Chapter 8: Causa Ex Machina #1
A few hours earlier:
The object floated in the air for several seconds, approaching Danaël. A dazzling light emanating from the artifact caused the young Danaël to cover his eyes for a moment. When the object was finally within reach, Danaël approached apprehensively, touching it with his fingertips before finally engulfing it entirely.
The artifact appeared to be a sword handle. Danaël noticed that there was no blade, only the golden-colored handle. Danaël couldn't help but kneel on the ground. He now held the handle with both hands. The artifact was extremely heavy, but that wasn't all; the magical charge it emitted burned his blood. Danaël felt his own fantasia react to the artifact. His mist activated against his will and began to crackle. Danaël looked at the spiritual interface, and a new title appeared under Liz's name: Spirit's Blade. Below this heading are three subcategories.
Danaël flashed his eyes several times, trying to clear his blurred vision caused by the fantastic gusts emanating from the artifact. He managed to clear his vision, then slowly stood up. The object lost some weight.
Danaël wiped the tears from his eyes and finally managed to read the subcategories properly:
_Joyeuse
_ Colère
_Ténèbres
Danaël turned his attention to the fairy who had settled on his right shoulder.
"Do you know what all this means?"
The fairy flew around Danaël, finally settling on the artifact. Danaël brought the handle close to his eyes to analyze it better. He realized that a detail had escaped him: three cylindrical stones of different colors, incrusted in the middle of the guard. The first was an emerald, green; the second was red, and the third was black. The fairy had landed on the first stone. It yawned, fluttering its wings, before disappearing in a cloud of fairy dust, as it had done against the minotaur. This time, however, the fairy took refuge within the same stone.
"Wait! Where are you going? Come back!"
Danaël shook the handle as hard as he could, hoping the fairy would appear again, but it didn't work. His attention turned to the spiritual interface again.
"Joyeuse, Col..."
Before Danaël could finish his sentence, the handle in his hand began to vibrate, and the green stone, the first one embedded in the guard, lit up. At the end of the handle, a green mass elongated and took the form of a blade. It was thin, like an arrowhead. The blade vibrated constantly. The sword seemed to have its own will.
Danaël felt himself being carried away. The first push came from his left arm, which pulled the rest of his body along. For a moment, his feet left the ground. Danaël used his other hand to keep the sword from flying away. He slid along the length of the room, still carried away by the sword that swung wildly.
Danaël's right hand slipped from the sword's handle, and he was completely lifted by the sword.
"Hey, Liz! Now would be a good time to come out!"
Danaël gripped the sword as tightly as he could. He collided with the walls of the throne room several times. The sword zigzagged through the air, showing no signs of slowing down. At one point, the sword plunged toward the ground, picking up speed. Danaël clenched his teeth, preparing for the impact. At the last moment, the artifact stopped and plunged in the opposite direction.
Danaël's face was covered in tears; he could barely open his eyes, and the sword seemed to be picking up speed.
"How do I stop this thing!" "Stop!" Finished! Terminus!"
Then, Danaël remembered the word that had awakened the artifact:
"Joyeuse!"
Suddenly, the sword stopped vibrating, the blade disappeared, and Danaël fell. He curled up to soften his fall, but he still lost his breath. He rolled around on the ground, screaming in pain. The young boy got up slowly. Sitting cross-legged, he stared intently at the artifact. He hesitated to pronounce the next words from the subcategories.
"Alright, here goes nothing. Colère! "
The sword vibrated in his hands for a few seconds, then stopped abruptly. Danaël frowned before trying again:
"I said Colère!"
Same result.
"Ténèbres!"
Danaël failed again, pathetically. To be very honest with you, I have tried to hold his hand until now. This experience proved to be a waste of time. Time, yes, I had only a handful of time left. I didn't have time to start a new scene for this dimension. In that regard, my fate was already sealed.
I approached the boy, and we were face-to-face. Of course, he couldn't see or perceive me. I didn't exist in this dimension, at least not yet. It took me 76 alternative dimensions to reach this level, and I was nauseated and filled with disgust.
From that moment on, I lost control of the situation.
The young boy was still analyzing the blade of spirits. I was forced to admit that parting with it gave me a pang of regret. I had one more scene to launch before taking my leave.
REUNITE WITH DOD AND EVANGELINE BEFORE THE DESTROYING OF THE DIMENSION
SUCCEED, AND YOU WILL ALL BE TURBO-TRANSPORTED TO YOUR WORLD
A gaping hole opened at the feet of the young Danaël. Blood splattered as he took his last test: the tunnel of the entrails.
"Oh, misery!"
Danaël picked up the artifact, took a deep breath, and jumped in. The young boy advanced slowly and painfully. He protected his face with his right arm and pushed the organs aside with his left arm. He tried to ignore the stench; wading in this pool of blood made him feel queasy. Speaking of blood, his own was rising to his head. In this tunnel of entrails, he was suspended at an angle, completely vertical. Respiration was also limited; there was very little space between him and the tunnel walls. As Danaël advanced, the entrails around him embraced and suffocated him. He was forced to breathe only through his mouth. Sometimes he coughed up bits of entrails that he spat out immediately.
After a few minutes, Danaël stopped. The tunnel walls collided; the entrails intertwined around him, pressing against the rest of his body. Danaël's cheeks swelled; he had held it in until now. An acidic surge traveled through his esophagus, and he began to vomit. At the same time, he felt the tunnel walls crushing his bones, forcing him to tighten his grip on the artifact.
"The sword!" He thought.
Danaël extended his left arm as best he could, then, out of breath and almost whispering, he said:
"Joy...joyeu...se."
At full power, Danaël pierced everything in his path and advanced like a spear through the tunnel. Joyeuse moved erratically through the entrails. Danaël grabbed the handle with both hands and closed his eyes.
For nearly ten minutes, he traveled through the tunnel of entrails. He held his breath most of the time, occasionally taking shallow breaths. A strong light filled the tunnel, and Danaël was catapulted outside. He landed in the dragon's cave amid a shower of golden coins.
"Danaël!"
He recognized Evangeline's voice and tried to move forward too quickly. Taken by another bout of nausea, he fell to his knees and vomited again for about ten seconds. He coughed twice before crawling as quickly as he could toward Evangeline.
Meanwhile, around me, the dimension was disintegrating, and I felt my power diminish. The ground began to tremble, and fantastic rays emanated from all sides of the cave. Danaël arrived at Evangeline's feet. She was tending to Dod, who was unconscious.
"Dod! What happened? Princess! What happened?!"
Evangeline's face softened at the sight of Danaël, and slowly, she pointed to the dragon, still immobilized.
"Ah, yes, the dragon. I almost forgot about him. I suppose Dod Allentown deserves a reward, too."
I extended my arm toward Fafnir before snapping my fingers. It was a simple reversal of the scenario.
The monster began to shrink until it formed a fantastic ball that fell like a meteorite on Dod Allentown. The fantastical condensation forced its way into Dod's mouth, and his entire body convulsed before falling back down.
"What the hell was that?" Danaël exclaimed, feeling helpless.
"I'm not sure...I didn't see anything. It's not me; I don't have that much fantasia left!"
Danaël could not hold back his tears.
"Dod, brother, you can't die without me! We're not done yet! You hear me, Dod?"
Evangeline remained silent, letting Danaël sob over his friend's lifeless body.
"I don't regret anything; my heart doesn't soften."
After all, they were just children, pure innocence. They weren't yet stained and bloodied by existence. However, these simple children didn't represent anything in this timeline, at least not yet. It was I who had just given them importance. I gave them a chance to exist beyond their own existence. Their story will make sense in time. For now, my scenario here was over; it was time for me to take my leave.
I would have liked to stay a little longer to see the rest of the scene. Unfortunately, I had to leave. Farewell, Danaël Anathos. I wish you a good scenario.
I moved away from the dimension, and then, in a fantastic flash, it disappeared.
FANTASIA PART 1 END