect them, and I hate myself for wanting to destroy them, but they'll just keep trampling her!"788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZNadWLxmQ
"I know you don't trust them, after robbing a friend from me, I don't trust them either." Valkyrie stated, gazing sorrowfully at the knelling guardian, "But you have now sown the path forward with destruction born from destruction itself, a greater destruction born from life, Fellnyx will spew forth monsters born of the ashes of the humans you condemn, they will go on to hurt those they cared for in life; ultimately this will affect everyone, our fallen friend is no exception.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4hSw1D2e9
"I regret only that she will see and suffer the despair I've prepared for humanity...that what I have done my steal her from me again and again until I go mad, and how she may hate me for what I've done to the people she cared so much for," she fell on her side and squeezed her eyes closed, her hand rose to the sun and blocked the light from her view "but my judgement remains the same; I can no longer treat their malice with kindness or patience, not after losing the most important part of me." 788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrujQRxcrMo
Banshee offered the Guardian of Light her hand, "I know you're hurting, that it will be a while before you can stand on your own, but you depend on us."788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFM1k7QbvD
"I...thank you...I'm sorry for what I said, I didn't mean it, I don't know why I took it out on you like that." she gratefully accepted the blue guardian's hand and slowly stood up, "I'm still not done with the humans, but I won't kill anymore."788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOyfqHr0dc
After burying the Guardian of Darkness, the lone Infinity Guardian raised her hands and blotted out the sun, only stars remained in the sky.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu664brFkv4
"Let the very earth know of an uneasy silence, now the only light I bid will be the stars nor will they be allowed the beauty of the moon, for they killed the moon to my sun. All the light I withhold from them will be in the underworld to block the path between worlds, it will take much focus on my part, but at least it will keep me busy. Let them know I can easily make them miserable; they won't be quick to repeat their mistake if they suffer greatly."788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2o1wEEJhF
