Zephyr: The Elemental Clans

189.0 - Love, Lies & Betrayal (Prologue)

A/N - Chapter 189 has remained a long-anticipated update to Zephyr: The Elemental Clans; A story that has been on hiatus for far too long. I'd originally intended to release this chapter a month or so ago, but between exams and classes, I simply couldn't seem to finish it. I had left all of you with little to nothing for such an extended period and for that, I am truly sorry. Today, I am extremely excited to bring you a part of this chapter. That's right. Unfortunately this still isn't the complete thing. The original draft of chapter 189 had arrived at a whopping 25,000 word total by the time I decided that this was getting far too rediculous. I spent the last two days re-organising and cutting chapter 189 into three parts; this Prologue being the first. The second will be uploaded shortly and has clocked in at an astounding 15,000 words: the highest word count for a single chapter of this story yet. The final part will come in due time. I still have a part of it left to complete but this should take significantly less time than what was done already. I hope all of you enjoy what I've put together thus far and I hope you all continue to support me as Act 4 swiftly approaches its conclusion. Thabk you all for your time, love and support!

****
Seraphim Zephyr the Third - POV;

"Geraldine Zephyr?" I repeated.

"Yes. I know what you're thinking. You don't know who this random girl is that claims to be from your clan. Well don't worry, you will know soon enough. Perhaps they will give you the answer themselves when I send you to the afterlife!" she declared, raising her arms swiftly over her head in an intricate pattern. Pillars of darkness burst out of the Earth with destructive force, eliminating everything they caught within them. As capable as I was, I wasn't planning to tank one of those head-on.

Surrounded by the elements, I bolted across the wreckage of our city barely escaping the new fountains of darkness which erupted behind me, becoming ever closer with each one. At one point I could swear I even felt the ominous, relentless power graze against my glutes.

"You've lived a high and mighty life, pretending that you were better than everyone else and a glorious protector! Yet, that high horse was built on a mountain of lies and betrayal against the ones who believed in you most!" she yelled, conjuring an armory of weapons, stakes and arrows entirely out of her dark element and raining them down on me with a calculated drop of her forelimb.

I spun around to face the girl whom levitated sone fifty feet in the sky and I entered a battle stance with Tenshi no Shiru held at the side of my head, its blade parallel to the floor. Steadying my breath, I unleashed a flurry of strikes, cutting down the volley of projectiles which approached me perfectly. My offense was the perfect defense against something like this... or so I thought.

What appeared at first to be a trivial attack quickly evolved into something more. The splattered puddles of dark energy, which resulted when I cut down her faux weapons, reformed into a gargantuan arm behind me and shot its cleched fist at my unprotected back. Had her opponent been anyone else, such a blow would have dealt substantial damage, but I had seen enough battles to be one step ahead of it. Twisting a hundred and eighty degrees on the dime, I used my sword to block the punch before leaping backwards, with the aid of its momentum, and weaving myself through my opponent's continued onslaught. I pressed my foot against the tip of an airborne spear and shot myself towards the girl, my Persona prepared to rid her from this world.

"You murdered the people who dedicated their lives to you just to save your own skin! They gave everything to you and you repaid them by striking them down in cold blood and leaving their orphaned child to brave a cruel world of torture on her own! And your blind followers cheered on every bloody minute of it!"

Despite her youth, this girl was more than gifted... no, she had perfected her prowess as a Deity Vessel of Dark in the short time since her element had manifested. Even though I, at my level, could defeat her easily, the insane potential she had met was unseen among even the greatest Vessels. Only those regarded as natural geniuses were known to ascend this swiftly. But those prodigies were rare in this world. In the current generation, Ignatius was one of the few known to achieve such a status. Even in years past they were of short supply, though amongst them were our very own Kristæl and Catherine...... Catherine........

"Wait," I muttered to myself, holding my hand instead of striking her down, as I took a close look at the face of the one fighting against me. I knew that sleek nose, those full lips and those bright, beautiful eyes... they were unmistakable. They were hers... this girl... she couldn't have been... It should have been impossible and yet that appeared to be the only truth.

"Go to hell!" Geraldine growled, blasting me at point blank range, in my moment of hesitation, with a concentrated beam of her dark energy. Now this... THIS hurt like a son of a bitch. I was engulfed by extreme pressure and an unbelievable pain as I was hurtled into the dirt.

"But you know what, Regulus Zephyr? I don't even care about that anymore. I have found and served a new true purpose: to forge a warrior beyond anything that this world can fathom! Xyder has ascended beyond mortal men with my aid. I thought him everything I know. I threw away my shame amd let him use her body to ease his physical frustrations. I furthered the foundation he received from Grisha and pushed him beyond his limits not once, twice or thrice but perhaps a dozen times until he could achieve the state of Deity Vessel in every last one of his elements. I gave him everything, so that one day he could destroy this wretched clan and it's disgraceful people. Once he's put you in your graves, he will reset this cold and damned place that births only pain and suffering for the good and rewards those who seeks evil. With the help of a literal God, Xyder will bring this world to its knees!" Geraldine announced raising her palms towards the heavens and summoning swirling rivers of darkness which pooled into an exponentially growing sphere above her.

I punched the floor as I brought myself to my feet, largely unhurt by what should have been a debilitating blow. The woman infront of me certainly wasn't Catherine, and yet their resemblance was unmistakable and couldn't be ignored. There was only one answer. There was only one reasonable explanation and yet this reasoning should have been beyond impossible. Memories that I'd locked away came flooding in. Memories I'd never wanted to revisit...

*Hear this! Catherine and Geraldine!*

*I'll keep myself safe. I promise.*

*I will do everything for you and Geraldine to survive. I promise you that.*

*You broke every promise.*

*You killed her, you bastard.*

*She is dead because of you!*

*Our blood is on your hands.*

*I shall hold them to perfection.*

*Thank you, Seraphim.*

"You are strong my child. That power you amass is unmatched. Even so, you can never defeat me," I addressed her, "If you unleash that bomb, I will emerge in once piece, but you would never live through it. You cannot defeat me, but I will not kill you and I won't let you end your life so stupidly."

"I don't need your pity, you condescending jackass!" she roared, catapulting the Dark ball, now easily twenty feet in diameter, towards me. Upon impact, it exploded outwards in a violent burst of elemental energy which uprooted the tonnes of concrete cast into the soil to build our city and incinerated every trace of life in it's path. It extended outwards rapidly, in the end consuming a hundred metre radius in its indiscriminate devastation. Had we stayed within it, Geraldine and I would have met a certain demise... which was why I had to make sure it was not so.

Geraldine's vision, blurred by the brilliant glare of her attack, cleared slowly, only for her to find herself nestled a safe distance away from the destruction within my arm.

"You bas-" she began to thrash around.

"Geraldine, my dear," I cut her short, "It's true. I killed your parents."

"Rubbing it in? You're disgusting," she spat on my cheek.

"I killed them, but whatever you were told isn't the complete truth."

"Of course it isn't. That's exactly what you would say," she snapped.

"I could have killed you more than a few times. Do you know why you still breathe? Because I promised her. I promised that I would not let you die."