No Turning Back

Chapter Fourty: The Lifting Of The Veil

She felt her heart fill with fright as she watched the scene unfold. The loud echos moved closer before coming to a crescendo and causing the ground to tremble beneath her feet. The tremors sent shockwaves through the concrete as it left a trail of fissures emanating from the edges of the pit.

The debilitating fear firmly rooted Kiana's feet to the floor. Every time she tried to turn to run her body simply refused. It was as if she was being forced to stand there and watch the horrific scene before her. Her eyes widened as a bright light ascended the pit towards her.

Pillars of roaring incandescent flames spewed out as their peaks threw out a wave of intense heat. The light then slowly descended the pit leaving only a residual glow from below.

"Ascend!" A beastly voice growled from below.

The viciousness of the voice reverberated through Kiana's very being yet she still could not run. Dark shadows began creep up and envelope the walls of the pit as something began moving up it. Kiana's heart throbbed in her chest as waves of impending doom rushed through her body.

Her eyes anxiously followed the progression of the shadows as they slowly continued to rise. Her mind raced with all manner of terrifying thoughts as she awaited its reveal. The same sickly grey mist began to overflow which spilled out - shrouding the floor in its vapour.

Then, a silver metallic object suddenly appeared through the mist as it rose up out of the pit. As Kiana looked closer, she realised it was the MPD.

"This is almost sa----" Kiana began before being cut off by a high pitched screeching as the MPD suddenly shot up in the air and opened. 

A dark figure slowly hovered up pit of the device. When it came into the dim light she realised who it was. Within the MPD was the body of Richtofen. His face looked serene as he simply hovered in the irridescent aethereal mist - a rare expression for him. The device then quickly entombed him again as it shut up its contents. 

"What on earth? Why am I being shown this?" Kiana whispered to herself.

"Edward will become a god..." A gentle voice suddenly spoke.

Kiana tried to look around for the source of the voice yet it felt like it was coming from all directions. It was almost like she was hearing it from within her mind.

"He is destined for great things... why must you try to stop him?" The gentle voice questioned.

"Who are you?" Kiana asked suspiciously.

"WE WILL ASK THE QUESTIONS!" Another angrier voice hissed back.

"Please, pay no mind. Tell me child, why do you try to deny Edward his destiny?" The gentle voice intervened.

"You know exactly why..." Kiana replied disgustedly.

"I know exactly what you are-- what you beings are", Kiana continued before another voice interrupted her.

"We want what is best for Edward. We want to give him the life he deserves-- the respect he deserves", the quiet voice interjected. 

"Ah yes, you want a footsoldier to carry out your bidding", Kiana replied disgustedly.

"YOU--" the angry voice began before being cut off.

"Y-you do not understand. We want Edward to become our equal. He is worthy of ascending-- and We are the gatekeepers of that ascendance. We seek out those among you who show great potential", the gentle voice explained.

"Oh yes, and I imagine you are all very enlightened yourselves", Kiana snarked and rolled her eyes.

"We see that same potential in you", another more serious voice added.

The statement definitely intrigued Kiana. But not in playing to her ego. Instead, this statement was enough to give her the insight she needed as to the true intentions of these beings - who were trying desperately to win her over.

"We recognise all of Edward's hard work and seek to reward him. But right now he has lost his focus. He has taken on too many tasks..." The serious voice explained.

"He needs a strong woman behind him. He needs someone in his life to anchor him. Someone who is like him",  the gentle voiced added.

"Yes, and we need your help... to help him!" all the voices echoed together.

Kiana felt a smirk creep up on her lips. She knew exactly where this was going. But to be honest, it was downright insulting for these beings to think she would fall for their empty words - or that she was anything like Richtofen. They could not play to her ego like they did with Richtofen. 

"Not a chance", Kiana stated bluntly.

The fear she had previously felt seemed to melt away as she began to feel in control of her body again. 

"Oh no, I'm certainly not going to do your bidding", she scoffed.

"Oh, but you will be handsomely rewarded. Those who work hard reap the rewards", the gentle voice tried to entice.

"Yes, tell us-- what would you like as your reward? Money? Power? Influence? We can give you everything you desire", the angry voice whispered ominously.

"You seriously think these worldy trifles would make me sell my soul?" Kiana sighed as she shook her head.

"You have nothing to offer me. You lot only know how to take. You take and take until there's nothing left but ruin", she continued.

"Oh, you have us all wrong. We only want what is best for humanity. The masses are feeble minded and need to be herded. A great time of evolution will place on this earth soon. And they will not be able to meet it without strong leadership", the gentle voice tried to explain.

Kiana narrowed her eyes are she recalled where she had heard these similar words before. They rang with an eerie familiarity which unsettled her. But before she could figure out where, a new voice spoke which seemed to cause the others to hush in submission.

"Why don't you take some time to think about it before you decide, hm?" The voice suggested.

Then, Kiana felt herself slowly losing consciousness as everything went dark and her legs gave way.

End of part fourty...