Noa felt the chilling snow as he laid bare in the blizzarding winter. Every time the wind seemed to blow by, Noa could feel a little sting, every touch growing more sensitive under the unbearable frost. He slowly opened his eyes, rising up weakly. "what the….I swear I was about to get crushed a moment ago….where am I?" He looked around, the land seemed familiar, and the distant lights with the smell of smog had only confirmed his suspicions. He was at the same place, when he first arrived in Uru, when he first sought refuge.
He sighed as he dusted the snow off, before pausing for a moment. He shivered, in a dreadful rush of thought "hold on...why am I…. feeling this….am I dead?" No other conclusion ran across his mind other than the possibility of death. He knew very much he would die in that fight, but it was a bit of a shock to him to actually experience something he thought he would never reach. However, something clenched at his heart, it wasn't right. To him, death would mean he wouldn't be thinking at all, death would mean he would be nothing right now. Death to him seemed like the ultimate destination, death to him meant he would finally lose the thing he thought dragged many down…care. So how was he having dreams, was it true the gods exist, is this some twisted fantasy that the gods had created for him. He knew he wasn't the best person, but to send him back in time to one of the most grueling times of his life, seemed a bit much even for higher beings.
How ever, he wasn't his younger self, he seemed to be in his actual body, still intact surprisingly. He then heard the faintest of shifts, alarming all of his senses, his eyes darted westward where he saw two little figures standing across form each other. One was a young beastkin, one of a wolf with sharp amethyst eyes. The other intrigued him, as he looked closely, he could recognize the shaggy young boy. It was his younger self, the messy black hair and the icy blue eyes, the same him that would always watch closely to every target he saw, the same him who was ruthless to all. However, as he recollected himself, he realized why it was familiar, he never had been here. It was if he lived a second life, that this was somehow a past he was not written in…unless he had forgotten.
Noa went back to the two kids, both staring daggers at each other. He could recognize the wolf kid was Luke, judging from the insatiable hunger that seemed to seep through his fur, and the familiar amethyst eyes, he could never mistake it for someone else. However, something bothered them, they weren't as friendly, as welcoming, or even remotely at ease with each other. When Noa first met Luke, he remembered him as a stupid, but rather charming guy who seemed to light up everyone's day. This wasn't the same Luke, and this wasn't where he thought they first met, and while all this was concerning, one thing gruelled him even more. His younger self seemed to clutch onto the Odachi, almost ready to slash at the younger Luke.
Noa had always been able to truly touch one thing in his life, because while it seemed insane that Noa had never felt the sense of touch before, considering he wore clothes, but really they were always just a tiny bit away from reaching his skin, only a tiny bit away from truly feeling something for the first time. It was cruel, and the entire reason why he is more or less dejected from any type of emotion, affection, or group. The only thing however, that he could grasp, was that blade. He had always had it ever since he could remember, but he had only ever used it once with his friends and Luke, and Luke had warned after that to never use it again. So the fact that he seemed to clutch it, and even attack Luke with it, rattled him.
The young boy with no hesitation took the blade, slowly dissipating the sheathed as he ordered himself. He seemed to weaponize every part of his body, as the boy the instantly launched at the younger Luke, who reacted in only a split second as he instantly launched away. Noa could only watch in disbelief as the two boys fought ferociously, however it seemed the younger Luke was studying the boy, learning his powers bit by bit. The boy suddenly lunged, giving Luke several cuts on his arm before trying to slice his head off, however Luke by a fraction of a hair managed to dodge the slash, slamming the boy with a cross and a uppercut.
The boy dashed away, gaining distance with Luke, as Luke sighed gritting his teeth. "OF COURSE! Yall can't leave anyone alone can ya, they gotta send an assassin to get me huh, alr then…" as the younger Luke took a deeper stance, he then mischievously grinned as he looked down an the boy. "Sorry, I told ma and pops I'd hide myself, but since you already caught me…" What proceeding Noa changed his whole perspective, as he looked in shock. So many emotions ran through his mind, as he witnessed the environment seem to shape around Luke. The air seemed to slowly become his ally, the snow seemed to move away from him with each step, and once inanimate things…seemed to spark of life.
Noa could only watch, as his mouth slowly huffed out "he….he isn't…accursed?"
....................................….
Luke and Iron charged toward where Noa was, shaking the ground with each leap. Luke had been on edge the entire time, and things seemed to be going much slower than he wanted. He wished everything would be over with an instant, and that Andre would already be in the Giant and blow it to smithereens. However, It seemed that the clash between the giant and Noa veered off from the expected point, which meant things were dire. After a few more leaps, Iron had made it to the clash. Luke looked down upon the vast land, where he could see Noa being pressed down by an unknown force. "You gotta be fucking kidding me, of course the fat ass has a gravity curse!" Luke cursed. Iron gritted his teeth "well, what's the plan now, the giant's curse fucks with what every we got, cus he can kill Andre before Andre even gets close to him." Luke bit his finger, knowing Iron was right. They couldn't send Andre, cus even when they made a plan so that Andre wouldn't be squished when he flew into the giant, the giant could easily foil their efforts. He had to act fast however, if not everyone would be slaughtered. "welp, sorry pops, had a good run but looks like I will have to use it again…" Luke glanced at Iron, before sighing "fall back with the others, I will distract the Giant myself, tell Kirin to come though, I will still need his assistance in the air with Cam and Sari."
Iron looked at him aghast "are you sure, Even Noa was defeated, and right now he is literally getting crushed, are you sure you want to handle this on your own." Luke sighed "yes, it'd be better that you don't see this anyway, go recoup with the duke's daughter, I will take it over here." Iron didn't question him any further, immediately dashing off as soon Luke dismounted off him. Luke sighed as he looked at the colossal giant, about to crush the ant that had pestered it. Luke took one deep breath in, and seemed to melt into ground….instantly disappearing.
....................................….
The King looked down at it's ant, feeling nothing but glee as it saw it helplessly give up and let it crush him, he wanted to savor these moments, almost as if it was a drug to him. It was another ant that seemed to bother him so greatly, he was always surprised by there powers, but it was nothing more than annoying. He was far stronger even when they robbed him of his riches, far superior in their will that not even their intelligence could topple him. He always won in the end, and he knew he would overcome this once again, just like always.
As he was delivering the final plow to burst him, a startling sensation of fear arose. He was a skeleton, and yet he could feel the icy chill, the staunching odor, the instinct no mortal could escape. The fear of death. It took a quick glance around, seeing if maybe something was off with the environment he was around, however no such thing could be seen. It looked back down at his target, and it was still the same situation, it was about to be squished. However, she could see a deep red mist faintly growing, which it ignored unbothered since it couldn't breathe in anything. However, the moment it moved, it hesitated, moving back. It started moving back, shivering before stumbling to it's knees. It then quickly snapped out of it's trance, swingling around madly to try and find the little insect….that had made it feel fear for the first time in a long time.
Luke instantly rose, jumping out of a pool of mud as he landed with grace. Looking at the giant, he chuckled "humph, glad I had a few of those plants in my pocket, they are always handy in a little pinch." He immediately charged at the golden giant, the ground becoming mushy and elastic, propelling him to insane speeds. He lightly grazed past the Giant's foot, melting a part of it off. Luke however coughed a bit, chuckling as he halted his slide. "well shit, your spirit is strong huh, but you are slow as hell, come on you gotta be better than that." Luke sighed as he breathed in, the surrounding environment started bending and shifting, as if the earth itself moved to his will. Luke smiled as he flung toward the golden giant again, grabbing the impossibly elastic floor as green particles seemed to extract out of the ground. His fists became pulsing green as his mischievous grin became wider. The giant looked down almost shocked, it had never seen an ant challenge his authority, and even go toe to toe. Luke loaded his fist as he struck at the giants femur, cracking it ever so slightly before bouncing off.
Luke laughed maniacally as he looked down his right iris slowly turning black, he looked down as he flew away, turning the air almost pots of bouncy clouds "shit yeah this is what I'm talking about. I gotta thank ya honestly, I haven't been able to fight all out in a while, and shit you are strong." However, the giant didn't register Luke's glee, it only looked down on its arm. It had never seen itself damaged, it had thought itself as invincible, but Luke had proved otherwise. As he could only look in rage, seeing how another ant seemed to pester it, another sensation seemed to consume it as well. A sense of hunger, a sense of need….a need to survive, a need to kill.
Suddenly, the earth quacked as Luke sighed, landing gracefully back onto the ground. He sighed as he looked up, seeing the giants deep red pupils. "oh you gotta be kidding me, you got another level to your shit…..well, it doesn't matter, I already been there done that, you just another annoying fucking boss" he said as he prepared his stance. The giant however, it seemed more interested…more calculated. "….ahh….it's been a very long while since a mortal has pushed me this far, I must commend your efforts. However…I think you are mistaken, I am not the thing you have been fighting this entire time….I am much more…."
The giant…had spoken….