Empty

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Before the Calamities descended, before humans reigned as kings, the world was always in chaos.

No concept of order was established as humans lived in fright under the rule of powerful creatures who called themselves 'gods.'

Naturally being born with strength that can topple mountains and change the world as they will it, these 'gods' were naturally filled with arrogance, pride, and hubris.

Pitiful fools.

For many, many centuries, these 'gods' dominated the world without care, wreaking unwarranted destruction and havoc as they pleased.

Weaker beings could only bow down to their rule while being terrorized.

...

One day, while they were walking amongst the world, it being akin to their own property, a voice suddenly came from the sky.

All beings great and small heard the voice. Their eyes all looked up towards the dark heavens, and they saw...

Light.

With great shock, they watch as four beings descend from an opening in the sky, a hole filled with the holiest of light.

One, an ox. One, a humanoid. One, an eagle. One, a lion.

The four all have three pairs of wings, and each one of them are covered in eyes all around their bodies. On their back, on their wings, on their bodies-there were many eyes.

They sang, in a soft and sonorous, yet uncanny and empty chorus.

"Holy. Holy. Holy."

They sang for day and night, sunrise to sundown, dawn to dusk.

"Holy. Holy. Holy. The Lord Almighty, who was, and is, to come. On heaven and earth, full of glory..."

While they were singing, flapping their wings, the bright light shone once more from the hole in the sky.

From it, a scroll descended from the sky. It was an old, simple scroll, and yet what stood ouut were seven blood red seals, decorated from top to bottom.

Seven symbols, each symbolizing the birth of a catastrophe capable of bringing the world to its knees.

Even the powerful beings, who called themselves gods, thought they truly ruled over the world, never knew what was about to come.

...

-Excerpt from Book One: The Seven Symbols

-Written by ???

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...

Amor looked down at the dissipating clone that was once a proud Apostle with mixed emotions. Only his strange top hat, charred and ripped, was evidence that he once existed.

One, he was disappointed, and yet felt rather strange.

Even to the end, this Apostle remained stubborn.

The Calamity he is serving should be someone with skill if a being like Favian remained silent until the end.

Then, there's...

He looked at Anna once more, who only stared at the particles of blue light dissipating into the air.

Amor didn't know what to do as he watched his granddaughter, who was watching the dissipating particles wordlessly.

Through their bond, he could somewhat feel a sense of diluted disappointment. Most likely Anna was disappointed that she couldn't copy the relic.

Some strange power was blocking her gift. It was most likely the Calamity of the Apostle who granted him a relic.

Still, although Amor could feel that Anna felt disappointed, it was diluted.

Very minuscule.

It was so incredibly minute that Amor couldn't even feel a string of emotion unless he forcibly strengthened their bond.

The butterfly fluttered his wings ever so slightly.

To be honest, he was partly glad it was only that. If she were to sense a feeling of power and addiction, Amor would step in.

This, however, was different. He wanted to let his granddaughter have the power to defend herself wholly, yes, but nevertheless...

Did Amor want a machine that only acts with emptiness?

"..."

Emotions are a burden, and Amor has firsthand experience in hating it. Back in the days, he wanted to erase his emotions long ago, but...

Did he want that gift and curse on his family?

Amor wondered if it was the right choice to allow his beloved granddaughter to assimilate with her after all?

He could only comfort himself as he is already here. It's precisely because they're here that he hasn't truly regretted his decision.

Being here means there's a chance to fix things.

There is nothing else for him being here, other than to simply and continuously consume the mana in the air.

This Apostle was an unfortunate variable, but that should be all for now. His Lord should be busy with remaking this world and descending with his true body.

For now it should be smooth sailing from here on out.

As Amor thought of that, he felt Anna slowly turning her head, and a cold aura began exuding from her.

He looked at where his granddaughter looked, and he realized there was one another being here with them.

...

Abilene had a strange dream.

Don't get her wrong, all dreams are strange.

It's just that...this takes dreams to a whole new level.

When she was sober, she was laying on...water?

Abilene couldn't help but panic, and she began thrashing about. Twisting her body, waving her arms and legs, she screamed as she felt-

She stopped.

She didn't fall into the water?

Coughing in embarrassment, the little girl breathed in deeply.

One. Two. Three. Four.

After the fourth breath, she sighed, and she felt a rush of adrenaline as she finally took her time to look around.

If one were to describe what she was seeing, then it would be...

Magical.

A bright moon shone from above, its appearance reflected onto the water's surface. An endless ocean expanding far beyond the horizon, rippling in small waves.

That was all she could see.

Abilene then took another look at what was beneath her.

It was dark, yes, but with the moonlight's help, she was able to see what was under her more clearly.

No mistake about it, it was clearly water. It slowly rippled underneath her in small waves.

Kneeling down to touch it, her hand pressed on the surface, and it rippled. Strangely enough, she couldn't feel anything.

It was as if she was touching the air.

Feeling stubborn, Abilene pushed against it even more, and as if a force pushed against her, she was unable to even dip her fingernail into the water.

It was as if a very thin layer of glass existed between the water and her, amd Abilene couldn't even fall into it.

She couldn't help but feel disappointed.

Still, it was an adventure.

An adventure!

That village was full of something, yes, but this...this is new!

With her disappointment disappearing like a gust of wind, the little girl got back onto her feet.

With a pump of excitement into her steps, Abilene marched forward with determination. As she did so, she heard sounds.

The sounds of galloping horses.

The little girl turned around, and she saw four figures riding on four different colored horses, running across the water at the same speed.

Abilene squinted at the sight.

In the darkness, with only the moon providing the littlest of light, she couldn't possibly describe what the figures riding on the horses looked like, but the horses themselves were entirely different.

'They're beautiful,' she thought.

One horse was red, one horse was black, one horse was white, and one horse was pale. With every step onto the water, it rippled in response.

While they were galloping, their manes fluttering freely, Abilene somehow saw their eyes.

They were gleaming...with excitement? Joy? Freedom?

Abilene didn't know. How could she know? She never tended to the horses in her life. Looking at them with awe, Abilene then remembered where she was.

She didn't know where she was.

Opening her mouth, Abilene screamed.

"..."

But instead of a shriek of fear, there was nothing. The world was quiet, with only the sounds of galloping horses growing louder and louder.

No sound came out from her mouth.

Abilene could only stare wordlessly as the four figures approached her without pause.

She ducked and closed her eyes. In her heart, she prayed her pain would be swift and quick.

"..."

Seconds past, and when Abilene began thinking to open her eyes, the wind blew her hair all over the place.

She turned around to look, and saw that the four were already far away.

Farther and farther away, moving nonstop, the four figures and horses kept moving forward without exhaustion.

Seeing them disappearing further into the distance, Abilene felt sad. The horses looked so beautiful, and so full of life, she really wanted to touch them.

As Abilene sadly watched their receding figures, she felt something next to her ear, whispering.

"Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth..."

Darting her head, she saw nothing with her eyes. Then, the whispers whispered in her other ear. Chills ran down her back as she turned her head again,

There was nothing but the soft ocean waves.

Whispers kept whispering in her ear, even as Abilene turned her head left and right. WIth every second, the whispering grew louder, and she finally couldn't take it anymore.

Darting her head back and forth, Abilene made her choice, and darted towards the moon.

She didn't know what to do. A child, in the middle of nowhere, accompanied by the unknown and whispers. What was scarier other than that?

The only thing that stood out was the moon, and the four horses and their riders were long gone.

The world Abilene once deemed magical and beautiful was now a place full of terror. Now she knew this was definitely a nightmare.

Sprinting with her tiny legs, she huffed and puffed as she put her legs forward each step towards the moon. No matter how far she run, no matter how fast she run, the whispers kept following behind her.

Screaming soundlessly, Abilene pushed herself farther, and fell into a hole.

There was no time to react as a hole abruptly appeared underneath her, and she could only fall into it.

Abilene continued screaming soundlessly as the world around her abruptly became a series of unrecognizable sceneries and colors.

The little girl covered her eyes as the colors were beginning to brighten even brighter. Falling deeper and deeper, she screamed.

And the light soon embraced her. Then darkness replaced it.

...

Anna looked down on the sleeping girl, whose mouth was muttering something of utter insignificance.

As she looked closely at the unmoving body, her vision began to blur, and her eyes saw a familiar, yet vague visage.

She slowly raised her hand towards her, and closed her eyes as her hand began glowing an insidious black color.

...

Abilene slowly opened her eyes, her heart thumping.

'What...what was that dream?'

Yawning, she rubbed her eyes and stretched. As she did so, she turned to look up at a shadow. Its hand slowly closed in on her. towards her. As she stared at it, she wisps and strands of something strange from that hand.

"..."

Her eyes dilated, and as her eyes slowly on the hand, the little girl named Abilene felt her back tingling.

It was cold. It was just like last time.

She began quivering. As she did so, her eyes unintentionally wandered over to the rather noticeably large crater. At the center of it was a familiar, yet strange charred top hat.

The stranger who appeared before them wore that weird top hat.

A shadow appeared next to that top hat, but it disappeared. Her mind must've been playing tricks on her, and even then she didn't have the time to think of that.

It was all coming together.

Pieces connected together one by one, and her eyes widened while her breathing became rougher and rougher.

Within a few seconds, the final piece connected. Abilene slowly turned her head towards the shadow. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she finally made out who the shadow was. It was the strange woman standing over her.

'She-she killed him? Murdered him?'

The fear once again washed over her, as her eyes focused on the hand slowly growing closer and closer to her. Her mind began to become more and more blank, and before she began backing away, she heard whispers.

"Bugs...disgusting cockroaches, all of them. Disgusting things should've been stepped on-"

At the connotations, Abilene's head went into overdrive. Anxiety quickly took over.

"Mis-Madam? Yo-You-Your Highness? Your M-Majesty?"

The woman's hand stopped to her surprise. Abilene gasped, but then quickly tried to speak.

"I-I mean Your Ma-Majesty, are you al-alright?"

...

Anna felt something appeared near the top hat, and before she could even move, she instinctively pressed her hand against her forehead while the little girl voiced a question of concern.

'Why...did I think that just now?'

'No, I don't need to kill her...at least not yet.'

'...why would I need to kill her?'

'Because she will be in my way. Unwanted and unneeded worthless belongings to carry. Yes, that's right...'

'No. She is most likely useful for other things, not to mention that quest...'

'Yes, that is true. That is exactly it.'

Nodding her head, Anna finally turned her attention to the blinking notification at her peripheral vision.

It was blinking during the fight, and now, she could finally bring it up. With a simple thought, it appeared before her eyes.

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Race: Human (???) 32% => 95%

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Anna stared wordlessly at the transparent screen in front of her.

In the background, the little girl whispered hesitantly again.

"Um...Your Majesty?"

"..."

Anna looked away from the notification. That doesn't matter anymore.

She slowly raised her staff, and under the eye of the watchful little girl, she tapped the butt of the staff onto the ground.

An invisible wave expanded from the staff, washing over nearly everything in sight. Then, the invisible wave went back to the staff, flowing up it, and then to her mind.

This time, it was seamless and consistent. There was nothing barring her path when she used her simple scanning spell. No more pain, no more annoying headaches.

It was all so clear. So empty.

"..."

Even if she turns into a monster, she still has her grandfather.

Anna's gaze once again laid upon the little girl, who stiffened unconsciously.

"Take me to your home."