I shuddered as the wind whipped my hair back. It was raining, no raining wasn’t the right word, it was freaking pouring. I couldn’t see five feet in front of me and I was supposed to meet some friends at a club I’ve never even heard of. Looking around hoping to see someone I knew I bumped into a woman carrying one of those little dogs that don’t shut up. Muttering a quick apology I kept going. A few minutes later my cell phone rang. Fishing it out of my pocket I looked around before answering.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Eric, where are you? Everybody but you is here.” The well familiar voice of Nicole said from the speaker.
Looking around again I saw the club across the street and said, “I’ll be there in like ten seconds.”
Hanging up I shoved my phone back into my pocket and ran across the street. I entered the club and looked around. The club looked just like every other club I’ve been to dark, loud music blasting, and lots of flashing lights. Jostling my way through the crowd I made for the bar. After I ordered a Coke I sat down at a stool opposite the table my friends were sitting at. Hoping that someone was staring at the table I bent the shadows so an arrow formed pointing at me.
Several seconds went by before anyone noticed the arrow and looked towards me. Waving I made my way towards my friends and fellow Phases and sat down. We were known as the weakest squad in the Order of Twilight. The other two Orders of Light and Dark were at war with each other. The Phases were elite members of the Order of Twilight. The Order of Light had Forces and the Order of Dark had Hunters.
I was known as the Phase of Sorrow, a master of shadows and darkness. I also get my name from my dress of dark black jeans, no sleeved black shirt and black bandages that covered my hands and most of my arms. My left arm was covered all the way up until my shoulder while my right was covered until just above my elbow. They complimented my black with dark purple highlighted hair in a wolf cut that ended just above my shoulders. My usual silver pentacle was around my neck.
Across from me was Hannah Tibbits, the Phase of Closure. She was wearing her usual pair of jeans and dark red shirt with a dark red jacket tied around her waist. The gold bracelet on her arm glinted in the lights. Her pale red hair was free flowing and her pale orange eyes were glazed over as she stared blankly into the crowd. If you couldn’t figure it out she controls fire.
Next to her was Dan Orlowski, the Phase of Chaos, an earth user. His dark brown eyes were staring up at the ceiling causing his slightly longer than shoulder length hair that is dark brown with red streaks to hang over the back of the chair. He was dressed in faded jeans and a dark brown long sleeved shirt.
At the head of the table was Nicole Covic the Phase of Jay and a master of water. Her sky blue eyes bored into me as she fixed her back length dark brown hair into a ponytail. She had her ankh and rune Tiwaz on a gold chain tonight. The jeans, dark blue long sleeved shirt and dark blue jacket she had on contrasted with her eyes.
Finally next to me was Hannah’s twin, Maeve, an air and lightning user known as the Phase of Order. Her blue-gray eyes were staring intently at me. Her brownish blonde hair was cropped short around the nape of her neck and covered one of her eyes. Her black jeans, white shirt and black jacket with a heartagram on the back contradicted with the cross on a gold chain around her neck.
“Ok Nicole, why did you want to meet here? I know a lot of magical things come here, but we came here unarmed. Is there something up and you aren’t telling us?” I asked.
She looked worried as she spoke. “You won’t like what you see. Something is up and the Gods are worried that the Protectors and Judges are planning something for their war.”
The Protectors are the Order of Light’s military leaders and usually were powerful fighters in their own right. The Judges were the Order of Dark’s and the Gods the Order of Twilight’s. I used to be the God of Death but something happened and I became a Phase again.
Shuddering I remembered the one time I met a Judge. It was shortly after the Coming and the Judge of Final came to me and asked me to join him. The Judge himself didn’t scare me but the aura of order he commanded gave me chills.
My thoughts were disrupted as I heard the faint c***k of armor that seemed familiar somehow. Turning in the direction Hannah was looking I saw about a dozen Forces in full battle armor exiting a back room. I was about to say something when everything went dark and all sound was eliminated. Knowing an experienced shadow user was around I tried to pin down his aura, but as soon as I started the spell deactivated. Looking around everything looked alright except that my friends were gone.
Glancing towards the Forces I saw that they were hurrying towards the exit. Racing out of the club I got to the street just as a bunch of cars screeched around the corner. Cursing myself for not reacting sooner I stared up at the sky and let the rain run down my face.
“Well now what do I do? Guess I need to go find them.” I said to no one in particular. Knowing I looked insane I didn’t move since the rain felt good running down my face.
“This is the last place I expected to find the God of Death, standing in the middle of the street doing nothing when your friends just got kidnapped.” A familiar voice said behind me.
Turning to see the speaker I saw Zechs Youngblood, the God of Destruction, standing a few feet away. His pale blue eyes glowed from under his wild blond hair. He was wearing his usual outfit of dark blue pants over shorts and a white shirt under a dark blue and olive jacket so it looked like he was wearing a jumpsuit. He also had on a pair of dark blue gloves to complete the look. Most people would call him classically handsome, but I know some people that call him a deity of manliness and would mother his babies, not mentioning any names, Nicole.
“I would be doing something, but I have absolutely no clue where they are or who took them. Why do you insist on calling me the God of Death still? There’s a new God of Death anyways and if I became a God again I would be the God of Sorrow.” I said.
Zechs smiled, “To me you have always been the God of Death no matter what others say. As for becoming the God of Sorrow that may happen very soon. The Masters have been talking and they want to promote someone up to a God and some of them miss you. So I was thinking since the others have been kidnapped and you are most likely going to get them that I’ll get a few of the other Gods to join us. We could use it as a chance to help you get promoted. So what do you think?”
Knowing which Gods he was going to get I said. “Sure why not? It seems like a good plan and I kinda miss using my oversoul. Let me guess you are going to get three others to join us, Vincent the God of Loneliness, Roxas the God of Emptiness, and Josephine the Goddess of Calm.”
Zechs laughed. “That’s exactly who I was thinking of since Vincent, Roxas, and Josephine are the three who miss you the most. So I’ll get the others and meet you at your apartment.”
Shaking hands we separated. Twenty minutes later I entered my apartment. Turning off the complex security system that my other friend Dan helped me program I turned on the lights. I went straight for my room and got my katana, Ceal. I tightened my bandages as I waited for the others to show up which didn’t take long. They showed up a few minutes later fully armed.
Vincent had his tri-barreled gun strapped on his thigh over a pair of black jeans. He had on his blood red cloak that covered most of his face and body. I could see a black shirt, a black glove on one hand and a golden claw for the other. His crimson eyes showed from under his long unkempt black hair.
Josephine entered quickly after Vincent. She had on a sky blue mini-skirt with a black halter top. Her ears were triple pierced and her two crescent blades were at her hips. Her blonde hair was braided to her shoulders to show off her sky blue eyes.
Roxas was the last to come in and he did so with a swagger. His blond hair was spiked to the side. He had on a black shirt under a white short sleeved jacket, white khakis, and white shoes. His keyblade was strapped to his back and I noticed a black and white checkered wristband.
I closed the door and turned to the others. “So do you have an idea of where the others got taken to or how we are going to get in?”
Vincent answered, “They are at an Order of Dark base on the outskirts of the city. That and as far as we can tell they haven’t figured out that the others are Phases.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Well that’s good. Let’s go so we have the cover of darkness when we get there.”
Josephine asked as I headed out the door. “How are we supposed to get in? They only have one door and that one is only open when they are receiving a shipment.”
I turned and grinned. “Oh I know a way to open it. Besides it will be nice and polite after earlier.” As I finished I raised my hand, it was covered in a dark purple aura, the color of my oversoul.
Two hours later we reached the outskirts of the city a few miles away from the base. It took another half an hour to reach the base. As soon as the base came into view I started charging an energy blast. A few seconds later I let the blast go towards the door. Where the door had stood before the blast was a gaping hole when the dust cleared.
Drawing their weapons the others raced through disappearing into the base. Knowing the tasks they had to do were more important I set off alone to find Dan, Nicole Maeve, and Hannah. Resistance to where the prisoners were held was surprisingly light even though most had probably been pulled to defend against the Gods.
Gripping Ceal tightly I edged around the corner. At the end of the hall in front of the door that led to where my friends was a Judge. Recognizing the Judge as David Icemere, the Judge of Final, I yelled, “Get out of the way David I don’t want to fight you, but I will if I have to.”
David responded by pulling out his claymore and charging. I quickly spun out of the way of his thrust and swung at his side. He ducked under my slash and knocked my feet out from under me. Rolling away from a slash aimed at my chest, I flipped myself back to my feet. I backed up and stared intently at David who had sweat beading on his forehead. After a few seconds we charged again and continued fighting the same way we had of attack, then block, then counter and repeat.
A while later David backed off and said, “I would love to stay and finish this fight, nut I have other things to do. Since I’m such a nice guy I’ll leave you with a parting gift.” Raising his hand he summoned goblins. Without even a movement he disappeared.
“I’m not in the mood to deal with this.” I said. Sheathing my sword I gathered all the darkness and shadows around. Satisfied that I had enough for the spell I wanted to cast I raised one arm and called out the name of the spell. “Sorrow’s End.” The spell shot out from behind me and sliced into the goblins killing them quickly.
I quickly ran down the hall towards the door. After I figured out it was locked I kicked it in. I looked down the adjacent hall and felt the Myst. The Myst was a naturally occurring gas that neutralized all magic inside it.
I called out, “Nicole, Dan, Hannah, Maeve are you guys in here?”
Seconds later a jumble of answers came back. “Yea took your time.” Dan answered.
“You get lost on the way here?” Hannah called.
“Hurry up so I can slap you.” Maeve yelled.
“Is Zechs with you?” Asked Nicole
“Yes to both questions. That and fighting a Judge isn’t a piece of cake either. So just shut up so I can get you guys out.” I looked around and saw a switch on the wall. Flipping it the cells opened and the others exited. I turned and led them to the exit of the base.
Near where I separated from Zechs and the other Gods we met up with them. Everything seemed alright except Zechs had a CD and Josephine had a white bandage on her upper arm and blood splattered in her hair.
“Everything go according to your plans?” I asked pointing to Josephine’s injured arm and bloodied hair.
She grinned as she said, “Just because an orc didn’t want to die without taking a piece of me with him I can’t help it. The blood in my hair is because Roxas decided to decapitate a goblin behind me and he blood splattered in my hair.”
“Well I really don’t want to walk home so I’ll make us a portal.” I said causing a large oval shaped portal to appear. It was made of darkness.
The others nodded and walked through one by one. I followed and closed it behind me so no one could follow. When I exited the portal I grinned as the exit had opened right where I wanted it, in the middle of my apartment. Most of the others had left, but Nicole, Zechs, Josephine, and Vincent. I stretched and said, “If you guys are going to stay you know the rules. I’m going to bed soon so good night.”
Nicole and Zechs disappeared into my spare room and locked the door. We could all tell what they were doing and no imagination was really required. Josephine walked into the kitchen and Vincent sat down on the couch and turned the television on. I knew those two wouldn’t do anything since Josephine had a boyfriend and Vincent was a loner. I walked into my room and undressed. I laid down in my bed and fell asleep quickly.
I woke up at a quarter to five like I do everyday and dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I quietly exited the apartment and started for a nearby gym. For the next two and quarter hours I worked out. First were some weights, then some abs and lower body work, finally I did some runs. After that I slowly walked home.
When I got back to my apartment the lights were on and the good smell of cooking bacon was coming from the kitchen. I glanced over at the message board and saw it covered in writing so I walked over to it. The first one was from Josephine saying good luck in becoming a God and she’ll be around. Vincent’s said he would be back soon and to keep on my toes. Maeve wrote that she had to get to work and would come over after her shift ended. Next was Hannah’s saying she would be busy, but would call when she could. Dan’s said bye and he would call. Finally was Zechs’ saying he had to go drop off my God application and he would call with the results.
I started towards my room and shouted, “I’m going to take a shower so save me some food. Vincent said he’s coming back so let him in.”
“Ok, food should be done soon so hurry up.” Nicole’s voice drifted from the kitchen.
I entered my room and looked around. My books on potions and magik were piled in a corner. There were potion materials in a glass fronted cabinet and on the floor. I had animal parts and pictures on a desk and near a pile of cauldrons. Finally there was flora all over the place where there was room for them. Shaking my head I made a mental note to clean the room. I got a clean shirt and pair of pants then entered the bathroom. I quickly undressed and started unwrapping the bandages on my arms. When I finished I took a quick shower.
I got dressed and was almost finished with rewrapping my bandages when there was a knock at the door. Immediately my senses became more active and cautious. I instinctively closed my ring and pinky fingers to my palm and straightened my middle and pointer fingers with my thumb straight up to form a “gun”. I started charging and oversoul blast on the tips of my pointer and middle fingers. “Hey Nicole can you get the door then move out of the way quickly?” I asked
She walked into the room, “Why can’t you just…Oh ok sure.” She said when she saw the oversoul blast charging. She opened the door and there was Vincent with his gun, Cerberus, drawn and pointing at me. He grinned and put Cerberus away. I grinned to and deactivated the blast and put my arm down.
“Did you not expect me to get what you meant with your message? So have you talked to Zechs yet?” I asked.
Shaking his head Vincent said, “No, I haven’t. He was still presenting your application to the Masters when I left. You should probably go over to the Temple since they might want to question you.”
I was about to answer when the apartment started shaking. Struggling over to the window I saw a giant behemoth in the streets below with hundreds of orcs, goblins, undead, and other creatures. Looking into the sky I saw about two dozen dragons flying around. I watched as a group of people in armor directed the creatures to do different tasks. “Uh guys you have nothing to do right? We have some Order of Dark scum to clean up.”
Vincent pulled out Cerberus and started loading it. Nicole grumbled something and went to get her chakrams, Tabitha and Etienne. Both were ready a couple of minutes later as I exited my room with Ceal across the back of my hip. We were about to leave when my phone rang, it was Zechs.
“Hello, what do you want?” I asked.
“Eric, you are now the God of Sorrow. You are in charge of defending your part of the city now since Josephine and I are tied up here at the Temple defending it. Roxas, the twins, and Dan have been told to meet you in front of your apartment. That is all except someone you miss will show up soon so keep an eye out for her.” He said through static.
“Alright I’ll call back when we’ve defeated the enemy.” I said and hung up.
I opened the door and headed for the stairs. The other two followed quickly. When we got to the street the others were there waiting for us with their weapons. Roxas had his keyblade, Seifer, in his hand. Maeve’s twin dagger, Skeeter and Brighty, were on her hips. Dan’s long sword, Arkady, was in the ground next to him. Hannah’s staff, Khalil, was in her hands.
Nodding to them I drew Ceal and aimed a low level spell at a nearby group of enemies. It got their attention plus some more. Holding out Ceal I prepared for hand to hand combat when the others casted spells from behind me.
“Chaos Bringer.” Dan called as spires of stones impaled a bunch of goblins.
“Flame Blast.” Hannah spoke as a wave of fire light a huddle of undead like matches.
“Lonely Destruction.” Vincent said while a hole opened up crushing some minotaurs.
“Nothings Call!” Roxas yelled as some of the remaining minotaurs were blasted into pieces.
“Tidal Crush.” Nicole said as a wave of water crushed most of the remaining enemies.
The few remaining enemies tried to run but were cut down by Maeve’s spell, “Aero Slash.”
As the wreckage cleared I looked around and knew that we were going to have to split up if we wanted to end this quickly. I nodded to the others and gave them the signal to split up. They dispersed leaving me to get care of any enemy that happened to get in my way.
The next couple of hours went by fairly quickly. It was mostly using my medium strength spells like Shadow Grenade, Dark Blast, and Dark Portal. That took care of most of the enemies. The ones that didn’t die either got cut down or hit by one of my sword techniques like Shadow Blade or Shadow Stab.
As time went on the enemy’s numbers dropped and more Gods and Phases came in. I started letting them do more and more of the fighting as I headed for an unfinished building nearby. Jumping and climbing my way to the top I found Vincent already there. We stood there and watched the others as they fought. I noticed Maeve, Hannah, Nicole, and Dan were doing much better then the last time the city got invaded. I was about to ask Vincent where Roxas was when he landed on the beam next to us.
“Well it looks like we aren’t needed. I still want to know what Zechs meant when he said that someone I miss would show up.” I said to Vincent and Roxas.
They were both silent for a few seconds before I looked up and saw what appeared to be an angel wielding a staff flying towards us. It flew at us and tried to attack. All three of jumped out of the way and drew our weapons. The angel flew at me and tried to attack again. I dodged again and headed down the building towards the street where it would be easier to lose the angel. When I got to the street the angel stopped following and I ran into someone wearing a cloak.
The figure stepped back and pulled off the cloak. When the cloak was removed I saw a female figure I hadn’t seen in four years. “I’m back and I know you’ve missed me.” She said as the angel hovered just off her shoulder.
I was stunned as I stared at the woman in front of me. It was Kira Dark, the Goddess of Knowledge. Her black hair was braided to her hip with the tips dyed blood red. She had on a silver knee length flowing skirt with dark shorts underneath, a white tank top and her ears were double pierced. Her legs each had a kunai holder on them at mid thigh. Her magik was being able to summon things and the tell tale sign was her silver-gray eyes.
I was confused now since I knew most of Kira’s summons and the angel was new to me. I finally found my voice, “Well you’re back. I heard that you were dead. So who’s the new guy?”
She laughed. “I recruited hi a few months ago when I found him injured. So being the nice summoner I am I cared for him and treated his injuries. As you can tell I’m not dead, but have been on a secret mission from Master Saki.”
I grinned. “Ah, Saki-sensei, no wonder I didn’t know about it. I haven’t been to the Temple in two years since I got demoted to Phase of Sorrow. So my training with him got put on hold. I’ll go talk to him after this is over since I’m now the God of Sorrow and I’m positive he wants to continue my training.”
She nodded and drew a kunai from each holder and ran towards the remaining enemies. I quickly followed when I saw Vincent and Roxas follow on the rooftops. We reached where all the remaining enemies were just as Hannah, Maeve, Dan, and Nicole reached it. There was about a hundred left and most of the other Phases and Gods had moved on most likely to the Temple.
Twenty minutes later all the enemies were dead and we were covered in blood and gore. Knowing that we all needed showers I started to lead them to my apartment when my phone rang again. Pulling out my phone I looked at the caller ID, it was Zechs again.
“Hello, this sector is clear. What’s up?” I asked.
“Eric, we just news from David Icemere. He said that the invasion was supposed to be called off, but the general that lead it acted early and didn’t get the orders. Anyways the Orders of Light and Dark have signed a treaty so the war is over. What I want to say is that even though the war is over and you will have more time for other things I want you to keep training.” He said quickly.
“Ok, I was going to ask Saki-sensei if I could train under him again. So you are going to keep in touch right? Are we being decommissioned or are we going to be inactive, but still do work?” I responded.
A few moments later Zechs answered, “Yea the second one and I’ll keep in touch. Now that I think of it you and Kira can take the next month off to spend enjoying each others company. Don’t worry about the others I’ll keep them busy.”
I grinned at Zechs’ “kindness”. I knew that he knew that I had an engagement ring in my apartment since I had been planning on asking her to marry me for some time. I said one word, “Thanks.”
I turned around and saw the others had continued on towards my apartment. I ran to catch up with them knowing the next month was going to be interesting.