Blaze of Reasoning - Peace's Kindling

Chapter 8: Toll of the Ashen Bell

"You must slay the Beginning...as we once did. And from then on, protect the world."

"Literally putting the weight of the world on my shoulders, eh?" he remarked. "That's a pretty hefty burden."

"And yet, in coming here, you acted under the belief that you bore the weight of all demonkind."

"I never said it was a bad thing." Ashbel smiled, stepping closer to the flaming torch. "Besides, in the end...I guess I just love this world a bit too much. If I'm the one it needs...then I'll be there."

"Then you accept?"

"...sorry, Vi. But I do." Ashbel nodded, looking up at the Torch and seeing its fires beginning to flare wildly, like a tree with leaves made of black embers. But its heat did not threaten Ashbel, even as it drew nearer. It only drew him in, like a moth to a flame.

"Then speak the words in your heart...and you shall become one of us."

Ashbel pressed a hand to his heart, looking up at the Torch as he felt words entering his mind - words that he'd never spoken, but he somehow felt he just knew. They felt natural to him - as though they'd been burnt into his soul.

"I am the sword that shines, and the shield that obscures." he said quietly, holding his hand up to the air, towards the white firebrand in the air.

"My heart is an inferno - a phoenix that rises again and again."

As he spoke, the flames slowly rose off the Torch and gathered into his palm. Once again, they felt warm to the touch, but did not burn him. He was ready to accept them, after all, as a part of him.

"With the world as my witness, here and now I pledge;"

The Torch's dark flames finished entering his palm, and he grasped them tightly, clenching his fist as he felt them entering his body, filling him with its power and magic. He felt like an inferno raged within him, ready to be unleashed to destroy the evil that stood against him.

"With this burning in my heart, I will baptise this world in flame. The hero will rise, and he shall incinerate the lingering evils of this world."

At once, he saw the dark void that surrounded him burning into nonexistence, and, knowing that he was about to return to consciousness, he smiled, once again placing his hand on his heart.

"For that is my duty. That is my torch to bear."

The Torch was the last thing that he saw, and before awakening, it was the last thing he heard, too. He watched it fade away, hearing the last words it spoke to him echoing in his mind:

"Now go and end this tale, Torchbearer of Resolve."

.........

A pulse of magic swept through the cave, and everyone in it stopped what they were doing in an instant. The Rook had his blade raised to attack, and an exhausted Sly was poised to attempt to dodge. The White Tigers in the back were watching in excitement. But the moment they felt a pulse of magic sweep through, as though the world's heart was beating, they simply couldn't help but stop, wondering what was going on.

.........

Back in the Feather Towers, a restless Viera slept in a white room with orange curtains. She couldn't help feeling excited for tomorrow, and this carried over to her sleep. But as the heartbeat of the world spread over to her location, she opened her eyes, evidently having slept very lightly, and remembered her meticulous studies. Immediately, she worked out what this meant, and sat up in fear and a cold sweat.

"Oh no...am I too late?"

She got up out of bed and quickly put her robes and shoes on, preparing to head over to the shrine herself to make sure she hadn't put it off too late. This was an emergency, after all!