Detonation (Shinsou Vaan Osiris vs Felicity Rhyolite)

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Shinsou had sensed Felicity’s arrival long before she had spoken, but her physical presence here spoke more to his soul than anything he could have anticipated. The young woman stood before the Telgradian for the first time in many, many months. And what a spectre she was; Shinsou could feel a convoluted mixture from her of the harsh, the forbidding and the unwelcoming blended with remorse and love. It was as if her very existence were teetering on a cliff edge, with a sea of doubts crashing angrily against the ever eroding rock of her spirit.

The young woman stood, almost benign, in the foyer. Despite the despair he could feel from her, he also felt there was still a sense of purpose about her being here. Her eyes were fixated on him, fully, waiting for him to speak.

“You came,” the Telgradian answered, his coarse features a stark contrast to hers. He pushed down the urge to say that he hadn’t expected her to come at all, for fear of making her feel worse.

Endless eternities flew by before he spoke again, fighting to leash his embarrassment and regain control over his wits. Inside, they were quite the opposites. While Felicity was an emotional and friendly person, he could be quiet and introverted. While her smile was enthusiastic and endearing, his was simply modest. They were both intelligent and athletic, but in vastly different ways; it was almost a miracle that they had grown close enough to become master and student at all.

Almost.

“The letter says a lot, but, I’ll be honest,” Shinsou finally spoke, breaking the fragile silence with an uncharacteristically sculpted expression of regret on his face. “After Arius burned Whitevale down, all I could think about was stopping the son-of-a-bitch from doing it again. When we all realised what he was capable of, I knew we had to stop him, at all costs. It became everything I cared about. Everything Arius did stopped at mine and Storm’s door – and we felt that if he fucked us, then, well, that was our price to pay. But it should never have been your price. I thought I was protecting you by leaving you behind.”

In the foyer, Shinsou’s outer garment flowed outwards as he turned slightly. “I went back to Telgradia shortly after we did Arius,” he replied, his voice low and melodic. With a sigh, the young man reached down and retrieved Enpera from its sheath, “… and learned a lot about this. It made me realise that even as powerful as I am, I still didn’t know what I could do. I still needed guidance. Just like you.”

Shinsou’s expression didn’t waver. He lowered his gaze and looked away from her, hiding his face from the truth borne by the scouring looks from Felicity.

“We’re all learning, all the time, all of us. Maybe I could have trusted you a bit more, but instead I hid you away because I thought Arius would destroy you. I thought he’d end all of us, to be honest. But now, looking back, maybe we could have done with your help. Maybe I could have trained you further beforehand. But…”

He faltered, once again failing to word his feelings clearly. She stepped into the breach, looking a little exasperated.

“…but, all of that is irrelevant now. I am truly sorry, and what happens now is what’s important. You need guidance and you need support to deal with those unchecked emotions. For everything else? For that raw power? I want you to really show me how you’ve grown since the last time we met.”

The simplicity of his reply was cold water to her hot fury; nothing but steam. He was ignorant of the damage his introversy had caused.

“I’ve chosen an arena very personal to me,” Shinsou said, stepping forwards beyond the waiting attendants with Felicity in tow, “It’s the Council of Five chambers in Telgradia. I once fought a brutal battle against a swordsman called Nanashi and a conjurer named Elijah Belov here. I know you’re going to fight with the same intensity, so this place is perfect.”

***

The funnel wall of the portal crackled as the electrical substance it was made from bent to the Citadel’s every whim. Strange, tendril like anomalies morphed and swirled in front of Shinsou and Felicity’s faces and then, finally, the arena phased into focus. The Telgradian judged the two foot gap between the lip of the portal and stepped down perfectly; his foot pressing onto the glistening surface of a white marble path.

Just ahead, a familiar silver gate stood at least three times the height of the ten foot wall on either side of it that encircled the chamber of the Council of Five. It was topped with crystalline spires that glinted like diamonds in the low morning sun. The dome shaped structure was made of some sort of white granite, and finely carved statues adorned the edges of the gate around its massive iron doors. Heroically posed warriors, insignias of Telgradia and the Council of Five and assorted coats or arms were some of the more prominent statuary, breath-taking in their beauty and refinement.

As they approached, Shinsou and Felicity exchanged no dialogue. The Telgradian pressed his hand against the iron door on the right, and after a bit of a struggle it slowly opened on its massive chrome hinges.

The secretive halls of the Council of Five’s chambers were as silent as a crypt, and almost as dark and eerie. In Telgradia, the mausoleum like structure was well guarded and kept away from any official Telgradian military buildings. It was used only to summon the Council of Five, and was so scarcely attended that anyone walking its cold corridors could feel a cold chill down their spine as they peered at the empty walkways. Felicity suddenly jumped as the heavily reinforced doors slammed behind them, whilst Shinsou remained stoic and unfazed by anything, his golden eyes fixated on nothing in particular.

Far over their heads, vaults and arches sailed up and converged in a classical array of marble carved embellishments. A row of marble columns rose to the ceiling and created an avenue that extended past the end of the dome chamber in which they stood. At the end of this avenue a white statue of a goddess, shrouded in celestial robes, loomed over the walkway with a single hand held towards the heavens. The floor consisted of a myriad of marble slabs that led to a centre circle underneath the peak of the dome, from which all other passageways through the building were connected. Here, the flooring was laid in such a way that the emblem of the Council of Five was sketched out over the circumference of the room.

Shinsou once again led the way, walking a straight path between the columns with a silent Felicity in tow. The lay-out of this section of the building was similar to several of the other royal buildings in the complex; high, narrow windows of colourful stained glass, patterned to portray important events in Telgradian lore. They alternated with the pillars, dark with the lack of any background light. Under these, tucked into coves far into either side of the corridor, were strange pedestals that contained small statues of previous council members. Rows of lighted, scented candles flickered on top of tables positioned either side of these figurines

“A bit extravagant for a battle, I know.” Shinsou stopped, brushing a thread of chestnut brown hair from his face as his golden eyes steeled onto the form of his apprentice. “But there’s meaning here.”

Felicity had often seen his sword, and had seen some of his abilities in person. Now, though, she would learn about his new powers, in ways she never would think imaginable. Flicking strands of brown matted hair out of his face, the Telgradian snapped his head up and smiled slightly as purple light manifested from Enpera.

Hakai.