Crown

Henaer Morghon-Henaer Apocalypse

It was incredibly dark. So dark that Illya couldn't even tell if her eyes were opened or closed.The darkness felt numb against her skin, like she no longer had any, like she was but a mass of energy that was swallowed by the nothingness. Illya didn't think silence could be so deafening, but as she tried to navigate in the disorienting darkness, she found that no matter what she did or how she tried to move, nothing seemed to stir. She opened her mouth and tried to speak but nothing came out. Her own breathing faded into obscurity. Illya's bright red eyes began to dim and in the numbness she felt a stone cold shiver run up her spine. She could vaguely hear a voice. It sounded distant and she couldn't make out all the words but she knew it was Henaer's.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Tobi had left Astrid to her own devices. She headed off to take a bath and he decided to take a walk around the palace, just to survey the lay out of the palace a little further. As he walked a familiar sense of dread filled him. He spun around and came face to face with a hooded figure.

"Well well well, looks like my little mole found his way to the Demon Princess with the pale silk hair. Or should I call her a Queen now?"

Tobi's eyes widened. "Y-You...I thought you were sealed in that statue?"

The figure chuckled. "So you recognize me? My physical body was locked away for so long I thought I seemed a little weird so I put on this cloak." The figure looked up towards the sky. "It's been so very long since I last had the pleasure of feeling the Earth's warmth on my skin. My beloved seems to have broken free from her lonely prison as well. The sudden shift in dark energy helped replenish my missing power, allowing me to break free myself."

Tobi was unsure of how to react in that moment. Should he go get one of the Prince's? Should he call for Hayate? No. It was his job to protect Astrid right now. "Why are you here?" he questioned.

"I just wanted to come and see if you really did fulfill my request. It seems you did. Good job, my little adventurer." The figure shrugged off his cloak, revealing his features. His body was drenched in Henaer's chaos, it's pulsing veins had completely overrun his body, though it didn't seem to bother him.

Tobi narrowed his eyes. "What exactly is your goal here?"

The man looked at Tobi for a moment. Though it was faint, he could see that something within the boy had changed. "That is something you need not concern yourself with. I have somewhere to be now so I'm afraid I'll be cutting this reunion short...before I go...just a word of advice..." The man leaned in so he was right beside Tobi's ear. He placed a hand on Tobi's shoulder and smiled. "Beware of the shadows, for the twilight holds more than what meets the eye."

Just as the words left his lips, Astrid's scream came echoing down the halls. Tobi quickly turned to face the man but within the blink of an eye he vanished, leaving behind only the sound of his maniacal laugh. Tobi clenched his fists and sprinted down the hall. He made it to the bath where Astrid could be seen viciously stabbing a deformed creature with her spear. Her thin robes were draped messily around her petite frame, barely covering anything, evidence that she had just enough time to haphazardly throw it on before she was attacked. Tobi spotted the increasing amount of monsters crawling out from the shadows and heading towards Astrid.

He whipped out his guns and began firing. Astrid ducked out of range and ran away from the water. Once she was beside him, one of her eyes, coloured blue lit up as she began shifting the water from where she stood. Oblivious to the rising water, the monsters eyes stayed transfixed on Astrid. Many were taken out by Tobi while the remaining were promptly swept away by a powerful water cyclone that Astrid had created. Without a word, Tobi pushed Astrid down the stairs and threw her clothes at her. He went ahead to scout out the area while she changed. When she was finished he managed to get her out of the castle and out to the village. When they arrived the found that while the villagers had successfully been evacuated, the monsters that attacked them were now ravaging the village. The Princes were fighting to hold them off along with Nikiro who provided just enough cover for them to do battle without taking much damage.

Behind them a monstrous beast approached, only to be struck down by the youngest Prince Avarice. "DON'T JUST STAND THERE IDIOTS!" He scolded as he rode his horse further down the streets.

Astrid and Tobi ran until they came upon a mining facility on the outskirts of the village. They hid behind some mine carts so as to avoid the attention of the roaming monsters. Knowing that beyond the village was the giant crater, Astrid devised a plan. She snuck next to some cauldrons and signaled for Tobi to stay where he was. He seemed to pick up on what she was trying to do and positioned himself behind the mine carts. Astrid slowly pulled the piping hot water from the cauldron out and then quickly directed it towards the monsters with the flick of her wrist. They howled in pain and staggered onto the tracks. When they did, Tobi pushed the mine carts with all he had and sent them flying towards the beasts. They were all caught in the mine carts path and promptly dragged along the tracks until the cart fell into a long since abandoned part of the mine.

Astrid and Tobi followed the cart. Astrid peered over the edge before spinning around and high fiving Tobi. "We make a pretty good team!!"

He chuckled. "Yeah I guess we do!"

"The giant crater is just past this area. Now that they're under ground we can easily get rid of them. The underground area still has remnants of the war that took place back when this place was ruled by the tyrant general. So it's still kinda dangerous. The closer we push them to the crater, the hotter it will get. They'll melt away before they can find their way out."

"Sounds good."

Tobi and Astrid jumped down bellow.The pair, skillfully made their way on top of the connecting chains that hung in the air. The monsters followed them with haste. Just as Astrid had planned, they began feeling the effects of the intense heat. With a little extra push in the right direction, the monsters fell into the scorching underground of the crater. Unfortunately, Tobi began to feel the effects of the heat as well.

Astrid pushed him down onto a platform and jumped down to help steady him."Looks like we got rid of them. We'll take that corridor back up to the village. Let's get you out of here."

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Henaer made her way down the path with a sneer on her face and spite in her pace. The tense atmosphere seem to freeze as she stopped moving. She stopped dead in her tracks and stared vacantly at the people below her. Her own markings began to travel up her body until she was writhing in pain as her skin shattered, revealing bits and pieces of the void. Sora noticed and urged everyone back into the barrier with haste. Henaer wailed in agony. Her monsters seemed to reach out to her, as if to ask what was wrong but to no avail. Henaer was brought to her knees as more and more of her skin broke away into the void.

"W-What's...AHH!...hap...ening!" She cried.

"You should have thought twice before trying to absorb me."

A muffled voice echoed from Henaer's broken body. A voice that could only belong to one person. Illya.