The War of Written Blood

Lan walks up to Iris, grabs her hand, gives her a soft smile, and the fog suddenly begins disappearing.

As the fog begins to disappear, Iris notices how her surroundings are becoming blurry, changing colors and shapes the more she stares at them. She looks at Lan, her face having soft blue eyes, but there appears to not be a physical being beneath the clothing.

Iris closes and opens her eyes; she then finds herself in a new environment, an environment she recognizes but yet is so unrecognizable. 

It then all hit Iris; she began to notice how her environment was the same as the one she was just in, except the colors were inverted. And a sudden stench of blood hits her, weakening her stomach.

Iris looks at how Lan is trembling as she tries to speak, but only mumbles can be heard, her hand trembling.

"D-don't worry, Ivy. We are just having some conflict against the revolutionists."

"Revolutionists?" 

"Y-yes, they are the ones who want to make us a pure racial tribe, a tribe where only the strongest win while leaving the ones who they deem unworthy to suffer very bad things. So please just stay close to me. Our leader Kaelis will win. He had just come back from a top mission."

Beep, beep, beep.

Iris' heart sank, her pendant began ringing, and she quickly covered the sound with her hand. Her heart filled with anger. She knows that the "top mission" that he has just arrived at was the mission to kill her parents. She wants to go and kill him for revenge, but she knows she can't do anything with her current situation.

"Ivy! Get down!!" 

Lan pushes Iris down while using her cloth to create a shield. Iris looks at how the many dark fire attacks were being absorbed by Lan's cloth. 

Iris had never seen the type of fire; the fire created a trail of fire, which grew. A trio of Aetherloom, which she had encountered, appeared. The one-armed creature and the being responsible for placing the curse on Iris and another one that alerted her that others will be looking for her.

Iris felt so much hatred that if it weren't for Lan positioning in front of her, she would have immediately jumped and hoped to kill them.

They seemed to notice Iris's intention. "Who are you, little girl? It feels like we have met."

"Don't try to hurt her! Our population is dwindling; don't try to hurt our next generation! Also, she had been attacked by Oblivora." 

The three looked at each other in amazement. "This is the first time I have seen someone attacked by Oblivora. That might be why I remember sensing her but don't remember where."

"What is Oblivora?" Iris asked, her voice aching.

"Don't worry, hopefully you will eventually learn about your past." Lan, in a calm voice, grabs Iris's hands. Turning to the trio, "This is a battle between the adults, so don't bring the children! They haven't done anything. They are kind souls, so let's keep it between ourselves!"

"Old lady, I just joined and have lost my hand to a pest. I will do what I want, especially to that tender meat." 

The Aetheloom who put the curse on Iris turned around and punched the one-armed Aetherloom.

Boom

"Scauren, never say that ever again!" Its voice depends; its hand is covered with its inverted color, white blood.

Scauren stands up, takes off its blade, and runs forwards, "Noctheris!!"

Noctheris turns around and raises its artifact, which begins pulsating, making Scauren run slower, its body trembling until it eventually feels its blade returning back.

Seeing the pulsing and the effects of the artifact makes Iris remember how she felt as the pulsing destroyed her body. She finds it hard to believe that it is that easy to hide all of her powers, which they noticed before. 

Why can't they notice the butterfly in me? They wanted Apatura, and now that her butterfly is in me, why aren't they attacking me? Are they planning to do something?

"Ivy, are you fine?" 

Iris snaps out and nods. She lowers her head, raises her hand to her face, and takes a deep breath; she feels a mixture of negative emotions.

"Ivy, don't worry, we will not attack you for now." Noctheris's tall statue towers over Iris, its aura intimidating her.

"F-for now?" 

"Until we win, but don't worry, we will make sure that no one does anything until you feel ready. Especially someone like him. So just wait for our victory."

"You will not win! The superior being has finally arrived from the dangerous mission, so be ready to lose." Lan aggressively proclaims.

"Your numbers are quickly losing numbers. I know that he is the best in our race, but what will he do if everyone that supports him dies? Will he go insane and cause his own demise, or will he alone be strong enough to beat us? We already have a way to make other species transform into us. What will you do if the women can't reproduce in a time of high stress? We can take this war as long as necessary." Noctheris coldly states, his body shaking Lan and Iris.

"We will win, and we will win. With him we will always prevail, as it has been instructed in our scripture for centuries. Evil never prevails; we will always win." Lan proclaims, her voice fluctuating.

"Why do you think you are the 'good' in this war? Why are we evil? We are a cursed species; we have been the plaything of the Velthra all because of our useless management of our young. They have caused so much damage to the survival of our species. But we are the bad guys because we want to not live in fear."

"The Velthra are naturally evil. What will our youth be able to do against them? We have tried every method, yet we can't! Why do you believe that your plan will succeed?!"

"Because that is how it was written." Noctheris says in a calm and sadistic tone.