Chapter 7: Leonas

It's been some time since I've deciphered an ancient forgotten language. When Vizion sent a Tosta, Yomon, and I on the quest to find the Ice Crystal, there were hundreds of tombs that had indecipherable languages. It would take us days to figure out the language of the tomb and to find out who was buried in them. Thankfully, this language isn't far from any of those. All I have to do is work from memory, but my memory has been foggy since hearing my true name from Nada.

Her spells will be dangerous. Since she knows my true name, she could easily trap me with a mind bending spell like that on the battlefield. I was helpless against her. She was replacing all my memories as Rias with memories of her and Father. I guess I should be thankful that the Goddess transported me out of there when she did. I won't let you take another soul from me... I wonder what the Goddess meant by that.

I know that she lost all her heirs to Nada, but that could only mean that the Goddess governs over multiple realms and not just the one I reside in. That means that my Father also governs other realms as well. If what the Goddess is saying is true about Nada, then she didn't do anything wrong by killing those in other realms. I don't know who to believe anymore and I don't know the situation in Distor. Everyone could be dead and all my efforts could be for naught.

I don't want to take the Chaos Throne if I don't have to. If Chaos is still rampant after I defeat my Father and Nada, then I'll take the Throne. If it's suppressed for some time, I'll rise to the challenge again once it seeps out wherever it comes from. I'd like to meet the other major Gods to see what they say. I wonder if that's possible.

It's been hours and I've only been able to decipher two words: By dawn's. Frustrated, I slam my fist against the cavern walls, creating a fracture that runs towards the ceiling. I sigh in defeat and sit back on my hands. The next word has to be light. By dawn's light and then what? Some of the letters I've seen were painted on cavern walls. The most deadly spell the humans know, Seengato, has these letters. Filling in the blanks is leaving nothing for me to work off of.

"Frustrated aren't we?" Deriose appears in a cloud of golden leaves again, "If you were any angrier, I'd mistake you for the God of Fire's daughter. She's got a good heart, but you don't want to make her angry, much like yourself."

"Why are you here?" I say in a flat tone, "Here to correct me or here to gloat to me how the others would have figured this out instantly?"

"Never seeing our ancient language, you're further along than what I thought you would have been." He flashes a toothy grin, "By dawn's light hm? What do you think could go after that?"

"The opposite of dawn: dusk." I say, "But that's only one word out of many."

" I can't help you too much." He chuckles, "I want you to figure this out on your own. One more hint for the girl: If you're opening a portal to another world, what else could that portal be called hm?"

"A door, a gateway...a gate." I write down the word, "And there's an infinite amount of worlds. I'm sealed in this world by the Goddess and I need to open the gate to another world. No matter the time of day, nothing can be hidden from my prying eyes."

"You've got to stop being so helpful Deriose." A small pillar of flames opens to a doorway and a man in a black robe walks out, "She's a smart girl and would have figured it out eventually."

"This is Kazle's daughter?" A girl my age with fiery red hair and an equally colored robe walks from behind the man, "She doesn't look like much to me."

"She's currently fighting Kazle and her Sister." Deriose corrects the young girl.

"Why is she here then?" She sneers at me, "If she's fighting, why is she such a coward and in this realm?" I clench my fists in anger, "Angry aren't we?"

"I thought the Gods' couldn't have children?" I look at Deriose, "Especially ones with no manners."

"Every few thousand years we're allowed to." The man says, "Leonas, calm down. We're not here to fight."

"Maybe you aren't father," She glares at me, "but it seems this one doesn't know how to talk to a God!"

"Maybe you should act like one then." He says calmly as he places a hand on her head, "I apologize for my daughter's...rudeness. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Meric, the God of Fire. We've been invited by Deriose to watch this family feud of yours. There have been many in the past, but none had spread to the human world as badly as yours has. This shall be interesting."

"An honor to meet you both." I bow my head slightly, "Now if you'll excuse me."

"Want to get back in the fight, Relaria?" Leonas sneers at me, "I'll tell you the spell if you're able to defeat me in a bout. I'd like to see those Chaos powers of yours in action."

"As enticing as it is, I cannot. I refuse to use my Chaos powers." She needs to be careful when saying my name.

"Scared?" Leonas says in a mocking voice.

"Of course I am!" I say sadly, "I'd like to stay myself as long as I can."

"You'll have to tap into those powers to leave." Deriose reminds me.

"Yeah, I know." I stare at the ground and take a moment to think. If I fight her and win, I'll be able to leave here and get back to my world. I don't know how long the city will stand against my Father. However, if I fight her and use my powers, I'm one step closer to joining my Father and Nada. Wait, I still have the Goddess' power coursing through my veins! I wonder if I can use both powers with the Goddess' keeping my Chaos powers in control, "It's a deal." My eyes glow purple as I ready myself, "Good luck."

"Ooh, this gets me excited!" Her fists light aflame as she readies herself, "Good thing I'm always ready for a fight!" She removes her robe revealing leather battle attire. She's a close range fighter. Good, my specialty. I'm sure she can shoot those flames as well.

I unsheathe Artenagon and get into the position the Elves taught me. Meric and Deriose both take a seat away from us. A pot of tea materializes out of midair as the two get comfortable. As I look at Leonas, she's already making her move. I cross my arms blocking the heated punch. She spins in midair and with a kick, making me slide across the ground. She's fast, but not as fast as the Elves. If I'm correct, she can't hurt me as I'll heal just as quickly. She's not a full God yet, only an heir.

"You didn't burn." She says flatly looking down at her hands, "I'll turn up the heat then!"

Now, she's moving faster. I have to study her movements, but they're so erratic that's there's no pattern to her movements. "Slow down will you!" The seals on my arms begin to burn as the Chaos begins to churn inside me. My left fist glows purple with Chaos as I slam the ground. Purple and black pillars of Chaos erupt around the cave forcing the heir to stop in her tracks. "You wanna fight now?" I say walking towards her, spinning the golden blade in my hand as rocks fall around us clouding the cave in dust and debris, "'Cuz I'm ready." The left side of my body burns like hell as the flames of Chaos erupt from it. I see nothing but an enemy in front of me. She needs a lesson!

The dust around me blows away with every step. My left foot cracks the ground as I get closer to her. I will get out of here! I will get back to my friends! I leap forward, destroying the ground in my path, and come down with Artenagon. She catches the blade in her hands. I let go and kick the blade out of her hands. As she expects me to jump and grab it, I aim a kick aimed at her chin. Knock her out and I can leave this place. To my surprise, she blocks my kick while watching Artenagon fall to the ground.

"Interesting sword and fighting technique." She smirks, "You've been trained well."

I quickly retrieve my foot and jump away from her. She's not only strong, but she's a genius! "If you planned to knock me out in one blow, that's a bad plan." She settles back into her fighting position, "I've been training for a few hundred years. Good luck, Relaria."

I can't stand hearing that name...it's a curse to me. I stare at the ground trying to calm myself down. I can't go any further than this. If I let Chaos engulf me, then what am I to my world? A failure? A monster? "Stop denying your power and set it free." Leona's red eyes gleam through the dust, "You're holding yourself back and I won't consider this a fair fight if you aren't trying!"

"Please, I don't want to become my sister!"

"Are you that hard headed?" She asks as I'm engulfed in a fiery tornado. She appears in front of me for a brief second before I'm thrown out of the tornado. Holding my gut, I stand back up. I spit blood onto the ground and glare at the heir of the fire God. "You won't become her because you aren't her. You're both different people and grew up around different people. Accept who you are!"

Blood drips onto the ground as my nails dig into my palms. "Fine." Whatever air had been flowing in this seemingly motionless dimension, had slowed to almost nothing. The seals no longer burned as I let the power flow freely. My mind is free, not clouded. I look at my opponent as the seals are floating around me. I won't lose them yet. I need them for when I go home.

"Well look at you." She smiles, "Now let those seals go."

"No..." I shake my head with tears moving down my face, "I can't lose who I was!"

I'm greeted with a fist to my face. The seals disappear as I grab her wrist, "There you go, get serious! Get Angry!" She kicks off of me with a fiery burst. As she lands, I send her skipping across the ground with a swift punch and into a jutting rock, shattering it around her. She shifts her way out of the rubble and wipes the blood off her mouth. "That's more like it!" Her eyes are glowing with excitement, "This is worthy of a story one day!"

I block her next attack with my forearm and send purple lightning through her body. She slams into the cave wall leaving a small indent in it. "Your family really is powerful...but mine is right behind it!" The cave walls slowly melts around her. I stomp the ground and send Chaos through the ground towards her. The ground rips as the attack flows through it. She jumps, but not before punching the air. An unseen attack forces me backwards. For a moment, her image flickered as if she made a slight move. Either she moved and struck me, or she knows long range attacks.

She kicks and punches the air as her body flickers. She's speeding up as the fight drags on. For once, I smile at the thought of an exhilarating battle. That could very well be my bloodlust that I was born with, but I'm enjoying the fight nonetheless. She's not using long range attacks, she's using weaker, but faster attacks. I don't know when she did it, but she used an unspoken spell to strengthen herself. Unspoken spells are more powerful and more dangerous for the opponent. Like me, you could be taken by surprise and the fight could be over in seconds.

I mutter a defensive spell and magic circles revolve around me. "Figured that one out real quick, didn't you?" She mutters. Finally, I catch a glimpse of a fist to my left. She slowed down for a more powerful attack. I catch her fist with my right hand and slam it into the ground. She twists sending scalding flames into my face. I scream out in pain and back away. I place my hand over my left eye. I feel the wound healing, but the pain is there no matter what. "Is that all your family can muster?"

"I'm barely considered family by my family." I say through gritted teeth. I lower my hand to my side as the wound finally heals, "Despite all I've went through, I don't consider my Father nor my Sister my family! The people I've met and the person I love is my family and no one can replace them!"

"There you go." She chuckles, "You're starting to think logically now. And you said you'd lose control."

"I may not be as trained as you are with your powers, but I sure as Hell won't go down!" The ground cracks as I leap towards her. Our fists connect sending waves of fire and Chaos spiralling between us. The ground between us shreds apart as our ferocity rises. The air bursts forcing us to separate. I land clumsily sliding back on the rocky ground. A fist connects with my face. I'm flung backwards once more before getting an elbow into my gut. The ground craters around me as I land.

I peel myself away and slowly stand back up. That attack hurt...a lot, but I'm already healing. "I think it's time we cool down..." I slow my breathing and start cooling the air down. "Black Ice." I whisper as invisible ice begins to spread around the cave. Leonas quickly jumps and hovers in midair using her flames for flight. I hold my hand out to her, willing the ice to reach her. "Crystalis." Ice juts out from every direction latching onto her and instantly freezing wherever it touches. I hold my hands out for the final attack. A massive magic circle appears in front of me as I ready it.

"Chaos Flare." I say emotionless. The attack charges and for a moment, I see true fear in my opponents face. She breaks her arms free and holds up her hands as she surrenders. I almost realize it's too late and launch my attack through the wall behind her, only inches from the top of her head. I release her from the ice and shake where I stand.

I collapse to my knees and start hyperventilating. Every single one of my instincts were to kill her, but I stopped...maybe I can control myself. "Good job!" She jogs to me and pats my back, "Hey, just calm down. You won, so I guess I'll tell you the spell."

"I almost killed you and you're still this friendly?" I take a deep breath and manage to calm down.

"I've come closer to death than that, I just didn't want to spend the next few days recovering from that attack." She smiles, "I couldn't train if that happened!"

"The spell?" She looks at me expecting something, "Please?"

"Okay." She stands up, "It's easy. By dawns' light and dusks end, no world is sealed from me. Open! The gate of infinity!" A portal opens in front of her outstretched hands revealing a training yard. "Just think of the destination and say those words. You'll be home in no time!" The portal closes and Leona retrieves her robe, "That was fun! When you master those powers of yours, I wouldn't mind fighting again." She holds out her hand.

"I should be thanking you." I smile as I shake her hand, "You pushed me to a breaking point that I've never reached before. And because of that, I was able to control what I was born with."

"Sad to say, you're more human than dragon." She frowns, "Must have been your mother. I was trying to drag out your dragon form, but you seem to lack it."

"I was raised by humans." I smile, "Can all the Gods transform into a dragon?"

"Most of us, yes." She's battered, but otherwise unhurt, "You're more human than God."

"I took after my mother, while Nada gained most of the talent." I sigh, "I'll be seeing you."

"Right, father!" She waves to him, "Let's go home!"

"Seems she still has energy to burn." Meric turns to me, "Good luck and hopefully we can see you in future meetings."

"I don't know about that." I don't meet his gaze, "I don't intend to take the Throne, only monitor it."

"You'll take it once you're ready." He laughs heartily, "Come on, Leona, it's time to go home."

My new friends step through a portal back to their home. What an intriguing girl. Now, it's time I get home!