Divinitas

043 - Innocence and Ice

Simple Truths Change You The Most

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A resounding knock on his office door made the Principal look up from the documents that were strewn over his desk. Now who could be troubling him so early on a Saturday morning when normal principals took the day off to enjoy their overly large and generous salaries?

\"Come in,\" he commanded, pushing himself a little distance away from his desk and leaning back in his black leather chair.

The small hand of the youngest of the Children opened the large double doors, a wide innocent smile on his child-like face. Next to his knees appeared the form of a young wolf, who entered the office before him, ice blue eyes instinctively roaming over its surroundings.

\"Good morning, Principal!\" Chima greeted cheerfully, standing before the Principal\'s desk and giving a quick half bow. The long scythe and chain dipped with his movement, jingling musically in the near silence that dominated the room. \"This is Yuki,\" the boy introduced, pointing to the grey wolf sitting in front of him, thumping his tail lazily. \"And I\'m-\"

\"Chimaera Terra,\" the Principal cut in, giving the young boy a small smile. \"So, what can I do for you, newly born Child of Earth?\"

Chima smiled back. \"Ne, Principal… I\'m breaking the school rules, aren\'t I? Bringing a wolf into the school?\" As if to empathise Chima\'s point, Yuki yawned loudly and stretched himself out on the cool marble floor.

The Principal\'s eyes dipped for a second to the canine makinmselmself at home on his polished floor, not showing any outward signs of his slight amusement and surprise at Chima\'s unusual questions. \"Yes…\" the Principal answered with a slight smile, looking back up into Chima\'s innocent emerald eyes. \"But I would have thought the Child of Earth would know that he\'s above the rules here at Genesis as long as he serves the Child of Soul.\"

Pearls of laughter fell forth from Chima\'s cupid\'s lips. \"Yep, I know,\" he said with a grin. \"But I kinda feel guilty. So can we please discuss some form of suitable punishment? I can\'t give up Yuki, but I don\'t want to feel this guilt either…\" The boy trailed off as Yuki got up suddenly and wandered out the door he had left ajar, his tail disappearing with a flick.

One could see the gears turning in the Principal\'s head. This was a set up. Chima wanted to talk outside the Castle of Genesis. He wanted to talk freely. \"Well… Let\'s take a walk, shall we? We can discuss the matter of your discipline was we tail your beautiful pet. The last thing we want is fim tim to cause you more trouble now, do we?\"

Chima gave another pleasant smile and followed Yuki and the older man out, down the steps and out the main entrance of the ancient school. The Principal allowed the young boy to lead the way, trusting in the Child of Earth\'s sixth sense like instincts to seek out a place away from the prying eyes of the painted ceilings. Dark eyes watched as the boy all but skipped down to the stables, Yuki ambling along beside him.

What had he desired, entering into this alliance with the Child of Soul all those centuries ago. In return for his services and connections, for creating a school from the empty halls of the Castle of Genesis… He was of Jigoku. The Child of Soul was of Chikyuu. One of the long standing rules in their realms was never to bother with those outside their own… In this case, however, certain circumstances made the alliance favourable. Namely, the lost half of Aether\'s soul.

In reality, the Principal had very little interest in Aether\'s games with the Children. As long as those games did not interfere with their deal. The Principal would help the Child of Soul regain his lost divinity, and in return, Aether would allow Jigoku to have the missing half of his soul should they acquire it. He would not lift a finger to regain it for himself. After all, Aether was the God of Soul, and because of that and the nature of all souls, the missing half was still linked, however distantly, to his remaining self.

But the way things were going… Aether\'s unhealthy obsession with the Child of Fire… Sooner or later he would realise that perhaps their \'deal\' was in his ill favour… Even if it was several millennia onwards.

The Child of Earth let out a happy sigh, having climbed up onto the fence of a paddock and breathing in the crisp winter air. The boy stretched out his arms, opening them as if to welcome the overcast sky that foretold rain.

Chima had led the trio to Venus\' enclosure where the young mare was grazing away. The heavy blankets over her golden coat did little to hide her rounded belly. She was heavy in foal, due within the next few weeks.

\"Aether… Isn\'t a bad guy,\" Chima said suddenly, looking out at Venus, his back to the Principal who stood a little distance away from the fence. \"I don\'t mind serving and protecting him. Genesis and all the living things around here have told me that it\'s my duty. I won\'t go against that, not that I can anyway, right?\"

The boy\'s voice dropped, losing it\'s playfulness and becoming almost sullen. \"But I don\'t like Genesis. It keeps me here against my will, with the constant threat of killing those I love should I leave. Sometimes I kinda envy Phoenix and them. \'Cause they\'ve already lost those they loved and don\'t have to deal with the threats and the fear.\"

A heavy silence fell over the early grey morning landscape like a thick cold fog.

\"I\'ve decided to protect the ones I love,\" Chima said with resolution after several long minutes of emptiness. He turned and jumped down from the fence, staring up at the older man, all traces of innocence lost. \"Please. Tell me everything you know about Genesis, and I will help you take back the lost half of Aether\'s soul to wage your war against Ten.\"



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The winter breeze off the ocean iced Phoenix\'s skin, yet the boy did nothing to warm himself up. He remained standing on the deserted be sta staring out into the grey overcast ocean and sky.

It was the first day of the Christmas break, marking the end of the first semester. Six months of his life had passed here at Genesis. And he was worse off than when he started. Somehow, that had seemed an impossibility back then.

Maybe, if he had a family and a home to return to, he would have gone back for the holidays, as many of the other students had. But he didn\'t. Because this was his family and home. And the place he least wanted to be.

He had gone to work this morning, and Aether had made no move to prevent him. The Child of Soul knew him too well. Knew that Phoenix knew there was no place for him to run to. That this was where he belonged. The only place that would accept such an abomination as himself. The twin wounds on his back were proof of that.

The whispers that had haunted him in the first bleak days after his parent\'s deaths had returned. The cold waves seemed strangely welcoming and desirable. It would be easy just to walk and walk and walk towards where the ocean met the sky. To let those welcoming waves wash over and cover him.

Except…

\"You know that would be useless, don\'t you.\" Not a question. Just a painful reminder.

Phoenix\'s right hand tightened around the handle of the weapon he held, feeling its divine warmth resonate from it, emanating protectiveness.

\"The Child of Soul will never allow you to kill yourself. His ownership of our Divine Beasts sees to that. \'Protect them from all, even themselves.\' They will always listen to him first and foremost on that account. Because they love us, and do not wish for us to die,\" Gryps\' voice said quietly, words snatched at by the winds that tore at their hair and clothing.

\"I would run away, if I thought that would help,\" Phoenix answered softly. \"But there isn\'t a place in this world you could run to when you\'re running from yourself. I\'ve given up. I won\'t fight this anymore. I\'ll take this as penance for killing my parents.\"

Silence. Just the wind forever billowing around them, whipping up the sand to sting their naked skin.

\"I came here to kill you, Incendium,\" Gryps stated in a calm voice, silver eyes taking in the almost serene smile that appeared on Phoenix\'s face. \"But you should know something before you let me realise your false Wish.\"

\"And what might that be?\" No curses, no anger, no hatred. It was like talking to a different person. Perhaps this was what it was like when one lost their Dream?

\"The Child of Soul neglected to tell you that you were not responsible for the death of your parents,\" the silver haired boy began, drawing his twin lethal daggers from his thighs. \"He asked Genesis to bring you here, and Genesis fulfilled that request by killing your parents through you… Thus making you desire any chance of a new beginning… Bringing you here and within his grasp.\"

Nothing changed. The two continued to stand where the water and sand ran and chased one another, one looking out towards forever, the other merely watching, each holding the weapons which were their ball and chain.

An onlooker would never have noticed. The minute changes that crept over Phoenix\'s frozen form. Maybe the eyes sharpened just a little. Lost their empty glaze and took on a burning radiance. Perhaps the line of his mouth hardened, losing any sense of serenity.

Despite the lack of visible change, Phoenix\'s mind was racing, facts and memories assaulting him from every crevice of his mind. First and foremost was his reaction after hearing the stories of Draco\'s and Chima\'s past on their camping trip. How he had hated Aether so intensely afterwards. Enough to kill him for it. His reaction made perfect sense now. He had known. He had known then that Genesis, on Aether\'s orders, had all brought them here under painful circumstances.

Bitterness flooded through Phoenix\'s system. Resentment and hate clouded everything, burnt away his foolish desire of ending his life. Aether had let him believe that lie, wanted him to believe it, encouraged him even. For his own ends, for his own gain.

Unforgivable. Aether\'s actions were unforgivable.

Gryps watched, transfixed as Phoenix\'s hand clutching his Weapon of Fire tightened so much it became white. Gradually, as if time had been slowed, Phoenix raised his weapon and placed one of the blades over his open left palm, holding it gently for a moment before his sharp growl of pain shattered the silence, followed by a rainfall of dark red droplets.

The blood had barely hit the sand before the same wounded hand that had spilled the crimson liquid was clutching the collar of Gryps\' shirt, holding it with such force that he half lifted the other boy off his feet.

\"You had better not be fucking lying about this, Gryps…\" Phoenix growled in a low voice, eyes burning with undiluted hatred aimed at a certain amethyst eyed fiend.

Gryps smirked. \"Use your head, Incendium. What do I have to gain by telling you this if I have every intention of killing you?\" the silver eyed boy asked truthfully before a slow smile bloomed over his pale lips. \"Nothing… Except this.\"

Sharp pain ripped across Phoenix\'s sides as Gryps\' twin daggers raked into him, slicing through white cloth and deep into pale flesh. In an instant Gryps had jumped backwards, jerking himself free from Phoenix\'s one handed grasp. Cold silver eyes watched as Phoenix crumpled to his knees, dropping his weapon and automatically clutching at his wounded sides. Blood gushed from both his wounds and down his sides to join the droplets that had been split before to snap himself out of his misplaced despair. Fire flared from the wounds suddenly, as the phoenix inside of the Child of Fire sought to break free of its mortal coil.

\"Come out, come out…\" Gryps whispered under his breath, watching as Phoenix struggled on the sand, fire licking around his hands that sought uselessly to slow the blood flow.

The fiery boy looked up at hearing Gryps\' voice, rage burning in his eyes. \"You bastard…\" Phoenix snarled, lips curled back to bare his teeth.

Gryps gave Phoenix a cold smile, talking another step back as the flames began to surround the Child of Fire. Things couldn\'t have gone more smoothly had it been a play with a set script. Give the Child of Fire enough of a reason to live to allow his Divine Beast to appear. Distract the Divine Beast of Fire with his own, and then there would be nothing inhibiting him from killing the Child of Fire.

Sheets of rain began to fall from the leaden afternoon sky, quickly drenching Gryps whilst the rain seemed to dance around the flames that surrounded Phoenix\'s body. Phoenix\'s hand dropped from his side, covered in burning blood and contorted like a claw. It reached forward and grasped the wet handle of the double ended blade, fierce eyes never leaving Gryps\' for a second. The flames around him flared up into the sky, leaving Phoenix\'s body completely and taking on the shape of a great fiery bird.

\"I\'ll fight you, Gryps, if you don\'t fucking back up,\" Phoenix said slowly, pushing himself up onto his unsteady feet, his clothes now saturated with both blood and rain. The phoenix above him became solid, its flaming wings lighting up the rain-washed beach. \"This is Aether\'s fault. Everything is that bastard\'s fault! Why don\'t you kill him instead of trying to fucking kill me?!\" the boy roared over the sound of the waves and the wind driven rain.

\"You think I haven\'t thought of that?\" Gryps sneered, silver eyes flashing as a confined windstorm blew up around himself, snatching up fistfuls of sand and contorting it into a whirlwind around the slender boy. \"We can\'t hurt the Child of Soul. No matter what, we always have to protect him, because he owns our Divine Beasts, which may as well be our damned souls!\"

The wind storm curled up above Gryps, disbursing in a silent explosion with white and silver feathered wings unfurling to reveal an awesome griffin. A golden lion\'s body headed with the head and wings of a silvery white hawk hovered above the beach, watching the flaming phoenix that faced off against it with silt-pupil bronze eyes.

Crimson eyes narrowed. \"Why do you want to kill me, Gryps…\"

The other boy glared back, the sneer long faded, replaced by a bitter hate-filled expression. \"Because you are the reason the Child of Soul has gone to such lengths. Because of you, he is reviving The Past, and if all proceeds as he has planned, then I will be forced to share the same body as my twin brother.\"

Phoenix was silent, the only sounds filling the air were the beating wings of their Divine Beasts and the raging storm and sea.

\"I will never let that happen. I will never play any part in Aether\'s divine plans,\" the Child of Fire proclaimed forcefully. His voice, whilst pain ridden, was strong and resolute. \"My life is my own, and no one will ever choose my destiny for me. I will kill Aether before I let him make me something to suit his whims. I may be the Child of Fire, and that is something I can not change. But I will be the one to choose what I do with that heritage, and I will never become the God of Fire to serve that lying sadistic bastard who fucking killed my parents!\"

To see the fire and determination in Phoenix\'s eyes was to be tempted to believe in the possibilities of his words. The Child of Fire believed them absolutely. The words that had passed from him lips.

Silver eyes closed, a pale smile touching Gryps\' lips for a moment before it faded and the boy opened his eyes again. \"You live in a dream, Incendium,\" Gryps said softly. \"You don\'t have a choice. To revolt against one you can not hurt or defeat is useless.\"

\"I\'ve hurt him before,\" was Phoenix\'s predatory reply.

\"Only because he let you, Incendium!\" Gryps snapped back, suddenly growing weary of the conversation. \"There\'s only one solution to this problem, Child of Fire. And that is to eliminate you.\" The Child of Air\'s silver eyes flashed heatedly, the only warning before the first strike was thrown at Phoenix.

No sooner had the slash of knife-like wind been deflected by Phoenix\'s own weapon did the two Divine Beasts collide with one another in violence, reflecting their Child\'s actions. Out here, far from the comforts of Metamorphosis, the Children\'s powers were a mere fraction of what they possessed in the simulated game. And unfortunately for Phoenix, Gryps was much better acquainted with his powers in reality than Phoenix was with his own.

Slices of razor wind, backed by the sharp stinging of wet sand assaulted Phoenix, and for the first time, the severity of the situation hit him. He could barely control the fire that burned so heatedly inside of him. The phoenix battling the griffin above them had been his only protection. It was the phoenix that had always acted to protect him, not himself. And this time, the phoenix was otherwise occupied.

Ah, trust the Child of Air to be so cold and calculating. And to think this was the Griffin of Light, the supposed \'good\' side of the God of Air\'s soul.

Gryps\' icy eyes narrowed, and the blasts of wind buffeting Phoenix\'s wounded body intensified, lifting the boy off his feet and hurling him backwards. Like a rag doll being tossed by a careless child, Phoenix\'s body smashed into the sea worn rocks that lined the cliffs surrounding the beach. His head cracked against the hard granite, smearing the rain darkened rock with his deeper crimson blood.

The impact left Phoenix staring skyward, straight up the cliffs. He knew these cliffs. The cliffs upon which the Castle of Genesis perched. They were right below the Gate Into Eternity.

Too close…

Somehow, in his mindless wandering, he had walked from the beachfront of the town all the way to the cliffs below Genesis. And whilst there was the benefit that there would be no innocent bystanders to be drawn into their whirlwind, it also meant that the chances that Aether or Genesis would allow Gryps to kill Phoenix right under their nose was zero.

Another sharp pang of trepidation struck Phoenix\'s heart. Much worse than the fear of being grievously hurt or killed. If Aether caught them here, engaged in such a battle… The mere thought made him feel sick.

Despite the mind numbing dizziness and nausea, and the endless screaming pain from his back and sides, Phoenix push himself up against the rocks, straining to focus on Gryps who walked purposely towards him with long even strides. Through flashes of clarity, the Child of Fire watched as Gryps sheathed one of this daggers, freeing his left hand and reaching out towards him.

Didn\'t Gryps realise…?

Gryps\' icy wet hand locked around Phoenix\'s throat, pinning the boy single-handedly against the rock. The silver eyes were cold and distant, made so by will power alone, hiding all emotions effectively as a lead wall.

Phoenix could feel his heartbeat in his throat, pounding away against the pressure exerted by Gryps\' merciless hand. The pressure increased, the icy grip seeming to spread through his very blood, freezing the hot crimson liquid.

In slow motion it seemed, the dagger in Gryps\' right land lifted, posing itself above Phoenix\'s heart. Why wasn\'t he struggling? Why weren\'t his arms and legs which remained free kicking and lashing out?

There\'s no point, is there…

Yes! There was a point! When had he ever waited around to be saved? And to be saved by him… It was to become less than a bystander, watching as he was led to jump through hoops and perform tricks. Better to fight, no matter how pointless, no matter that it was futile to struggle against the inevitable, than to submit like some kicked puppy.

In a split second, Phoenix\'s left hand was fastened over Gryps\' wrist, just as the Child of Air moved to stab downwards. But no sooner had Phoenix\'s fingers wrapped themselves around Gryps\' thin wrist did Gryps scream out in pain. For a fractured moment in time, Phoenix locked his crimson eyes upon darken amethyst before the blade that had pierced Gryps\' left shoulder stabbed into his right, birthing a pain that shocked his entire body.

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