The fall (TBATE)

The Fall, Prologue

(DISCLAIMER: I only own my own plot. Storyline and characters belong to TurtleMe.)

[-Updated 8.11.21; Arey = A-rthur+Grey ]

___

The Fall. Arey POV:

Sitting miserably on a lonely slope covered in prickly ashes and blood I anxiously watch my greatest failure of failures. The last sunset of this dying world.


Ultimately all I muster a hoarse laugh, full of self resentment. It is Ironic. Many lesser beings always considered death as something person cannot be prepared for. After all what could be worse than a fear of something unknown? Whether it is unpredictability of the next day or the dire consequences of a difficult choice... Or the World in the Beyond from where none of the mortals have yet to return... In normal cases. 


Yet here I'm, born as a mortal not just once but twice, known not only death itself but also what is In the Beyond. And I'm frightened. Not because of a gruesome death nor because I can't accept it but because the moment I will close my eyes... I will merely open them in another cruel world, being reincarnated all over again. With or not without memories, it doesn't matter. Even though mortals do not know that, but after death their souls are cleansed... and eventually starts over again, in new or previous world. 

My circumstances were different. For some reason my soul wasn't, nor will be cleansed. Ever. If I myself won't do anything about it, I will reincarnate again and again, with all my memories and experience. And I don't want it. I don't deserve a new chance. Hell, all I desperately want is to embrace nothingness for an eternity, escaping from all my useless regrets and failures...

Yeah — I mustered a weak, creepy laugh, barely holding a breath — I definitely have too many regrets.

Chuckling grimly, I remember idly all the desperate attempts to radically alter time itself, revert it's continuous flow for even a months... but in the end meeting the same end. I couldn't prevent even one person I held dear from death. Not to mention the mistakes, many of them, that I made... But most of all, I sincerely regret not be believing Nico back then, while I was still a Grey. A deceased King.


I regret not supporting him back then. And later.


And allowing him inevitably die.


I never held any personal resentment towards him. No, If anything, I undoubtedly deserved his hate. After all I failed miserably to save him and Cecillia twice. Hell, I failed to save DAMN anyone! And unlike me, a miserable bastard who never knew anything but a revenge and emptiness in the past life, and a person who couldn't keep even a single promise, a word... He, Ejiah, not even a Nico anymore, deserved better.


Still...


... Looking for the last time at the boody sun hovered the dark clouds I let out my last faint breath and smile grimly at the bittersweet taste of cruel irony, recalling my twice dearest friend, Ejiah... and his end. And seeing myself here, dying miserably... not even able to watch demise of this once lovely, fabulous and mysterious world...


We both were truly Light and the Darkness... But alas, darkness was brighter than light.


Why did I not remember this poem, these words when I should have, eh, Rahdeas? 

___

Eighteen years before The Fall... Arthur Leywin POV. 

The death itself is not something I am frightened of nor is it something unusual to me, seeing how many people I killed myself in the past life or how many I watched die... Yet, now when I lost Sylvia, a person who became someone dear to me, like a grandmother I never had... It hurt. Hurt a lot.


The trip through the dimensional rift felt like an instant. I barely noticed when it was over or when my body fell onto the ground, cushioned it's fall with a pile of leaves and vines. I barely noticed just anything, curling myself into fetal position and stared idly into the distance.


She was gone.


I heaved out dry sobs thinking how I would never have the chance to see her again. To talk to her. To enjoy warmth and love she gave, treating me as if I was her own child... I didn't really care she had prolonged sending me home because I understand why she did that. I understand how she must have felt. Lonely, dying in that cursed cave probably not even able to see her own family for the last time...


It's not a death you would wish to your enemy, let alone a person you held dear.


A person who taught you so much that you couldn't even hope to repay her in entire life.


I sighed, trying to wipe tears from my eyes.


Alas, I can try starting repaying her by calming myself down. She wouldn't want me weeping around like crybaby.


But when I tried to hold sobs, I miserably failed because of image of her last moments showed up before my eyes. Moments when she had sacrificed her own life to save me. Why? Why would a mighty dragon, a divine creature, sacrifice herself for a human child? Even if she grew close to him...


I always imagined mythical dragons to be... arrogant. Selfish.


Yet, there she was. Caring, gentle... grandmother.


It just... didn't make any sense. Nor did it make any sense that I was weeping uncontrollably like a real four year old brat, not a reincarnated person with over thirty years of life experience...






Thinking about it now, after some time passed and albeit without new line of violent sobs, I suddenly felt weak and almost succumbed to the faculty of my mind that desired sleep to cope with everything... But before I could even close my burning eyes, a hot searing pain suddenly engulfed from the palm of my left hand and I undoubtedly heard a soft chuckle just right above my ear, "Are you done with weeping, little princess?"


"E-EEEK!"


To say I was terribly scared is to say nothing. Really. My heart felt as if it leapt into my suddenly dry throat and I nearly screamed, stumbling over my own feet as I tried to stand up and get the hell away from the big... wolf?


The Thing that I assumed to-be a carnivorous didn't even bother to step closer to me, instead it looked at me curiously with a somewhat amused stare, as if my scream and actions surprised him... or her, whatever it was.


After what felt dreadfully as an eternity The Thing broke into something I could consider a laughter, even if it was a mixture of heavy breathes and whistling, "You should have seen your lovely face, Arthur! It's me who should be merely amused, not you."


"You!... What? Do I seem merely amused to you?! W-Wait," I blankly stared at It, not really comprehending what was going on, nor why this creature knew my name and talked to me as if we were some kind of a friends rather than fearsome predator and — considering weak I feel right now — its prey. I stumbled awkwardly over my anxious thoughts and unconsciously looked at seemingly now unamused... creature. Staring back into it's eyes, if you could call the clouds of bright pale-wheat light a 'eyes', I carefully examined the creature before me, which at first assumed to-be a Wolf. Yet now, when I could clearly see it in the full glory of its purple glowing body, this Thing is... More like a dark purple wisp-of-shadow spirit with physical body, with a long, curling horns, than a normal wolf. 'Eh, it is definitely not a ordinary Wolf." I blankly thought. As if this line of thinking would help me anyway. It took me some moment to calm down, but after that I weakly breathed out, trying to seem as friendly and polite as I could, and asked, "How... do you know my name? And who are you?"


"... You aren't joking, are you now? Because it's not fun at all," after a long pause the Thing responded, slightly tilting it's head and looked at me. Clearly unamused. Angry even. I could only gulp nervously and muster a faint laugh in response, not really understanding it's intentions nor why it seemed angry. Still, odd creature seemed to find it's answers from my blank stare and sighed in a deep disappointment, grumbling more to himself rather than me, "Please, don't tell me that you was weak enough to only let me through and now I have to work with this brat of a master..."


"Excuse me?" I send out him a cold glare, crossing my sore arms just like a brat I was, alright'. While I got that I apparently was this... creature's master, I still felt little bit offended to be called a brat. Undoubtedly, I was a king!... At least in the past, right. Still... yeah, fair enough, I just behaved like a brat few moments ago, not to mention looked like one, so his words were fair. I sighed. "You said I'm your master? And you didn't answer how you know my name... or who are you?"


The wisp-of-shadow spirit blinked, as if mused some thoughts inside of its mind and grumbled then, clearly annoyed, "I'm Regis, a sentient... being, you may call me. I was created... to accompany and assist you on your travels."


"Sentient being?..." I quietly muttered, not even bothering to look at the wolf knowing that he wont answer. Regardless, this... Regis clearly left some words unsaid. Many them.


I sighed in deep disappointment but didn't ask anything else. Instead, I looked at the palm of my left arm which was still hot but didn't hurt anymore. And then I was stunned by sight of a glowing rune mixed with golden and purple colors. Not only that, I clearly felt as my mana and something else, like an... hot energy, a lava, condensed in this rune, and it was leaking, as if ready to envelope my fist.


'Is this a "Gift" that Sylvia for me? A sentient... companion? Some odd sort of a... Guardian? Weapon?' I pondered while clenching and unclenching my left fist and then looked around. While I had many questions, it seemed that I had to wait to get the answers. At least for now.


Then again, I shouldn't have... no, forget about damn Regis and screw other thoughts, I should think... where the hell even am I ?!


I clearly wasn't near my dear parents as I desperately hoped to be. Hell, I wasn't even in the town or near of some kind of a... medieval civilization.






Annoyed more than dreadfully worried I thoughtfully rubbed bridge of my nose and sighed, looking around. Overgrown trees that towered high over my head surrounded me from all sides. There was additionally a dense fog that thickly loomed a couple of centimeters off the ground, filling the air with nearly palpable moisture.


"Giant trees and an unnaturally thick fog..." I pondered out of loud more to myself than anxiously expecting answer from my silent, long forgotten companion, which suddenly stiffed a sly laugh in response,


"We are in the Forest of Elshire, if you wondering about it. Albeit I do not have experience to be in this forest, I... possess fair share of knowledge about the world."


"Oh, so you are not absolutely useless?" I smirked at him.


Regis only grumbled something about babysitting annoying brats but said nothing else, as if for some reason decided to not interrupt my line of thoughts anymore.


Touche.


Okay. So, I was in the forest of Elshire.


What does that mean?


Yep, that mean I clearly won't be meeting my family anytime soon.


Great.


Also, apparently It had been over four months since I had fallen off of that cliff. My Family most likely thinks that I'm dead and either gone back to Ashber or had maybe even decided to stay in Xyrus...


Both would be good. Except... I don't know how to get out of this dammed forest and how to reach Ashber and Xyrus. Or even if I can do it on my own feet!


Great.


I looked over my body and snorted, yep - certainly great. I didn't even had any provisions and weapon, except — maybe — Regis and my magic capabilities. Though I did learn a lot from Sylvia, I highly doubted it would help me to survive some dangerous magic beasts, probably sneaking around shadows in this cursed fog. Which was, by the way, limiting my vision to about a ten meters around me.


While reinforcing my eyes with mana helped quite a bit, that didn't solve the even bigger problem of how to get out of this place.






"Regis, do you know how to get out of this forest?" I meekly asked while reinforcing my body, enabling mana rotation that had become second nature to me by now. I was almost shocked by how I felt a huge amount of pure energy my body absorbed in a matter of seconds, albeit I also felt some pain in the chests aftermath.


Regis pondered a bit as if thinking should he answer to my question or not, and then blankly stated, "While I do possess fair knowledge about the world, I cannot say where we are exactly, nor do I intend to interfere in the growth of my master if the situation does not severely threatens his life."


"Great, so you are useless," I rolled eyes, thinking back about how Sylvia struck my mana core with her tongue. Was that wolf really a gift? Or was there something more to it? I don't really understand, nor can remember.


Still, seeing how fuzzy my memories and head is now, (It was like I didn't get enough sleep and my thoughts flew lazily and slow.) Nevertheless, I still could act clearly and think so it's not like I should have worried about it right now.


"While I said I won't interfere in the growth process, I didn't say you couldn't learn a few things from me or learn how to wield me or aether as a weapon... Then again, you better think how to get out of our situation rather than pondering about asking me a ton of questions which are undoubtedly flowing in that little head of yours right now."


I rolled my eyes again but said nothing more.


As I reinforced my legs and jumped on nearby tree, situating myself once I got in comfortable enough position, I thought: 'while I really had had tons of questions, I wanted to ask Regis, seeing clearly as a day he was Sylvia's creation, I wonder way more about using this Aether mentioned by him'. It was my first time hearing about this thing, at least in this world.


In my past life I did hear about this... substance or power to be precise. It wasn't anything more but a myth, saying Aether is a energy flowing through entire universe and that those who are able to manipulate it, able to manipulate time, space and life itself.


A mighty dragon and a sentient... companion, weapon or whatever he was, with a knowledge about — possibly — mythic energy and its manipulating. What are the odds?


I sighed exasperatedly, shaking my head once more and reinforced my eyes. starting to look around.


Okay, I desperately needed to concentrate on my current situation so screw questions and that aether for later.






I nervously looked . And looked... and looked. And what I was looking for wasn't a way out but more so for sights of humans. Sylvia had said I would be teleported close to humans after all, so I was desperately hoping that there may be some adventurers camp or travelers around there so they would direct or even escort me out of this forest.


But aside of my silent companion and some wild animals there wasn't any sentient beings around.


Though, by a sheer of luck, after about ten minutes of anxiously searching, jumping from the tree to tree, I finally found what I was looking for.


But I also sensed something off about this bunch of a peasants, so at first I reluctantly decided to hide behind the sturdy trunk, critically observing this rather... a peculiar group of suspicious individuals.


Something was definitely off about them. And it was not purely poor choice of attire, but just...




Just when my line of thinking was about to finish, I heard a child, screaming desperately calling someone to help. And one of humans shouted in unison, "Someone shut her up! She's going to attract attention!..."


"Quick! Put her in the back of the carriage. We're only a few days away from the mountain range. We'll be safer then. Don't relax and keep moving."


"Hey, Boss? How much do ya reckon she'll sell for? Elf girls go for a lot, don't they? Hehe, she's a child too so a virgin at that! I bet she'll fetch us a lot of money, huh?"


Just as that bastard - apparently slave trader- said that, I flinched as the incredible pain suddenly erupted from the temple of my head. And while it was indeed strong one at first, it became unbearable a breathless second later as I almost succumbed to it, falling unconscious. Gladly, Regis was behind me entire time and helped me as I felt slight coldness enveloped my body, relieving the pain.


And then I almost yelled: WHAT? WHY was this so familiar to me?! Like... it happened before?! And this girl, who was being kidnapped right now. Her voice. It was not only familiar, but it felt like I know who she was...


But how?


That's impossible.


Alas, I have some kind of a brain damage and poor memory. I'm had no doubts that it was the first time I happened to be in this forest, let alone knowing some poor abducted girl...


Damn, not only that odd feeling. There also was that cold energy Regis infused into my body. It suddenly became warm and flicked, enveloping my hands in bright orange condensed flames.


It was as If I infused Fire when augmenting my body, but it wasn't. No, It was clear... not mana, but energy, that flew through my body and obeyed to my will. To my slightest desire.


I sighed, stunned by the sight.


It was... weird. It was the first time I felt or experienced something like that, but at the same time it felt so natural... so... like I was used to it.


I merely shake my head.


Whatever, I shouldn't think about it right now. Because right now I looked at slave traders and clenched my fists. As if sensing my rage, Flames that were enveloping my hands became more dense.


While normally I would think carefully about what should I do or even evaluate the threat slave traders might possess, I felt so much powerful now, that didn't really cared about dire consequences. In addition, I had — apparently — strong companion that could interfere is something went wrong...


'These raging flames, enveloping your small hands... use them as a weapon. Imagine what you desire and it will take form or a action you desire. Want to form a bow, maybe a sword? Or shot firebolts? Do so. Do not hold back, this waste of humanity does not possess any treat to you.' I flinched as harsh Regis voice ringed in my mind.


What?


Startled (because he usually talked out of loud, rather than used some kind of a mental link) I looked around just to find nothing. Regis was gone.


'Don't bother to look for me. I'm inside your body. Will you save this poor girl already, brat?' I rolled my eyes, pondering whether Regis could or couldn't read my mind.


Up till now, I had a Feeling he knows more than he talks.


That's said, It's not like I won't be able to get answers from my... estimated companion later, so I shaked my head and let it go for now, instead concentrating on these flames and pondering about what Regis said.


Imagination, huh?


That's newly acquired power would be useful, especially it if was so natural to me... and seemingly powerful.


What's more to it, I suddenly realized: it wasn't only flames that felt natural. This body of a child, a body I couldn't get used for a years now was... way to light. Too strong. Too easy to wield. It was like I didn't even need to reinforce my short legs or senses, which became so sharp and clear, that I felt... refreshed.


It was really odd... but at the same time enjoyable...




Hesitating for a moment, I leaped from the giant tree, landing just behind one of slave traders, instantly throwing my fist into his back.


When I expected greatly augmented punch that would kick bastard out, I definitely didn't except how easily my arm would break through the man's flesh, possibly ripping his insides apart and brutally slaying him instantly.


Three others suddenly became alarmed, shocked by a dreadful sight of child cruelly murdering their dear comrade...


I chuckled grimly, merely looking at my bloody hand: 'yeah, well, its not like you could see something like that everyday.'


Even now, I didn't wait for the response and lunged myself forward, imagining how raging flames enveloped my body in a thick shield and danced gracefully between them, ripping with bare hands through their flesh like it was a butter.


The moments later I stood beside four dead bodies.

___

[a/n: The story begins just after Sylvia send Arthur through dimensional rift. Almost nothing from before(except Sylvia's training, was changed. Yet I cannot say the same thing about all further events. This fanfic is Total AU. I highly recommend you to read TBATE novel first before you start reading this fanfic.]