Private: Forsaken Past.... Of Broken Saints

[ResaMoon]

Resa smiled.

Kryian growled. "What the hell are you?!"

Resa stood next to Albel, and watched. She pointed her sword at Kryian. "Your time is up." she said to him. "Wait until I go into Demon Fourm! I'm sure with our powers, you'll die on the spot!"

Kryian laughed. "I'd like to see that.. But first... Your friend..."

A black flame started licking its way up his hand. He pulled it up and looked at Albel. "Try me. I dare you boy... Try me."
Then flew at Albel, the flame growing around him, and then comsuing his sword...

 

[Angelo Credo]

Albel just stood there, staring at the demon charging towards him, the flames grew ever larger, illuminating the dark backdrop of their surroundings.
When Kyrian got close enough, Albel took two steps forward, holding out his hand, he spoke softly.

"Stop."

The word echoed off the walls, bouncing from crystal to crystal, everything slowed down around Albel and Resa, the flames, as well as Kyrian himself, forced to a stop in mid air.

"I told you didn't I? This is my world, my rules..."

He gripped his sword, the runes burned red hot and gracefully Albel darted forward, cutting three times through the demon, emerging on the other side, back facing Kyrian. He sheathed his blade, turning to face the beast, he snapped his fingers.

As normal time resumed, the inhumanly fast cuts finally came to life in a very visible manner, three clear cuts streaked through the air, as if ripping through the very sky itself.

"Demons...You're so overzealous, always thinking so highly of yourself, especially over those whom you've bested before, times change and I have aligned myself to Resa, to get to her, you shall have to go through me and considering where you are...That will be no easy feat."

 

[ResaMoon]

Resa watched Albel closely, realizing that Kryian was going to be no match for him. She couldn't help but smile. But something felt wrong...

Kryian feel to the ground and then to his knees. He looked up at Albel and then smiled. "Kill me boy... I dare you..."

Resa felt the grip on her sword tighten. "But remember... I can't die... I'll be back, over and over again... And some time... some day.." he turned his gaze to face Resa. "I'll kill you."

"Albel! Now!" Resa cried out. "Don't just stand there!"

 

[Angelo Credo]

"Fine, keep coming back, I shall quite simply strike you down again and again, I wouldn't exactly call this a challenge."

Albel laughed, walking up to the wounded Kyrian, stood before the beast, forced down on one knee to support itself, Albel knelt down to Kyrian's eye level, grabbing his cheeks, meeting the demon's gaze.

A tiny chuckle escaped him.
"How does it feel, demon? To be stripped of your pride and forced down on one knee before a human? Does it fill you full of humility? Does it shame you? Or does it make you angry? Or perhaps even...All of these things? I do wonder what goes through the mind of such a proud creature when it is forced to bow to something it considers infinitely it's lesser."

Albel stood up once more, walking back over to Resa's side, he placed a hand on her shoulder, smiled and nodded at her, as if to reassure her.
He raised his good arm, snapping his fingers once more. Several large crystals burst from the ground, impaling Kyrian from all sides, lifting the demon up into the air and skewering it.

 

[ResaMoon]

Resa felt a wave hit her. But she still felt scared. "Albel... You heard him... What do we do now?"

She looked towards Kryian then back at Albel... "He's gonna keep coming back... He's going to kill me.. One way or another."

 

[Angelo Credo]

He looked at her, he felt the deep concern in her voice, Albel made some effort to console her.

"You have been granted something which I would imagine you haven't had the liberty of for quite some time. A little peace and quiet, for the time being, you can live your life without being forced to watch the shadows every hour of the day."

The world began to crumble around them, the black crystals began to dissipate, dissolving and carrying Kyrian's now lifeless corpse with them, the darkness around them turned into light, the warehouse surrounded them once more and the morning sun shone through the windows.

"Resa Moon, we shall worry about his return when the time comes, for now, just rest, demons never truly die, all we can do is banish it and hope it stays that way for quite some time, I've sent it screaming back to where it came from, and yes, it will be back, I have no doubts about that, but you have power, you're strong, in time you will be stronger than him and you'll beat him, and until the time comes where you grow strong enough, I'll stand by your side and ensure that you do not face him alone until you are ready."

Albel's aura vanished and in a bright light, his clothes peeled away, swiftly being replaced by his former purple ceremonial robes, he returned to his former self once more...And then collapsed from exhaustion.

 

[ResaMoon]

Resa ran forward and caught Albel. She looked at him, with a small smile. "Thank you, Albel.." she quietly whispered.

She looked towards the window, and realized the sun was coming up. She could hear the morning birds and seagulls, followed by people coming down to the Harbour.

"We better get home, eh?" She closed her eyes and mummered the words that had taken them to the warehouse, returned them back to her home.

She placed Albel on the couch before heading into the kitchen. "When you wake up." she was talking to Albel, even though she knew he couldn't hear her, "There'll be a pot of coffee ready for."

Then she silently guided herself into the kitchen.

 

[Angelo Credo]

~~~~~~~~~~

Albel stepped forward from the shadows, in a world of his mind's own creation nothing but darkness surrounded him, darkness and thousands of pairs of crimson red eyes, he drew his blade, the eyes watching his every move, following him no matter where he went, no matter how far or how fast he ran, he dashed to the abyss like shadows.

The eyes darted backwards and forwards, towards him, and then away from him all at the same time, it grew increasingly disorienting for him as he came to a standstill, out of breath, he shouted.

"Stop toying with me! Come out and face me damn it!"

With that, the thousands of eyes stopped, remaining perfectly still, glaring intently at him.

"Every time, the same nightmare, let's just end this charade and get it over with shall we? Come out and finish me, it happens every time, so you may as well oblige me, you are my creation after all."

The eyes reacted, almost as if listening to his words, they all darted to one spot directly in front and above Albel, coming together as one.
The dark red eyes grew bigger, deeper, more imposing than before and before long, there was only one pair, floating in mid air, staring down at him.

Light illuminated the room, what stood before Albel was a sight that would horrify even the most strong willed warrior, yet he had seen it so many times before that it barely registered with him.
Standing before him, a great, decaying, putrid dragon towered above, eyes filled with pure malice, hatred for anything living, it reared up on two legs, flapping it's rotting wings and letting out an almighty roar.

"Not looking so proud these days, are you?"

"Fool, you know as well as I that I am a manifestation of your soul, what I am, you are too, since the days of Albel the Wicked, your soul has become what I am now, the thousands of lives you took at the highest point of your reign of terror are what I embody, the blood of innocents will always be on your hands, your blade and your soul, you know full well it's what gives you the majority of your powers...You haven't much time left, yet what I don't understand is that you insist on spending it at the beck and call of some little girl, oh how you have fallen, Albel Nox, stop trying to atone for your sins, it's too little too late."

"Who said I'm trying to atone? Now stop talking and get it over and done with!" Albel yelled, holding the tip of his sword upwards, aimed at the dragon's head.

"As you wish, not the time for conversation I assume, I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon." The dragon stood up tall, letting out yet another roar before rearing it's head, unleashing a black hellfire on the comparatively tiny Albel, he held up his gauntlet in a vain attempt to block the flames.

~~~~~~~~~~

Albel eyes widened, he sat bolt upright on the couch, screaming, drenched in a cold sweat, cradling his head in his hands.

 

[ResaMoon]

Resa was out on the deck when she heard Albel scream. She quickly dropped her cup of tea and ran in. She Genlty grabbed his shoulders, sat down on the couch beside him, and replied softly. "Albel, it's okay. I'm here."

Dammnit, what had she done? Was Kryian going after him too? Or was it something esle?

 

[Angelo Credo]

Albel unfolded himself from the ball he was curled up in, managing to calm himself down just enough to react to Resa.

"I...I'm sorry, I don't know what to...I'm sorry, we all have our own demons to deal with, these are mine, I apologise."
He just about managed to stand up, making no other move other than just standing there in the middle of the room, almost entirely vacant, he gazed off into space, unfeeling and unthinking before turning to Resa.

"Might I ask a favour of you? I suddenly feel the need to...Talk, I suppose."

 

[ResaMoon]

"Sure Albel." She nodded, as she stood up. In truth, she was worried about him. She hasen't heard anyone scream like the Albel did in years. "What's going on?"

 

[Angelo Credo]

"I have to admit, after that exchange between us and Kyrian, things have surfaced, things I would rather forget." Albel sat back down on the couch, he unhooked his sword from his side, leaning back and sighing.

"Years ago I was something different, a different person entirely...Back in my homeland I was formerly known as Albel the Wicked, I cut down thousands of innocent men, women and children all for no better reason than to sate my own bloodlust. I was no better than the demon who chases you now."

He cradled his head in his hands and began speaking once more.

"My father died for my sins, my pride and my overconfidence. Where I come from, we have to undergo a trial by fire when we come of age, it is our duty to subdue a metaphysical dragon, it is the embodiment of our very soul, our willpower, our strength and our pride, mine had fed off of all the pain I had caused, becoming more powerful than any beast recorded, it caught me off guard, but my father sacrificed his life to save me, bearing the brunt of the flames that were meant to consume me. I should have died that day, it should have been me, yet I'm still here with this damn gauntlet acting as a constant reminder of all the suffering I caused...I keep people at an arm's length because I simply can't stand the idea of someone sacrificing themselves for me once again..."

Albel ran his hand up and down the synthetic arm, it was ice cold to the touch.

"Since then, the beast has haunted my nightmares, it has become something disgusting, it's a manifestation of my soul and it has turned into a decaying, undead creature that scorches me, burning me alive at every opportunity, making me feel the constant pain that my father felt, except I don't get the pleasure of dying afterwards, I have to live through it again and again...I'm effectively evil, no better than the worst demons and yet here I am, trying to make up for past mistakes, however, I fear my doubts may be true about myself...It's far too little, far too late...I don't deserve to be saved any more."

He looked up at Resa.
"But I go on far too much, my apologies..."

 

[ResaMoon]

Resa sat back down beside him, taking in everything he had said to her. "Albel the Wicked..." she repeated quietly.

She understood. But when he was with her... Okay, sure, maybe he treated her like she was a pain sometimes, but he stayed around the Bar, even though she didn't need him to. But he killed sooo many innocent people... Things just didn't add up in her mind...

She looked at him. "Albel, but... You saved me, from Kryian... From the idiots that tried to break into the bar. You know that I don't need you here.. But yet you stayed. Why?"

 

[Angelo Credo]

"Honestly...I'm not entirely sure, I stay here knowing that anything I do will be far too little to be able to atone for what I've done, I just feel that staying here gives me some form of self worth...After everything I've done, all the evil I've caused, it's somewhat comforting to know that I still have the capacity to help somebody, even if it means nothing when I eventually die."

He looked at Resa, her facial expressions told him everything he needed to know.

"Knowing what I've done, it must disgust you...It's odd really, I feel so little remorse for what I did to those people, but the death of my father struck home the severity of the pain I caused, if that's what it feels like to lose one member of your family...I wouldn't want to live through losing as many as I killed...I'm just tired of it all, honestly, I still hear the screams now."

 

[ResaMoon]

Resa shook her head. "What you've done, isn't as bad as what Kyrian has done... Your paying for your mistakes that you regert... I can understand."

Resa closed her eyes. "Albel, I don't hate you, remember that. And I'll do whatever it takes to help you. I won't let you die. In truth... I don't want you to die."

She gave him a warm smile. "Albel the Wicked... Please." she rolled her eyes. "More like Albel the Kind, from the time I spent with you."

 

[Angelo Credo]

"Albel the what now?! Kind?! Why I'm almost insulted that you'd even say such a thing!" Albel laughed, he closed his eyes and smiled.

"But thank you, it's been quite a while since someone said anything quite so nice to me, it's surprising really, but what's really surprising is that even knowing what I've done, you don't hate me, remarkable really...Simply remarkable."

 

[ResaMoon]

"How can I hate you?" she smirked. "You've done nothing wrong to me or to harm me... Actually, your the first person that's been able to put up with me."

Sh giggled, then got to her feet. "Albel you helped me, let me help you in return."

 

[Angelo Credo]

Albel remained sitting down, looking up at Resa.

"Well, I have been told that I have quite the high threshold for everyday irritants." He laughed.
"And now...How do you plan on doing that? It's not that I don't appreciate the offer, but I would like to know how you'd manage to help me slay a demon in my own mind."

 

[ResaMoon]

"Hmmm..." Resa began to think about that. "I dunno...."

She began to pace back in forth again. "We can think of something, something..."

She closed her eyes as she paced, she was lost deep in thought. How to help Albel? The demon that was in his own mind that she could never face. But there had to be someway to help him.

"How about... We train?" she stopped, and opened her eyes. "We'll find a place to train, the both of us. I can train t beat Kryian, and I'm sure there's a way to use 'Mind over Matter' to beat your own demon."

 

[Angelo Credo]

"It's possible...I suppose if I poured as much time as possible into training I may actually stand a chance at beating this thing..."

He stood up, walking towards Resa, he put his hands on her shoulders and hugged her very briefly before stepping back, looking down at his feet.

"Thank you Resa Moon, I appreciate you taking the time to help me, I've not had the luxury of friends all that often."