Zephyr: The Elemental Clans

185 - A Desperate Plea

Dagan Zephyr - POV;

"Devil!"

"Devil!!!"

I shouted repeatedly as I stumbled blindly through the dark, eerie region. Lost and without direction, I could only push forward across the unlit dirt, invisible to my eye as I could hardly see a few inches infront of me.

I flailed my arms in front of me to stop myself from running into any unexpected walls and obstacles, however it seemed as if only unoccupied space filled this void that I'd found myself within.

"Devil!!!!"

"Devil, show yourself to me!" I continued.

"Please, come out! Wherever you are, I need to see you!"

No matter how hard I tried, my calls continued to go unanswered. Even though I truly believed that my words reached him, my hope of making contact rapidly dwindled.

*"wHy?"*

A cold chill permeated the air as a deep-seated sense of dread reverberated through my body and my very soul. A terrifying yet majestic howl echoed across the vast emptiness, shattering the unnerving silence. In the distance, a slight flicker soon evolved into a shimmering golden glow which increased its size exponentially. From its core, a towering muscular figure emerged bearing sharp, distinct eyes and a shiny head of gold locks swept upwards. I recognised him immediately; his image having been burned into my mind since our first meeting.

"Devil! Thank the Deities, you're here!"I shouted, "Listen to me, everything is going wrong! The world is crumbling and Xyder has gone mad! Everything stemmed from that one moment! In that moment, things fell apart completely; the moment Evelynn died. You are the only one I know who can fix this! Please! Bring back Evelynn! End this madness! That is the only wa-"

Before I could finish, I found myself unable to continue speaking. My trachea and gullet found themselves compressed tightly as the powerful, rigid forearm slammed directly into them. I didn't even see the moment that the Devil moved. He seemed to almost literally appear right in front of me in a split second.

The force of the impact launched me haphazardly along the cold soil. Having lost control of my senses and body, I flopped helplessly like a ragdoll until coming to a halt over a hundred feet away. I clasped my hands onto my throat as I gagged and gasped for air, choking on a mixture of saliva and what I assumed to be blood.

Before I could even start to recover, my head was wrenched backwards and a solid kick to my lower back lifted my body into the air. Seizing hold of my skull, the Devil slammed it against his knee which felt many times tougher than concrete. With my mind spinning, I couldn't resist when he held just beneath my mandible firmly and dangled me infront of him effortlessly.

"Why did you call me? Why did you come here? Don't you remember what I said?" he spoke in an echoing, angelic tone before shifting to a gutteral, coarse growl, "I will not come to lend a hand next time! You failed. Your only purpose was to ensure that the future bear greater fruits and you couldn't even ensure that. You're worthless. All of your efforts and the efforts of your friends was for nothing. This is on you!"

He lifted his free arm to my abdomen and as it began to glow, he pressed his fingers into me. An unbearable pain shot through my body but try as I might, I could not cry out. Only gargling grunts escaped as he tore into my torso.

"I do not care for the girl. Her life grants me no benefit.... and neither does yours. Go home. Go and carry this message to your people. You've reached the bad ending. It would be nice if you could just play the game again for a better path, wouldn't it? But at this game over screen, I won't let you click retry. This is my game, and I determine your extra lives."

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Dagan Zephyr - POV;

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" I screamed shooting up from my bed and dashing around the room in a blind panic. I knocked over any and every object in my path, from chairs to shelves of books. Not a rational thought existed in my brain. No... at that moment there existed only fear, desperation and dread.

At some point, I managed to burst out of my room and I collapsed onto the floor of the lit hallway on all fours, sputtering and coughing as I began to hyperventilate. Even through all of this, a number of squeals and wails still managed to slip out. This undoubtedly captured the attention of the others as they rushed out of their rooms to see what was going on.

"Gaaaaah! Aaaaaaaaaaaah! Yaaaaaaaaah!" I continued to shriek, unaware of my friends gathering around me.

"Dagan!" Storm called out, rushing to my side and dropping down beside me before placing his hand on my bare back and shoulders and patting to calm me down, "Dagan! Are you okay?! What's wrong? Dagan! Can you hear me?! Dagan!"

I finally managed to hold in my voice but my breathing continued at its rapid rate. However, with Storm's reassurance, even this gradually lessened to the point where I could communicate somewhat normally again.

"Dagan? What happened? Are you alright?" Alva questioned worriedly.

"Y... yeah... So it was.... it was just.... just a dream? Haha," I laughed half-heartedly. I pressed as hard as I could against the floor with my arms, thus shakily pushing my body upright, however instead of meeting the relieved expressions I'd anticipated, I was greeted by looks of sheer horror.

"Oh my God!" Satella exclaimed, clasping her hands over her mouth. Storm stared at me, wide-eyed and in stunned silence as did Fira. Alva looked on with her mouth agape whilst trembling slightly where she stood which was in stark contrast to Rydia who seemed to be forcing herself to hold back her urge to vomit.

"Children?! Are you all okay?!" Catherine called out as she rushed towards us, however the moment she came into view, she gasped as her eyes fell onto me, "D-dagan?! This is...."

"What was all the commotion?!" Seraphim roared, charging in behind her, and much like her he halted when he scanned my body.

"That's... there's no doubt. Oh no," Catherine mumbled.

"You're right. It's his work," Seraphim murmured.

Finally I looked down, my curiosity killing me as I wondered what had them so stirred. This was a decision I quickly came to regret. Carved into my bare chest, oozing blood and decorated with hanging segments of skin and tissue were the words, 'Bad End'. Beneath it, a large number three had been dug into my midsection and then scratched off by a single line to write a number two beside it. This was itself scratched and a prominant number one was engraved to its right.

I felt myself go into a state of shock as every muscle seized. As my conciousness left me completely, I heard the Regulus finish his sentence, "Perhaps you were right when you said it was time for them to evolve, Catherine. Teach them, for the time is nigh. The Devil has come to collect."