Flames of Rebirth

With access to his light-based abilities, came the ability to become light itself. As such he could literally move at lightspeed.

Therefore, it took him less than a millisecond to reach Phoebus, much to the fire-clad boy's surprise.

His inky black fist descended with incomprehensible speed, and Phoebus stood no chance.

As his knuckles hit Phoebus' jaw, it instantly began corroding his face. In an instant, his lower face was turned to dust, but a crimson flame was fighting the process, keeping him from dying.

[I said not to kill him.]

Oh right, Fayden undid the curse, letting Phoebus heal.

"Can we stop and talk, rather than bashing the shit out of each other?" He asked, hoping the boy would agree.

"You literally almost killed me, I think we're past that."

Crimson flames once again wreathed his dagger, arcing towards him.

Fayden moved away.

Crimson flames wreathed his daggers, now in real-time.

Precognition sure is useful.

Fayden sighed, releasing a massive amount of Nacht from his core, painting the surrounding area in black.

Phoebus froze, he recognized this spell.

His legs sunk into the ground, a phantom hand grabbing his calf. He tried to shake them free, even resorting to using his signature flames.

Yet the darkness consumes all, and his flames, which he prided in, were rendered useless.

Another hand arose from the ground, clawing at his leg, then another followed it. Soon, half of his body was under the writhing mass of spectral arms, thrashing around in vain.

Fayden approached him from the skies, four silvery white wings attached to his back, a black halo levitating over his head.

[Seriously? An Archangel, is that the best you could come up with?]

They did strike fear into their subjects when they descended, at least that's what the records say.

[Could have chosen to look like Lucifer or something.]

I've already done that, why not try something new?

A white lance formed in his hand, containing the radiance of a thousand suns. Yet the darkness didn't fade.

He could feel the sheer heat it radiated, hell he had to concentrate on containing it within the construct, it was vaporizing the very air around me, preventing me from breathing.

He toned down its heat and brightness, one misstep and this thing could vaporize our entire solar system.

"Are you ready to give me some answers now?" I stared into his eyes, pointing the spear at his chest.

He gulped visibly, he understood the threat, answer Fayden, or be vaporized to nothingness.

"F-Fayden?"

That one word was enough to shatter his concentration, his lance flickered away from his fingers, and his blood thumped harder than before.

But before long, the weapon reappeared, and Phoebus was released from his restraints. He wasn't even given the chance to stand up, as Fayden stood on his chest, the tip of the lance mere millimeters from his throat.

"How do you know that name?!" He demanded, digging into his skin.

[Chill the fuck out, he can't answer you if he's decapitated.]

Did you know that the brain continues to function up to 30 seconds after death?

[I'm pretty darn sure it's impossible to speak without a throat.]

I can read his mind.

"*Cough* I knew-" he spoke through gritted teeth, "s-someone named Fayden." Phoebus coughed out, pausing for breaths.

"A lot of people knew that guy, not many of them allies."

"I-I was his friend-ack!"

"All his friends are either in Dicathen or dead." The same red flames started healing his neck.

"Well, I'm…technically dead."

Fayden narrowed his eyes, moving the spear away, just enough to let him talk properly.

"Is this Kezess' idea of a joke?" He said quietly, dispersing the spear. That would be too merciful.

"No, I'm supposed to be dead by all means, hell my body's probably six feet under somewhere!"

An invisible scythe appeared in his hand.

"I remember seeing someone, two ethereal people, one of them looked a lot like you." He said, rubbing his already healed throat.

Fayden paused, did he just say ethereal?

"Tell me something only Nathan would know." He demanded, tapping his foot on the ground.

"You are a quadra-elemental mage who awakened at the age of three-"

"You gotta try harder than that bud, a lotta people know about my quadraelemancy."

"You also helped Lilia Helstea awaken before time, you showed me your green-black fire when you elarned of my legacy magic. You had the hots from princess Kat-"

"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Fayden dropped his spells

He helped Phoebus up, "Sorry about that."

"I did attack you first, your actions were justified."

Fayden abruptly hugged him, "It's good to see you alive."

He chuckled, "I remember the tantrum you threw after I died."

"...I wouldn't call it a tantrum exactly."

Phoebus patted his back, "Sure it wasn't"

Fayden sighed, "Is this how it feels when someone talks to me?"

"Karmic much?"

Shaking his head, he let Nathan go.

And punched him in the face.

"Ow! Why?"

"For getting yourself killed in the attack."

"...Understandable."

Fayden inhaled deeply, "Wait here, I need to have a talk with someone."

"Where are-"

But Fayden had already entered the umbral dimension.

_______________________

"EREBUS YOU COCKSUCKING MOTHERFUCKER GET YOUR SPIRITUAL ASS HERE RIGHT NOW!" He boomed, his voice echoing around the whole dimension.

He got no answer.

"I'LL PERSONALLY RIP APART YOUR BALLS AND SHOVE THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT IF YOU DON'T COME HERE!"

"..."

[I don't think he's listening.]

________________________

Meanwhile in Alacrya :

"Why the fuck is a gothic ghost in this room!" the purple blob exclaimed once he laid his eyes on Erebus' levitating form.

"Rude."

"Shoo! Go away, go scare someone else. This isn't a horror movie."

"Oi, I'm trying to help your master here."

"And I'm a human with tails."

"..." Erebus was reminded of a certain silver-eyed boy.

"Now shoo, I'm already annoyed he wasn't conscious when I made my majestic manifestation."

"If I'm a ghost, what does that make you?"

"I, Regis, am a mighty weapon created by the asuras!"

"And incorporeal."

The blob bobbed up and down, "And a ghost."

He perked up abruptly, "We can be ghost buddies!"

Erebus sighed, "Yeah, ghost buddies."

________________________

"So, what was that about?" Phoebus asked after Fayden returned.

"Nothing," he replied, annoyed at Erebus, "nothing at all."

"More importantly, what have you been doing here for the last….three….four years?"

"Nothing much, just making a living off of being a mercenary, taking on quests on a daily basis. Honestly I never thought I could go back. Now, I can finally return to dicathen!"

"Yeahhhh about that…"

A pit formed in Phoebus' stomach, "What do you mean?"

"I can't exactly waltz out of Losvillion like that, that's out of my skillset."

"What?" he whispered, dread overcoming his senses.

"I do have a plan to get out, so relax." Fayden reassured him, he needed to find Valencia. Only problem was, that he didn't know where it was.

"Do you have a map of this planet?" He asked expectantly.

"Only of the region we're in, no one's ever gotten outside." He said, handing him a rectangular piece of paper.

Fayden raised an eyebrow inquisitively, "What do you mean no one's gone outside, what's stopping them?"

"That," he pointed behind Fayden.

Since the sun was up, he had failed to notice it, but now that it was setting, it was impossible to miss the wall of pure light separating them from the rest of the world.

Is that why Erebus couldn't hear me?

[Something makes me feel like Void Stepping isn't going to work."

"Come," Phoebus beckoned, "I'll show you the capital."

Fayden barely registered that, Am I a prisoner in this land? Does that mean I can't…return? My calls go unanswered, I cannot step past the wall of light…

Fayden felt invisible shackles latch themselves onto him, the severity of his situation sinking in.

Had the Marchosias forsaken him?

________________________

Reynolds Leywin POV :

(P.S. The events from Reynolds' pov happens right after the wall incident.)

When I came to, I didn't recognize where I was. I expected to be in the medical tents, or dead, but this room was nothing like the pungent-smelling tents.

I pushed myself up, resting on my elbow, and glanced around. This…is a pretty barren room. There was nothing here, not a single accessory.

My eyes flickered down to my hands, and I almost screamed out loud. Whose gauntlets are those?!

They looked like they were made of obsidian, and porcelain, extending to my elbows. They even had claws!

Ahem! You're a grown man Reynolds! Act like one. But claws!

I raised my arm and poked at my leather vest. It tore right through. Holy shit, that's sharp!

Calm down Reynolds, take stock of your surroundings. I shook my head, almost slapping my face out of habit. That would have ended badly.

Getting up to my feet I noticed something I hadn't before, one of the walls had a rectangle etched onto it, almost as if there was a door.

Out of curiosity, I walked closer. Once I was directly in front of me, I placed my hand on the cold hard surface.

I jumped back when a glowing imprint of my arm appeared on it. But it hadn't harmed me. I placed my palm over it again, and it pulsed red.

Crap, was I not supposed to do that?!

When nothing happened for a few minutes, I breathed out in relief. What did I do wrong?

I kept staring at the imprint, and then it clicked. It was the imprint of a naked palm, not gauntleted. But how do I take this off?

As if responding to my thoughts, my right gauntlet crawled open, like it was a swarm of bugs. I made a face at that comparison.

The bulky gauntlet had condensed into a pentagonal chip on the back of my hand, leaving my palm free.

With nothing blocking me, I placed my palm over the blue symbol and was almost blinded when light seeped in through the seams of the slowly opening door.

"Hello there."

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

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A/N : Hey guys, it's been a while hasn't it? Who am I kidding, it's been well over a month.

Ah well, it could have been much worse. Short chapter this time, will return to 2k+words chapters after this tho so no worries.