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The past.
Alicia let out a haggard sigh as he took off his helmet, the gleaming platinum that made up the majority of his helmet was at odds with the pure but battered gold that made up the inside of the starlight express. He and his companions/friends had defeated Larstastnaras not that long ago, just shy of a week ago actually, but he could feel the exhaustion deep in his bones. Turns out spending the absolute minimal amount of time resting after getting your ass kicked by monsters before zooming to the Alltrades Abbey before boarding the starlight express was not the smartest Idea he had ever had. He still had bruises and faint cuts all over his body.
But it was worth it, he had finally after two pain-filled years gathered all of the missing fyggs and could now return to the observatory. Still a small piece of pain rang through his body as he thought about his friends and how he was essentially leaving them behind, even though they had wished him well on this final stretch of his journey it still felt like he was making their sacrifices lesser as he could not bring mortals to the Observatory to have them earn their own glory.
Maybe once he had returned the Fyggs to yggdrasil he could return to them and join them for more adventures and quests. By his goddess, there were sure to be more monster hideouts and strongholds remaining that he could wipe out to make the protectorate safer.
“Stella, do you believe the starlight Express could make it to the observatory in its current state.” He asked, holding his helmet into his side, and it was a fair question.
The majority of the starlight express had been damaged during the initial attack and sadly despite her attempts to fix it she could not do more than superficial repairs. Because of this, and that they needed the captain for the more delicate repairs, the Starlight express was a 641814 of its former self with blackened sections along every car.
“As ready as it could be Gal, I can't do much without fat-guts here.” Stella said upon noticing the celestial. The dark skinned fairy was standing behind the train controls like she has been since Alicia had bumped into the girl. “It's a shame we couldn’t bring back your companions, having those strong boys and girls would make a mountain of a difference even if they are mortal. Could you imagine the face Apus major would make if he saw Beatrice walk around!”
“I wish I could bring them along as well Stella, but you know the laws are iron clad.”
“Can't blame a gal for daydreaming can you.” Stela quickly saw the bittersweet smile on her friend's face and quickly started the conversation away, cursing herself for bringing it up. “Could you be a gal pal and bring me that copper thingy, the one I got is all sort of busted.”
Looking to his right Alicia spotted a small box filled with copper tubes and grabbed one before handing it to the fairy. The girl accepted the tube and quickly made out to replace the one before her, getting it replaced in less than a minute, before testing it. Seeing that it was working, or at the very least not exploding, Stella turned around with a proud grin.
“Well Alicia, I think the Starlight express is ready for flight, Are you ready?”
It took a single nod from the celestial, bejeez it was word to see one of them without their wings or halo, Stella pulled the lever and with a ear splitting whistle and a lurch the golden train of the almighty was sailing through the air. The two passengers of the train could practically feel the very air parting before the golden plow.
“I don’t know how many of these Fygg there are, Alicia but I reckon we have just enough of them that we can make a delivery to the Observatory and get a lot of weight off your fellow celestial shoulders.” Stella started, hoping to fill the silence surrounding the duo. “Not to mention You’ll look so much better than those stuffy guards, what with your silv-huh?”
Seeing the look on Stella’s face, Alicia turned around and saw what looked like a solid blue light forming in the center of the engine car. Reacting quickly he threw his helmet over his head and drew his sword before pushing Stella behind him so as to protect her with his armored form. Luckily he did this just in time for the light to flash out of existence, blinding the both of them temporarily. Blinking the spots out of his vision he looked as to what appeared and felt his throat clench.
“Aquila!” He called out in shock, seeing his mentor kneeling on the ground breathing heavily.
“Alicia…”
Hearing his mentor say his name brought the young celestial out of his shock. Shoving his sword away he dashed forward and slid to his knees right in front of the older celestial, grabbing him by the shoulders to make sure it actually was him before bringing the man into the tightest hug he could. He felt arms wrap around him as well, and could practically feel the warmth of his mentor seep into him. Beneath his platinum headgear he felt tears grow into his eyes and run down his cheeks.
Even after he had returned to the observatory after restoring the starlight express to somewhat working order, he had dealt with backhanded remarks from the surviving celestials about how he wasn’t a true celestial anymore without his wings or halo. It had hurt him to those he had trained with eye him with distrust when he walked back into the only place that had ever felt like a true home, no matter what his companions did to help, they simply moved too much to stay longer than a few weeks, and know that because of his fall he was considered lesser than them for getting hurt. It nearly made him break down when he had heard Jade say it should have been a true celestial return instead of him.
Then he had found out that his mentor had descended down to the protectorate in order to find him and any other celestials that had fallen, only to go missing within a month. So returning he had been greeted with most of the remaining celestials greeting him with scorn and a missing mentor.
He was forever grateful that when he returned to his companions they were there for him.
“Aquila… I missed you so, so much.” He whispered.
“I found you little wing…” Aquila muttered before pushing the trap off of him. “Where have you been?”
“I’ve been traveling along the protectorate, taking care of the surging monster gangs and hunting down the fyggs. It's gotten bad down there Aquila, there are gangs numbering in the low hundreds now and we need to get the fygg to yggdrasil so the remaining celestial guardians can help the mortals with the gangs.” Aliclia explained as desperately as he could. While monster gangs were not that uncommon the biggest one he had seen before the start of this whole mess was only about 3 dozen monsters and they were the more aquatic type monsters so it made sense, seeing over a hundred undead types was easily the scariest thing he had seen. “They need our help, Aquila.”
“I know that little wing.” He said, if a bit distantly, before standing up tall. “Tell me my student, did you find the Fyggs?”
Not noticing the slightly glazed look in his mentor's eyes Alicia turned around and grabbed what looked to be a small wooden box sitting with several others. Turning around with a proud smile on his face he popped open the lip and showed the 7 golden fruits glittering inside. The eyebrows rose into the non existent hairline of the older celestial as he looked at what had been lost.
While he was there with Apus major and Alicia, he himself was not close enough to get a good look at the golden fruit before the attack had come. Before his student was lost.
“You did well my student, the almighty will be most pleased with your actions.” He said with a proud smile on his face. “Now would you please hand them over so that I may bring them to yggdrasil."
Alicia, who was getting ready to close the box, froze in his tracks.
“But… Stella and I are already on our way to the observatory.” The trap said slowly, confused as to why his mentor was asking for the Fyggs. “We’re inside the Starlight express as well, no monster can enter without permission.”
“Alicia…”
“And even if monsters do try and attack the starlight express,” The orange hair trap continued, not noticing the tone in his mentor's voice. “With us both here we can defend it from any dragon that tries to attack, even if they could catch up with the almighties engine. If we need to land I know where my companions are resting so we can get them-”
“Alicia!” Aquilia barked.
The trap's jaw snapped shut at the irritation he had clearly heard in the older celestial's voice, not knowing how to react as he had always presented himself as a calm and collected warrior capable of facing the worst storms without flinching.
“I think you fail to realize.” The older celestial spoke slowly, “I was not asking for you to hand them over. I was ordering you to hand me the Fyggs.”
“But-”
“Alicia, Guardian of angel falls, I order you to hand me the Fyggs o Yggdrasil!” Aquila baked once again, this time doing nothing to hide his irritation.
Slowly, almost like he was resisting, Alicia handed the box containing the fyggs over to his mentor. Aquila grabbed the box and summoned a small Sigil portal to his side where he sat the wooden box on top. He turned his head back to his student as the box was swallowed by the portal.
“My student I can’t help but feel as if you forgot one of the core laws of being a celestial, one that I am fairly sure that I made sure to drill into your head. So how about you stay there with your mouth shut.” Aquila practically growled out, even as he watched as drops of tears start to fall beneath Alicia's helmet. Ignoring that for a moment he turned away and kneeled with his head bowed. A dark cloud rose over his shoulder until it looked as if a bird's beak was leaning into his ear. "I have collected the Fyggs my Master, what orders do you have for me?"
Stella could only watch in horror as the scene unfolded before her, unable to do anything as she was the furthest thing from a fighter and fighting and veteran warriors like Aquila would surely get her killed. She desperately wanted to snap that celestial out of whatever was happening but knew she would be wiped out in an instant. Looking at Alicia's frozen form, she wondered what was going on in their head. With their current situation she was willing to bet it was nothing good.
"I understand my master, it shall be done." Aquila said after a few moments before standing up off of the ground. At this point Alicia could see the blank look in his eyes and, yes he couldn't deny it, something had obviously gone wrong when his mentor had descended to find him. "Alicia, my student, did you forget a lesser celestial is supposed to follow the orders of a higher celestial no matter what. That was one of the tenets we were given to by the Almighty before he ascended. The consequence for refusing an order is a punishment handed out by the celestial whose orders were refused."
The trap didn't, couldn't actually, say anything to the older celestial. He knew of the inbuilt rule that every celestial had where they had to obey the older celestials orders but he had only seen it a few times back when he was still training under Apus major. Those few times were each ones where the new celestial had to be ordered to do something, such as killing a low ranking monster but hesitating for too long. So hearing those words leave his mentor's mouth was like a punch to the gut.
The older celestial walked past the frozen duo, one in terror and the other by command, before they heard a door slide open. Stella could see from her position that he had opened the door to the outside but as to why was beyond her. Aquila circled him 3 times before coming to a stop right in front of him again, this time with his arms crossed behind his back. He hummed before he spoke.
“Alicia, I order you to draw your sword and hand it over to me.”
With only a small shake of their body to show their resistance Alicia slowly drew his sword before handing it to their mind controlled mentor handle first. The older celestial grabbed the blade before taking a moment to admire the work of the blade. While it didn’t even hold a candle to some of the gear locked away in the observatory or what the monster generals used it was still a good blade crafted by a mortal blacksmith who knew what they were doing. Well crafted if a bit simple looking apart from the hoops at the ends of the guard.
Deciding it was good enough he placed the sword along the wall of the train carriage before turning his sights back to his student. Thanks to his master's words, he knew how to punish him.
Drawing his own sword he confidently walked forward until he was just shy of the trap before lashing out with his blade, striking his arm with a spray of sparks. The blade failed to cut anything thanks to the metal armor but with how loud the sound of the blade hitting was, Aquila didn’t doubt his student had felt it. Again and again he lashed out with his sword, striking the armor his student was wearing but also sometimes hitting the areas where there was no armor to protect his student.
Stella could only watch in horror as the ‘mentor’ her Galpal had told her about torture Alicia to the point she could see blood starting to pool around her firend, making her worry deeply about him and if he was going to even be conscious after this.
After what felt like an eternity the older celestial stopped striking the frozen Trap, nodding in satisfaction at the punishment he had dealt out. Hopefully his injuries would prevent him from following for at least a few weeks.
“And that, my dear student, is why you never disobey the orders of those above you. You end up getting punished for it, and I might not be so lenient next time.” Aquila said with no emotion in his voice. Sheathing his sword he walked over and grabbed his student's blade from where he had set it. “Oh and one more thing Alicia.”
Without warning Aquila reared the sword back and impaled Alicia’s sword right in the trap lower torso, right between the armor plating around his waist.
“Gah!” The trap managed to spit out, before the command resurfaced and he was forced to close his mouth.
Alicia's first immediate reaction was to open his own Sigil and grab one of the healing herbs or potions he had stored inside but before he could raise his hand more than a few centimeters his arm was frozen in place, just like before. Distantly as he stared at his mentor, who in turned looked at him with a blank mindless stare, he could feel the warmth of his blood already seeping down his armor
“Alicia!” Stella cried out in terror.
Flapping her wings open she tried to charge the older celestial only for the man to barely give her a look before rearing a fist back back slapping the poor fairy out of the air with a hammer strike. The fairy in question let out a cry of pain as the fist slammed into her torso and sent her rocking back into the control panel where she crumpled into a heap. Stella raised her head just in time for her to watch as the bastard ripped her friend's sword out before throwing it off to the side, spraying the blood of his student all over the floor.
“You no longer need to follow my last orders.” Aquila said in a frigid tone.
Instantly the trap let out a pained whimper, the beating he had endured while trying to move or even scream having drained most of his energy, before he felt his legs give out from underneath him and he collapsed to the ground in a heap. His vision swimmed as he desperately tried to stay awake but the wounds and sting of betrayal was making it an endeavor to simply keep his eyes half opened. He had no idea what had just happened apart from his mentor not being himself, something that deeply worried him if they could take over the mind of a Celestial with hundreds of years of experience.
The starlight express shook violently as something slammed into it with the force of a cannon ball, the gleaming metal let out a horrifying screech of metal being punctured and bent, making Stella cover her ears in pain. Aquila ignored the sound and strode over to the door he had opened earlier and with a short flap of his wings he leaped out of the carriage into the roaring winds of the Protectorate. He flew above the starlight express and took in the sight of a massive dragon clenching the celestial carriage in its equally massive claws, each larger than a mortal's horse drawn carriage, and the figure riding the dragon's back. His master, it seems, had arrived early.
Back inside the starlight express main carriage, Stella was trying desperately to move away from the control panel to their Celestial friend to try and do… something to help them, something to stop the rapidly forming blood pool forming underneath their friend so they won’t die and leave them all alone again. They couldn’t deal with being alone without either their galpal or fatgut ever again.
She did get to more than a few steps however as the starlight express lurched to the side violently and she was thrown from the control panel to the wall of the carriage into the boxes laying around with a deafening crash. Stella let out a pained gasp, unable to scream as she felt a piece of a broken box pierce her left arm. She tried to stand up but after what felt like hours the fairy fell back to the ground with tears pooling in her eyes. She looked at the chuck of wood stocking out of her and gritted her teeth to try and keep even more tears from spilling out and forced herself to stand to her knees. Looking around she saw her best friend sliding across the floor with a metallic screech, letting out a pained groan she started to crawl as fast as she could to the celestial to do… something, she would do something.
As for Alicia, he was trying to stay awake. The blood pooling around him and the several strikes he endured had taken their toll on his still battered body, the Trap had tried to summon something healing related out of his sigil but was barely able to make a circle sputter in and out like a mirage. With no healing items and unable to cast any healing spells all he could do was lie there and wait for either death or for Stella to save him. Tears had fallen from his face to intermingle with the blood around him as the seconds passed, almost tormenting him with the wait for something to happen. He was barely able to feel gravity shift beneath him and the sickening feeling of still warm blood sliding around him, or more accurately him sliding through blood.
The celestial watched with half lidded eyes as the golden and scarred interior of the starlight express slide across his vision, of the fairy Stella trying in vain to reach out for him just like his mentor had done so long ago, before the bright blue sky of the heavens filled his darkening vision. The last sight he saw before darkness enveloped his sight once again and he fell from the heavens, was the sight of Stella trying to reach out for him from the door of the starlight express.
TCOD.
In the dead of night, inside of a small apartment of Kuoh, dull pink eyes snapped open and pearly white teeth were clenched. Alicia laid on his bed trying desperately to keep his body still as tears attempted to pool in his eyes, the feeling of the thrashing Aquila had unwillingly given him over 3 years ago echoing throughout his body like a phantom and it was all he could do not the simply give into the urge to curl up in a ball and bawl like a child.
After what felt like hours of feeling each sword slash and strike the Trap eventually felt confident enough to finally move and check the time without breaking down, he had to clench his jaw again however when he saw it was barely into the daylight hours for light to start streaming across the town.
The trap's head slammed into the pillow's fluffy form and started counting sheep in his head, trying to calm himself after the nightmare he had just had. Well he says nightmare, his caretaker had told him he might have something called PTSD and this was something along the lines of a night terror. He didn’t fully understand the explanation the older man had given him which really wasn’t a surprise to either of them, the sheer difference between the mortals of the proterate and the mortals of this world were like night and day in his opinion. Although he would say that the entertainment they have is vastly superior to the theaters or carnivals he had been able to catch back on his world.
He might just get out of bed now that he thought about it. Turn on the TV and watch some late night show until it was either time for him to leave for school or he passed out. Yet… Alicia could practically feel there as something different, he guessed you could say, about how the world felt. Almost like something big was about to happen and by the end of a whole hell of a lot of things were about to change. It felt really damn close to the feeling he got when he offered the benevolence to Yggdrasil for the last time.
In just a few days, Alicia would look back at this night and think about just how wrong he was.
