The Wings of Solace

~~~~Edward's POV~~~~

While the others were watching Valkyrie and Azzy leave, I noticed feathers gliding around me. I attempted to locate the origin of where the feather was and I could see a beautiful bird with a shade of yellow like the sun and orange that burns as bright as fire; with the bird I saw, another one appeared except it was female due to the nose. They gave off a look to me as though they wanted to follow me, so I did to wonder what would happen once I followed them, with this, they led to a remote location in the woods situated behind the school. There was a layout of rock formations looking like some sort of ritual in the middle of the forest, the two birds that I followed suddenly disappeared and were no where to be seen. A few seconds later, something started to glow in the middle of the formation and started to open, an automatic hatch opened and led to a stairway to down below.

I wanted to leave and forget I never saw this but it was as if someone...or something was guiding me to walk down the steps; every step I took down below felt like gravity getting more heavier. I kept pushing through just so I see through this till the bitter end. After what felt like hundreds of tonnes being placed on me, I managed to get off the last step and what felt like a breathe of absolute fresh air; the weight on me was lifted like it was never placed on me in the first place. Lights then started flashing up once I got my breathe back leading me down a hallway to a double door at the other end, I slowly crept towards the doors while looking around if anything in particular seems to be out of the ordinary. Granted, this entire moment in my life is very extraordinary for me but anyway. Now being face to face with the door, it had markings as though it describes the lost language and markings that the fallen empire once used to engrave on their monuments.

I opened the door and saw 4 statues surrounding an altar, the altar has the two birds that I followed. There was no chirping from the birds other than watching me, with each step I so casually took; the eyes of each statue glow. What seems to be the most surprising thing is that, each statue is almost identical to the main 4 heroes back in the great war; only difference is that they are degraded and almost on the verge of shattering. Once at the altar, all eyes have glowed and the floor started to glow, but each dot is lit as though it was a countdown. Did I also mention that the doors were sealed behind me?

I took this as my fate and closed my eyes as I hear the ignitions of each light glow. After a while, the noise stopped and each statue activated an array around me that manipulates the head. My head feels like it's been ripped from the inside out due to thousands of memories being thrown at me in seconds, though it stopped and showed the backstory of one of the Titans: Taranis Eternal.

It was said in stories that Taranis was the third eldest sibling of the royal family then, The Eternius Family; they were kind and treated their subjects with respect. Though Taranis was quite kind, he was hesitant a lot and didn't make a lot of friends; it never did stop him from going out and see his subjects live out their lives. Everything was peaceful and so full of life, he enjoyed every second of it.

That is until the war began, countries being engulfed in flame and misery; Taranis couldn't do anything but either watch or read the horrors of what is happening to his subjects. Month after month, Apokalypta slowly took over land by either dominating or annihilating every country and its ruler to their knees. The last kingdom, the close family friend of the Eternius Family, The Azenian Family sent one last message that shocked each and every last one of Zydon's people.

"This is The Azenian Family, Apokalypta have broken through, we couldn't hold them back. If you are reading this my friend, I'm sorry that I couldn't do much but please...Never lose hope, you will be the spark that will ignite the hearts of everyone to defeat this tyranny. Never fight with ra---"

Transmission end

That was all that was shown after, the subjects watched in terror or sadness as our closest kingdom has been declared; fallen. He looked back at his family as he watched them in tears as they knew exactly what happened next but the Patriarch said,

"We must prepare...for war. We have less than 4 months to prepare everything we have or else we lose any shot we have to protect the innocents"

~~~~Time Skip and Taranis' POV~~~~

I don't know what happened, I'm running all over the place, buildings on fire, children screaming and explosions being heard. The capital that was once so beautiful, has become the desolate destructive place anyone has ever imagined. I was luring civilians to survival bunkers while shooting at Apokalyptan Guards, no matter how many I shoot at, it feels like many more take one person's place. As I was about to take a family to the bunker, an explosion happened; I was blasted away but when I got back and looked at the bunker's entrance, I could see the remains of the parents in the blasted hole on the ground; but I saw a glimmer of hope as their daughter was still alive so I ran and carried the girl and sprinted across the bombing to the entrance. The daughter was screaming for her mother and father and I repeatedly kept apologising to her as I failed to protect them; we managed to reach the bunker with her and took her to the child centre of the bunker. Once I made sure she could be fine by herself, I left and noticed I found Quantum. He changed his name since the start of the war to Solaris.

Solaris ran and hugged me while saying, "Oh praise Paracelia, that you're okay. Are you alright?"

I just looked and tears rolled down my face, "I couldn't save them, I failed my duty as their royalty. They entrusted their life to me and I extinguished that life"

Solaris looked at me and replied, "War is the most unforgiving moment in history, Once that first shot is taken. We will never know who faces the consequences of our actions. But always remember the lives who lost so that we carry it in our hearts that we won't let their sacrifice end in vain"

Once everything was settled, me and Solaris left the bunker to search for the other members of the family. After running and walking around the destroyed capital for hours, we found a large group of survivors and located the nearest survival bunker; we escorted them while shooting Apokalyptan strays as quietly as possible due to being night time and didn't want to expose our location. We finally managed to reach the bunker but once the doors were being open, the ground started to shake and an unbearable noise started to ring. Over the horizon, the origin of the rumbling and noise was huge mech; from what I gather it's called a Kronion. It was a weapon of mass destruction, it's production was halted and labelled illegal as it held enough firepower to level capitals in an hour. To think that they continued it's production, but from what I gathered, they had many weaknesses in it's design and they didn't have enough time to perfect it, meaning it's only in its beta stage right now. Although all exploits are still there, it is still a very dangerous weapon to wield; I ordered the evacuation immediately while the weapon was charging and just when it was fully charged; we were all inside the bunker. I looked at Solaris with a hint of concern as to show that they are willing to do everything just to win.

While we were checking if everyone was alright, a Doctor approached Solaris and Solaris wanted me to go to him to see what's up. The doctor mentioned that the rest of our family are already gathered and that we should follow him. He mentioned his name was James and that he was working on a project called Project Guardias. We hesitantly followed him as he pulled a lever to a secret elevator, the elevator took us about thirty floors below and there, all our family members walking and waiting anxiously. They saw us and ran to hug us, they were asking how we were and what we were doing all this time; we explained that we were helping the resistance fight back against the enemy. The doctor then came back with other doctors and large group of people.

Dr. James said, "Alright, welcome to Project Guardias. I was requested by the Patriarch to create a batch that can help turn the tide of the war, because right now. Every shred of hope that seems to exist then is starting to dimmer and cease to exist. It's time to show them what we are made of. All of you are hand picked to be one of the greatest, if you conceive. This will allow to genetically modify you to become what they call, a peak human. You will be divided into groups serving under each member of royalty to annihilate the enemies. Any objections?"

Everyone shouted in unison, "Death before Dishonour"

Dr. James then looked at us, "Do I have your permission to modify my lieges?"

We all looked to each other with hesitance but with a breath out, I replied, "Yes, no more losses, no more running, it's time to take back what was lost."

All the siblings looked at me and smiled, the siblings then agreed and were proceeded to the next room, a room filled with tubes with an unknown liquid. According to the document, it's a Enhancement Serum called Titano. We absorb as much as we can so we gain a new neuron enhancement; we all had our own Titano Tube and entered. I closed my eyes and then....

Error, error, returning to reality...

~~~~Edward's POV~~~~

I awoke to what now feels like my reality and time. Once i regathered my thoughts, I stood back up and noticed six people gathered around me. I turned to one and asked them,

"Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

On of them smiled and replied, "I am what they call Paracelia, my colleagues here are Wudongata, Salutario and Redetio. We have been watching over you ever since you entered that mindscape. Young Edward"

I tried to piece my head together and remembered Solaris mentioned Paracelia, she was the Goddess of Protection and Salvation. I immediately kneeled in front of her and said,

"I apologise for not realising it sooner. May I ask, why you wish to talk to me, have I done something to anger you?"

She giggled and retorted, "Oh no, you haven't. I just wanted to meet the descendant of Taranis. His descendants are certainly like him, kind and very heart warming. Though I won't be long as I have no idea how long we can keep like this but we have something to tell you, be ready for your future as there would be moments that you will need to make the most direst of decisions. Behind me are Matahari and Luna, they were the swords once wielded by an old friend, may they help you like they did with him. Goodbye for now my prince"

I watched all 4 Gods disappear and the two birds flew towards me and turned into swords. I then asked the two,

"I apologise for this, but is it possible to create a mental connection between us three as my siblings will be concerned if I suddenly had two swords"

Matahari replied, "Of course, wouldn't want to surprise the new family too early"

I smiled and walked back to the entrance while looking back at the temple. The pressure disappeared and I can freely walk the stairs out now and walked out of the forest, but as I got back from the forest...