Seth ran through the streets of Akiba. He ran not with fear, not with anger, but with confidence, knowing his abilities and the extent to which he could use them. Cort was using a small warehouse as a temporary base of operations, sending out a call for reinforcements from his clan. Seth scouted ahead for enemies, taking a sideways glance at a dark alley as he passed it. An arrow shot out, slicing off a few strands of his silver hair. He rolled over to one side as three more arrows came streaming out, waited, then charged in. He caught four Chaos Rippers in the middle of reloading, cutting them down as they looked up, all fifteen of their eyes blinking, scrambling to get away. Seth’s silver shortsword sang as it lopped off the head of the last arm, trailing a thick line of purple blood. As he turned to make his way back towards the main street, he heard a thud behind him, followed by more. He turned again, watching five more Chaos Rippers advancing towards him, claws gleaming. Thinking quickly, Seth pulled out a fistful of throwing knives, flung them into the air, then ran. As the Rippers scampered along, chasing after him, the knives reached the top of their parabolic flights and began their deadly descents, raining down on the advancing Rippers. Seth made it back to the main street, looked over his shoulder. Nobody was following him.
Seth exhaled, too soon. A pair of mages appeared in front of him with flashes of light, each one drawing a fireball as they did so. White hoods, golden emblems. They were from the Order. He sprinted forward, running low, dodging to the right as one fireball came sailing past him. The mages backed up as he closed in on them. One mage tripped over his own robes, falling. Seth drew his sword and pinned the mage to the ground, scattering blood across the cobblestones of the street. The other mage let loose his fireball, then drew a long, thin sword from a sheath on his back. A mage with a sword? Seth cursed, noting how Fire always fought with a claymore, even while he was casting rune magic. The Order had learned a few tricks from him before he left them. As he rolled away from the incoming fireball, Seth reached for his sword, then remembered. It was still buried in the body of the first mage. More curses, and Seth knew he had no choice. He closed his eyes, reaching down, deep into his soul, finding that familiar piece that had been ripped apart and stitched back together many times. As Seth opened his eyes again, a blue Soul Scythe welled up in his right hand, hooked tip pointing upwards. The mage couldn’t even blink before he was hoisted into the air by an uppercut from the scythe, blade sticking out through the mage’s spine. The body was hurled through the air by the swing, coming to a sickening stop flat against the wall of a furniture shop.
In front of him, a thick mist swirled, rapidly advancing towards him. Morning was coming, and that meant the end of his long “recruitment” visit to the town. Seth looked forward to a good day’s sleep back at clan base. Suddenly, a figured appeared out of the mist, advancing towards him at a steady pace. A bright sword gleamed in the man’s hand, flaming hair stood up on his head. Seth’s heart sank, recognizing his terrible past staring him in the face.
“Helios.”
“Calisto.”
“That’s not my name.”
“Whatever. I wondered when I’d meet you. Fancy finding you here of all places.”
“Yeah, I’ve been busy.”
“I can tell. That new clan of yours doing you any good?”
“Requiem? They’re much better than the old clan I used to lead.”
“Good, good. I look forward to finishing them off after you’re gone.”
“And just where do you think I’m going?”
“To hell.” Helios raised his sword with one hand, pointed a finger at Seth with his other. A single word. Seth raised his hand in defense, uttering a counterword. The two spells clashed in mid-air, rippling outwards through time and space. The world seemed to shipft out of reality for a moment. “Hmmm. You’ve gotten good with Cipher Spells.”
Seth glared. “I didn’t want to use that. I swore I would never use that kind of magic again.”
Helios laughed. “But you can’t help it. It’s in you. Everyone in the underworld knows of Calisto, and his infamous group of Vanishers. You used to make anyone you didn’t like just disappear.”
“That was then. I’m not part of that group any more. You killed them all.”
“That’s right. I made them all disappear, just as you used Cipher Spells to destroy my entire group. I lost a great many good people in that war.”
“What do you want with me?”
“What else? To finish where we left off. You ran away from me back then, I hope you’re not planning to run away again.”
“I’m past running away now.”
“Are you? Are you finally past running from your true history, Calisto? Finally tired of changing names? Ha! Accept it. You will never stop changing, until the day you die.” And with that, Helios lunged forward, sword drawn. Seth charged as well, Soul Scythe flaring bright blue. As he stared into the eyes of his enemy, Seth turned the words over in his mind. Helios was wrong. He was Ergent Seth of Requiem. That would never change.
Subject: Chapter The Last: Epilogue 
Mon Dec 05, 2011 5:11 am
