Whispers of A Dead Empire

Chapter 117

I fell once more. It was something that I wasn't ready for. But it was relentless. I plummeted through what felt like a limitless fog as my mind tried to connect the dots. Who was Quintus again?

My mind wandered and drifted as I fell through the haze until at least it clicked. He was once a great hero. He was the angel of people, at least until he fell.

But just as suddenly as the thought came, the fog was torn away from my vision. I stood in a large courtyard. Overlooking it was an enormous palace that stood at the top of a large flight of stairs. All around me were countless bodies. The once beautiful courtyard was now filled with dried and coagulated blood. Heads were cleanly cut from their body, and corpses lay strewn from head to toe and stacked high. But the rest of the area was covered in what looked like white static, obscuring everything else that wasn't important.

My eyes wandered, soaking in the carnage. What could have caused all of this?

"Show yourself, you filthy traitor." I heard Alessia's voice tear through the eerie silence. Her words filled to the brim with bile and hatred. Quickly, my eyes locked onto her, and it felt like a serrated blade stabbed my heart.

Her once beautiful mane of white hair was now matted and covered in drying blood. Her once golden armor was broken and sundered in countless places, letting blood ebb out in a steady flow. Her face was pale, and dark rings encased her eyes. The pole ax she used was scratched, chipped, and covered in dried blood. Its luster was drowned by the sheer amount of life it had taken.

"Oh, Alessia, you haven't changed one bit, have you?" A voice came from the shadows. I could only describe it as snide yet angelic. Like a choir of angels were speaking all at once.

She flourished her poleaxe and pointed it in the being's direction. My eyes followed it, and I was horrified by what I saw. He looked like an angel. Nobility radiated off him in sickening waves, and his body was sculpted to absolute perfection. He lacked any sort of clothing outside of a pair of slender black pants. But yet his porcelain flesh rippled and writhed like something was lurking under the surface, waiting to be released. His face was absolutely flawless save for a set of glowing red eyes.

Her poleaxe quivered slightly. "Why, Quintus...Why did you betray us?" Her words trailed off slightly as she regarded the angelic man as he moved forward. Each step was exaggerated to show how sublime his body was crafted and how easy it was to move.

A twisted sneer crossed his face, marring his beauty. "Alessia the favored. Alessia the Chosen. Why, why do you have to come and usurp what was always mine?" His muscles flexed, and the two exquisitely carved swords twisted in the air, beckoning to drink fresh blood.

"I did this for you, fool. You always seek glory, and there is none to be found here. Once I discovered you were to be chosen, I realized that you would have withered here. All the glory that you seek would be out of reach. All the new experiences would be forever lost to you. I shouldered that burden so you can continue to live. But you betrayed me." Tears streamed down her face, washing away dried blood and dirt.

A primal scream ripped through the air, conveying a sense of pain and betrayal that I couldn't comprehend. "I never needed your help. You were always better than me." He clenched his fist around his blades as tears streamed down his eyes, as a strange golden aura glowed behind him. "No matter what heights I reached, you were always better. No matter what I did, they always whispered your name on the streets in awe. I've slain so many monsters; I've saved so many people. I've led armies; I've broken cities. I've cut down walking apocalypses. Yet, why, why have I never overcome your shadow?"

"Quintus, I have never once tried to outdo you. Everything I've ever done was for you. Those days on the streets, I did what I did, so you could live. I've stolen and fought so that we could live another day. I gave everything just so you could live. Now, I've given everything I have left to give, and this is how you repay me?" The quivering of her poleaxe ended, and her golden eyes lit up.