The Demon Lord sat on the thin grass deep within the dense forest. The moonlight fell through the patch of no leaves above her, the leaves shimmering softly under that bright shine. The wind was quiet, its slow pace carrying the sounds of the demons to her as they went about their silent activities.
Bringing the buried negativity of life to its surface... were beings that existed on a higher level serving these low living things?
Zelda had already existed for the past two centuries and she could already see the shift. Shadow Beings weren't supposed to exist physically, but sometime in the past a few of them migrated from the Shadow Dimension to these seven worlds parallel to Earth. A planet evolving at quite a pace, though Zelda didn't understand what was so special about it.
Earth... where does this name come from?
She opened her eyes, turning towards the clear sky dotted by countless astronomical objects, all she could go to at any moment she wished. She had heard of the atmosphere on the planet Earth, something incredibly vital to life there.
Atmosphere... where does this name come from?
Suddenly, a strong wind blew cutting through the dense cover, surrounding her and taking her away.
Zelda's consciousness awoke to a suffocating place. So many thoughts, such trapped energy, so many thoughts and thoughts and thoughts of all of existence... where was she? No senses, a black aura, no semblance of existence.... limbo.
The Demon Lord let go of all the fear that gripped her, focusing on her land. No matter where she was, if she thought of her time there, her experiences, her people, her existence, she could reach it. She would reach it.
Think. Think. Think.
The Land of Chaos... Zelda was horrified.
The Land of Chaos has been disordered. Completely and utterly destroyed. Its Nature dispelled, its nature inverted, the land of a distinct information turned to havoc. But the demons are strong... surely they would be okay?
The demons are captured. Their minds are gone into this state of limbo, still beyond her reach. Thoughts, thoughts, Zelda was surrounded by this countless nuisance. All she wanted to do was reach at least her people or the land, but she had already given up on the latter.
Think. Figure out where you are. Think.
Surrounded by thoughts... this black aura was nothing like she'd ever seen before, yet something about it was familiar. Something so very distinct and new from her visit to the Valleys... those smiling faces clad in a brilliant blue and their wonderful, compassionate spirit as a bluebird. Their healing of living things, perhaps unnecessary but still beautiful. That vibrant land, so opposite to the emptiness of this space... the choking atmosphere...
All of it was destroyed before anyone could blink. Just like her. No, she wasn't destroyed, she was simply taken. Still. Was the same going to happen to the demons? No... she dearly wished it wouldn't.
She didn't think of the worse possibilities. She didn't know if they existed.
Zelda could feel no passage of time. Everything was still yet the energies ran. Perpetually conserved, perpetually circulating. What energies were they? Something, anything, to tell her what was going on...
"This is Vlad."
That thought... she recognised Ethelred's aura. So bitter. Vlad... a name. For what? For who?
It felt like she was in no space with no passage of time. The Shadow Dimension? No, she had to figure out what these clouds were. Suddenly an acute force filled her mind, severing her connection to the demons.
Now she was truly alone.
This energy around, focus on it. The demons are strong, they can be trusted. She had to understand what this energy around her was. Upon any contact, all she could think of was the Wind Phoenexias. What did that mean? Did this energy come from that land? But energy doesn't hold memory, does it? No, there's something soul-like about it yet- oh.
The Wind Phoenexias and the Demonic Creatures are without souls. What determines their existence as belonging to either group? Their energy. Souls are absolute. Energy is subject to change. This energy around her, she was sure it was frozen in time. Then, was it the energy that created the Wind Phoenexias?
Terror.
Were the Wind Phoenexias extinguished by this Vlad? What was this being? Why did it wish to cause their extinction? What had they ever done to him? What had the demons ever done to them? Why did it steal her title?
Why did it steal her space and time?
The clouded energy swirled a little. Perhaps a motion to indicate they were still alive. Still conscious in some warped sense, still real in that place away from reality.
What was going on?
...
...
...
Silence.
Congested, confusing, daunting it was, but ultimately everything was silent.
If she was in a place where no time passed, then how would she feel by the time her stay here came to an end? No... that doesn't make sense, time? Did some clock run for her, personally, keeping tabs on her? What did this absence of time mean?
The thoughts still clouded her but whatever, she was able to ignore the incoherent muffles now. Her mind felt heavier and heavier and waves of hurt reached to her from places she didn't know and the weight grew heavier till her consciousness finally slipped onto the border between awareness and oblivion.
Blink... the demons are under Vlad's control... blink... those Shadows are arguing?... blink... trials... blink... deaths... blink... memories altered... blink... time... passes... for them... blink... birth of the three... what time- blink... creatures born from my people's tortured minds?... blink... the thread breaks... out of ti- blink... the last of Wind Phoenexia is here... with Vlad...
Here... Zelda saw her.
Zelda saw her. Was she no more in the Shadow Dimension? The space remained the same, only momentarily letting flickers of light in. The biggest difference was its passage, she could feel it. She could feel her thoughts, a semblance of sequence, a physical existence of time.
She still couldn't understand it, but that had to be a matter for another day.
Ariana... she was scared before this Demon Lord before... why is she so calm as she sleeps by his fire?
"I am sorry."
Vlad's voice... apologising. Muffled, here. Here... where was she, now that she experienced time?
She experienced time with Vlad. She was in a space familiar to Vlad. These thoughts that huddled around her, like dirty clouds, belonged to the creatures he destroyed. The energy of the Wind Phoenexias.
The energy went to the place closest to them connecting the physical to the Shadow Dimension. Someplace closer than the abyss of the land. Someplace... like the destroyer next to them
They were trapped in Vlad's mind, and she was at its centre.
She was at its centre. The first one here. Trapped in rage's mind?
CentreSwirlingGrowinggasBubblesupBlowsdownThespacecracksInandoutBreathingItescapedTotrapunnecessaryAtitscentretoopowerfulCloudedtoopowerfulToomuchvigourToomuchlifeToomuchuncertaintyToomuchofitallHopeisde-
Calm down. Such a silly thought wouldn't help her. Who had the audacity to tell her to "calm down"? If there was something that was second nature to her, it was nonchalance. Staying calm was no big deal when her focus was that muffled confusion.
She couldn't possibly break out in that cage of energy; any movement and she would truly destroy those creatures. Her freedom could only come with Vlad's death.
Vlad... he isn't a living being. At the very least she wished to understand this being - for the sake of the demons, herself, and the being itself - but his thoughts were beyond her reach, further than reality. Locking it away from everything.
What does he hate so much? What is he so afraid of?
How can anger feel all these other emotions?
Why is he doing all this? What does he want? What does he care about? Does he care? Does he want?
Does he know why he's doing this? Why the demons, what have they done? Their existence has already become one of gloom, why can Nature not spare them from more suffering?
Meanwhile, Demonic Creatures multiply. More negativity, more suffering, especially for them. Why?
Will she ever learn the answers? Are there any answers?
Endless thoughts. Endless possibilities. Endless whys. Zelda was a Shadow Being so the absence of time shouldn't affect her.
Yet she had a feeling it could drive her mad.
The Demon Lord decided to tune everything out. A hollow mind, just like her people, except she was in control of it. She was in control of her silence, the only thing that would benefit her in that space she had yet to understand.
Outside, she somehow had faith in some Shadow-Trappers, one in particular. Perhaps it was an old memory or an old fact or an old bond... she wanted to believe in these beings from which they had drifted apart.
Can we return to our initial state, where all was one?
Nothing can be done from here other than inaction to prevent disaster. Patience is key. Silence is a must.
Everything dispersed as Zelda stayed quiet.
- - - - -
It came. It finally came.
Finally? No time has passed.
It came.
The space erupted as a tunnel cut through that ghastly gas, giving Zelda her way out. She remained still in that place where she wasn't physical, where she hadn't moved at all. A crimson wisp crept up and took the hand of her essence, giving the pull required to overcome her inertia, bringing her back.
But the Wind Phoenexias... their energy, what will become of it? If I am going back it can mean only one thing; Vlad is dead.
Then why are they remaining? No, they are coming closer to each other... condensing... spiralling into a tiny sphere. Vlad's heart, what has become of it?
It's gone. That is what is gone. That is how an entity like Vlad died.
What, is another being going to emerge from the condensed energy of the Wind Phoenexias? Zelda thought bitterly as she had nearly left.
...is...that......it...can't...
...it...simply...can't...
...they...can't...go...through...this...again
At that moment another flash came. A red flame that could consume all but that Demon Lord, describing exactly what her people had "gone through".
Pain. She knew this already.
Suffering. She knew this already.
Hollow. She knew this already.
Pressure. She knew this already.
Conflict with the creatures from Tenebris.
She knew.
Controlled like puppets.
She knew.
Someone lifted their pain.
She knew.
Someone understood their pain.
She knew.
Controlled like puppets by nature's puppet, unable to receive Nature's aid.
She did not know.
Though in that sense, aren't we all puppets?
Was someone talking to her?
What is nature?
Zelda wished she knew.
Why have I done what I did? I cannot tell the answer straight away, let someone else guide you. If they offer help do not be proud. Take it.
Vlad... considered himself as a puppet? Not the position he snatched from her?
I will never be the Demon Lord, I know that. It is you. The demons have suffered so much. You are not at fault. The demons are not at fault. Suffering was a rite of passage. You will be okay, I believe in you.
This was his attempt at an apology.
Save it for someone who cares, Zelda thought and the conversation ended.
Zelda braced herself for her return. Shadow-Trappers stood before the demons, beings that would certainly startle them. Shadow-Trappers... did they look down on them? When was this animosity between the true born? This fear? This distance, this form of interaction?
Did they look down on them? It didn't seem like that, but the help they offered confounded her. The demons have always taken care of themselves and they don't mind. Suffering is their understanding of the world. Why now? Why care?
Perhaps these questions will be answered soon. Perhaps one day, she'll have no more questions. For now, it was time to go.
Zelda left and entered Reality.
----- -------
Audrey opened her eyes to find herself afloat in darkness. A gentle red light came forward and Audrey's own lit up, both glows ever so soft yet dispersing enough for the Shadows to see each other. Like a dim flame of friendship that melted some layer of worry.
"Hey, Zelda," Audrey said softly upon seeing the tall woman, a sorrowful expression on her face. The demon nodded with her blithe demeanour, although a softness propagated from her that the Shadow-Trapper had become familiar with.
"I am sorry about everything. You shouldn't have been in such a horrible place for so long. Three thousand years in a place with fluctuations of the passage of time... I can't imagine."
Audrey was unsure of the space the two resided in. Her being had been pulled into the abyss of Earth and Zelda's into Chaos. Both led to the Shadow Dimension but Audrey couldn't possibly believe that she was there so soon.
It felt like nothing.
"It has taken a little time to get used to this world," Zelda started. "But it is all okay now. I had my people with me. Each of them shared some aspect of my burden and collectively, that was enough to keep me okay. Now I must return the favour, of course.
"I am not sure how I can do that, however."
"What is your plan? What is next for you?"
Zelda's thoughts were poured slowly, carefully.
"I... will do my duty, I suppose, as a leader. The demons need time and energy to heal their minds and the best aid to do so is our land, so I must help Chaos return to its true meaning."
"Do you truly not believe that your presence did nothing for the demons?"
Zelda remained silent.
"That space was bizarre. The experience feels like a dream that I remember vividly."
"So you do remember vividly."
"Most of the happenings were vague."
"What's wrong?"
The question was so direct, yet it was enveloped in an aura of care, dropping softly before Zelda. The Demon Lord wanted to hold onto her pride and stay silent, but perhaps she owed it to the Shadow-Trapper...
"I..."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but um, I'm here to listen."
Such a human hesitation. It didn't take away anything from her as a shadow, or at least Zelda didn't feel like it did.
"The demons suffered because of their mental situation, they were under the control of that entity, even before all this they had taken upon themselves the burden of negativity. In addition to that they had to withstand my pressure. I caused the opposite effect. I should have given them some comfort, some assurance, some relief from their never-ending tension.
"...
"I cannot call myself the Demon Lord, not like this."
The delicate silence turned into something unsettling.
"You're a demon too."
Into something beautiful.
"Have you considered that the reason you were sucked into that space was that you were given the heaviest burden? If you existed physically Vlad wouldn't be able to take the demons under control, and when you went inside you instinctively took upon the greatest weight."
"How do you know this?"
"I don't, this is all just speculation. I don't think we can wait for answers anymore because some answers may be multiple, some may not exist, some we may simply not get. Some may change with time and some may be... vague.
"All we can do is speculate, and this makes sense to me."
"..."
"Don't guilt yourself for something so indefinite, Zelda. All we can do is learn and grow. Look ahead and don't forget the past. Then again, I don't think your... time there can be considered a thing of the past."
Zelda's aura was more mellow now, a tingling of gratitude nearly reaching Audrey. As silence persisted the Shadow-Trappers mind turned to doubt and a hint of fear.
"I have to know something."
"Tell me, Audrey."
"...
"That sphere of energy, are we getting a second stone? What does that mean? Shouldn't the energy of the Wind Phoenexias be free now?"
A hesitation. Something ghastly sparked before Zelda thought out loud.
"Vlad's death released me, the demons and that sphere. Someone else's death will release the Wind Phoenexias in the sphere."
"They're without souls, has their individuality still been maintained?"
"Yes. Once it is released the individuality will disappear, but for now, it remains."
"Oh. But what do you... no."
Audrey already felt terrible about everything that had happened to Vlad. She couldn't possibly let the same thing happen to that sweet friend, the sister of someone so close to her...
"No. We have to stop that."
"Audrey..."
"We can't-"
"Audrey, you must listen to me. I was there so I know exactly what happened. Or I do understand part of the workings in some shape or form.
"Their situations will not be even remotely same other than the baseline: this "stone" acts as a "heart" because of its abundant energy, making an "unnatural" being somewhat of a living thing.
"Nature will help her, you know that more than anyone else. Every step of the way Nature will take care of her and her nature will be preserved until the end. For the Wind Phoenexias to return to the Valleys, we have to follow this path that has been laid.
"Ariana will be okay. She is the only one in this world who can contain that energy. She will understand that. After all these years she has certainly understood the meaning of duty. Besides, I do empathise with at least some part of what she has experienced because of my years of separation.
"The Wind Phoenexias aren't supposed to exist and they will not be coming back. She accepted that a long time ago. That sphere is all she has left of them. She will take care of them and they will take care of her until the very end. Until they will all be properly united, destroyed and released."
That's right. After Aurelia's mother's death, Ariana truly is the only being made of that energy. Has she been lonely all this while...? Audrey felt terrible for not having seen that.
Evelyn would have, surely.
"Does she know about this?"
Zelda hesitated.
"I do not think so, but she will."
"She should. She must know what's coming, I don't want it to shock her. I've seen what that shock has done to Vlad, in some sense."
In this sense, in that sense... was there anyone who was aware of the one, true picture? Was there such a picture?
"I can't wait, I have to tell her now."
"And how will you do that? Sudden information can be shocking as well."
"I'll tell Aurelia and Evelyn, they'll know how to convey it to her."
Zelda was impressed but also afraid for the one who had become her first friend.
"I've told them. It's done."
Audrey dearly hoped it would all be okay. She would make it okay, they would all make it okay.
"Something's troubling you, Audrey, I can see that. What is it?"
An obvious hesitation entered, but Audrey felt she owed an answer after the Demon Lord had answered her just moments ago.
"Did Holly...?" Audrey started warily, feeling a little foolish. Zelda's feeling was true.
"No. She wasn't a demon, Audrey. She was a Shadow-Trapper. I think she understood that by the end."
Just like me.
Audrey smiled. She was relieved that the gentle soul wasn't burdened by more during her strife. The world's weight was enough, after all.
"Yeah, I know. I suppose I just had to confirm."
"I understand that."
An awkward silence filled the space. They had come to a standstill, but neither individual attempted a farewell as something was amiss... something very important.
Perhaps one tried to figure it out while the other suppressed it.
It was then that a third presence entered, surprising both the shadows, bringing especially one relief. A deeper red, an older red.
"Conrad." Zelda thought and her aura stayed still respectfully, letting the third take his place. Audrey let out a wave of welcome, surprised at first but it soon made sense. His presence was obvious.
"Galen told me you feel responsible for Vlad's death, Audrey. I understand that, it has always been in your nature, but is there something else? Is there something you haven't told anyone?"
"No."
She didn't lie, not really. She did tell someone else.
Taking such a shortcut doesn't do well for honesty, Audrey. If you wish to reach the Truth, you must do what is necessary.
The leader's aura dropped and she gave way, much to the other two's relief.
"Maybe."
That was enough for Conrad to confirm his suspicions.
"Why do you feel so guilty about Vlad's actions? You have done nothing. What he did is his responsibility alone."
The question took Audrey by surprise.
A lot of surprises have been surrounding me lately.
"Vlad is not a person. He hasn't 'done' anything. He is not responsible for anything. Neither is Nature, or I mean the Shadow of Nature. Perhaps nature is, I am not sure, but nature isn't an individual. You cannot blame such a vague force for something. What happens, happens."
"I think stripping Vlad away from its existence as an individual is wrong, even if it was complicated and without the traditional 'one soul' meaning. At the same time, it was a consequence of nature, in a sense, and while it executed actions their 'responsibility' is an ambiguous thing. No matter what, you don't have to feel guilty about anything."
Conrad's aura had never been so soft and yet so firm, stubborn even.
"I mean to say that these individuals are not responsible for anything. Anyway don't worry, I don't feel guilty."
Audrey hoped she didn't lie to herself. Her friends didn't deserve any inaction from her. The Shadow-Trappers, too. The Shadow Beings in general.
She couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being unfair to everyone, but Audrey was trying.
"But you do feel responsible?"
"Why do you feel responsible for his death?" Interrupting was not in Zelda's nature, but she felt that this opportunity wouldn't come back.
"Perhaps slightly, because of what happened in that space all that time ago. In the name of my duty, I caused the destruction of Vlad. Even if it was in the name of my duty, I am responsible. No, duty isn't the possible exception, it is the reason."
"We destroyed Vlad together."
"Perhaps, but not in the way you think. I destroyed the vessel and the heart. You helped separate the three components of Vlad so that they would be relieved."
"I don't think Vlad is gone."
Startled. Zelda's sentence came off so shockingly to both Shadow-Trappers.
Patient.
"I mean the three components have separated and all is nearly done, but I think a quantum shred of Rage has been given permanent consciousness. It remains in the Shadow Dimension, serving as a reminder and as a guard."
"Is that okay?"
Conrad was especially worried. He didn't wish any aspect of Vlad to suffer anymore.
"I do not know."
"...
"Can we figure it out?"
"We can try."
For too long had everything felt odd to Audrey. Meaning, uncertainty, meaning... she was thinking, feeling, reflecting on all these things of the past in a passive state. She kept to herself, took time to understand, but by pausing was she hindering progress?
Duty... Was it okay to carry out you duty without knowing the reason behind it? The purpose? Could such a thing be called duty? Where did this duty come from, then? Was it an instinct? Was it a thing given by nature or was it determined by the individual? Was it fated or free? Was it necessary or a means of survival? A means of existence?
Pausing... she may not have had the answers, but she felt she needed to take this time to understand.
She couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being unfair to everyone, but Audrey was trying. She would continue to try, she had to.
"Okay, then. We will try."
They all would. Each understood certain aspects better. They would piece it together. After all...
The time for action was coming.