Swords of Intent (sequel to Rose of Titanium)

Chapter 18: An Old Tale Pt. 2

Noble Six looked around and saw an endless void of white. Eventually his eyes found the soul of Ozma, who woke up and looked around. "Ozma" a voice called out from behind. The two turned to see the light god. The dragon swirled around and shrankas he eventually turned into his faceless humanoid form.

"Where, am I?" Ozma asked

"We are between realms. I'm afraid a, tragedy, has befallen your home at the hands of my brother. We have chosen to depart this world, but in our absence I would like to offer you the chance to return to it."

Ozma looked away. "I... Don't understand."

"Mankind is no more, yet your world remains. And in time your kind will grow to walk its face once again. However, without our presence they will be a fraction of what they once were." The god held out his arms as a staff, sword, crown, and Jinns lamp materialized into existence. "Creation, destruction, choice, and knowledge were the ideals on which humanity was made. Now, I leave them behind in hope that you will learn to remake yourselves." The four relics came together and formed into a ball of light that the god held in his hand. "If these four relics are brought together, they will summon your brother and I back to your world and humanity will be judged." The sphere faded away as the god lowered his arm. "If your kind has learned to live in harmony with one another and set aside their differences, then we shall once again live among you and humanity will be remade whole again. But if your kind is unchanged, if you demand our blessings while still fighting amongst yourselves, then humanity will be found irredeemable and your world will be wiped from existence. Until your task is complete you will reincarnate, but in a manner that ensures you are never alone."

"I'm sorry but, that world just isn't as dear to me without her" Ozma admitted. "If I may, I'd rather return to the afterlife to see Salem."

"You will not find her there."

Ozma was thrown for a loop. "You mean... She isn't gone?"

"Salem lives, but the woman you hold dear in your memories IS gone. Heed this warning, where you seek comfort you will only find pain. So, will you-"

"I'll do it!" Ozma said with determination.

"Very well, our creation rests within your hands." The light god faded away.

"And so, Ozma was reborn" Jinn said. Ozma suddenly found himself in another body as it struck down a beowolf. He looked around and saw people running from a burning village. Ozma saw a man about to be killed by another grimm, so he took control. Ozma ran over and grabbed the stangers sword b using it to kill the grimm with three strikes. The man got up and thanked Ozma and his host for saving him. Ozmas host looked at his own body in horror and confusion, tossing away the weapon. "Ozma found himself in a world that looked completely different. Cities were different, creatures known as faunus were locked away in cages, and without the presence of the gods no one was able to perform magic like humanity once was. No one but himself and a woman known as the witch." A puff of smoke turned the sceen into a house in the middle of the forest. "During his years of travel, he heard the same frightened whispers that spoke of a terrifying sorceress who commanded dark powers of the wilds beasts and monsters. Ozma was convinced that this witch was Salem, and he decided that he needed to see what she had become." Ozma walked up to the house and stood at the door. It opened to reveal Salem with the look of hatred and anger in her burning glare, but her face softened into a look of shock as she and Ozma starred at each other. "Call it magic or call it something stronger, but in that moment the two knew who it was that stood before them."

Ozma and Salem reached out and grabbed one anothers hand. "What do we do now?" Ozma asked

"Whatever we'd like" Salem replied

Days became seconds as renovations were made onto the house with the passing time, letting Jinn narrate again. "As Salem recounted the events which brought them back together, each withheld parts of their story. Salem, fearing Ozma would reject her, blamed the end of the world on the gods. Ozma, still unsure of where the truth lay, kept his task and the relics a secret. Though time passed and all seemed well, Ozmas conversation with the god of light still lingered in his mind. He had found happiness but humanity seemed more divided then ever before."

The sceen changed once again into a nevermore terrorizing a village, until it suddenly stopped midflight and was crushed into a ball. Salem and Ozma used their magic to levitate above the people as they held hands. The people saw the power of the two and bowed down to them as if they themselves were gods.

Jinn showed Noble Six two statues, one of Ozma and one of Salem, then showed an entire castle. "The two amassed a following. That following grew into a prosperous kingdom, and at the head of that kingdom blossomed a family." Salem and Ozma watched as their four daughters ran around them and played with each other.

The sceen changed again to show the couple standing in an office, Salem watched a war wage on through a reflective ball as Ozma looked out the window nearby. "Are we sure this is right?" Ozma suddenly asked

Salem looked over to him. "You said we needed to bring humanity together. In order to do that we have to spread our word, and destroy those who will deny it."

Ozma looked at his reflection with the window, the other soul in him used the opportunity. "What are we doing?" The person suddenly asked, startling the reincarnation man.

"This isn't what he asked of me" Ozma suddenly spoke.

"What did you say?" Salem asked, before their conversation could continue one of their daughters burst into the room to show her parents that she figured out how to use magic.

Jinn started to explain the obvious again. "It was a miracle, but what should've been a joyous occasion was short lived. Ozma told Salem everything, the true reason the god of light had brought him back, the relics scattered around the world, and the day of judgment he had been told to prepare for." Six watched as Salem tried to sway Ozma again, but to no avail.

The sceen changed to show Ozma trying to sneak his children out of the castle. "Mommy?" The youngest of them asked, turning Ozmas attention to Salems presence. He stood protectively in front of his kids as Salem started to emanate dark magic. She suddenly cast a powerful spell to kill them, Ozma responded in kind to save the girls. The two beings clashed for hours, turning the castle into a pile of rubble and killing nearly everyone inside. Ozma, being the only one to survive the onslaught, dragged his dying form out of the wreckage. Salem reformed seemingly from nothing and walked over to the man.

Salem kicked Ozma onto his back and planted her foot on his chest. "We finally had freedom."

"I-" Salem finished him off before Ozma could utter another word.

"I've seen enough" Six said, piecing together the rest in his head as Jinn brought him back to the present.