Chapter 1: The Divine

Three years after the war's end...our story begins

THE DIVINE

 

                Five years passed since the younglings were brought to the castle.  Under the watchful eyes of Indi and Takumi, the two younglings lived calm and peaceful lives.  They studied the history of the country and learned of the final bout between the Light and Darkness.  Closing his book, the grey hound looked up with crimson eyes to his teacher.

                “Master Zetsumei…what happened to the Divine Weapons wielded by the dragon and the priestess?  None of the books here mention them at all,” the hound looked around at the other books in the library of the castle and sighed.  He had read more than half the books in this massive room.  He glanced at a door in the back.

                The door had a golden aura surrounding it and a black eye insignia with a spear diagonally through it.  The hound had tried coming near the door before, but magical backlash sent him flying across the room.  He had his suspicions, but he never had the courage to ask about it before.  He looked back at the coonsune who sighed in response.

                “Always the curious one, Azazel.  I might as well tell you since you’ve already learned you can’t get into that door,” Takumi noted as he looked at the hound and smirked.  “Yes, the Divine Spear, Gungnir is sealed behind that door.  It was left behind after the priestess and Equinox’s bodies faded away.  We opted to seal it within a room on its own.  We didn’t want to risk its power going into the wrong hands.  Though I suppose that concern is moot,” Takumi explained as he turned his back to the door and motioned for Azazel to follow.

                “The Divine Weapons choose their owners.  That being said, it’s hard to trust Gungnir’s judgement having chosen Equinox at one point.  As for the Divine Bow Artemesia…it wasn’t left behind as Gungnir was.  We’ve searched for it, but to no avail.  Artemesia has yet to be recovered.”  As Takumi spoke, he looked out the window to see flashes of lightning streaking across the sky.  The coonsune smiled and glanced to Azazel.

                “It’s about time for your training, isn’t it?  You really should train yourself like your sister does.  Then again…I need to convince that sister of yours to keep up with her studies like you do,” he sighed as he placed his left hand on Azazel’s shoulder.  “Get going, and when the two of your done, send her to me, got it?”  Azazel growled in frustration, but nodded nonetheless before he left the library.

                “I don’t want to do this training…I would rather read.  I wanna know more.  I want…”  Azazel stopped and glanced back at the library door.  “I want to see Gungnir for myself.  Just see it.  I don’t care about fighting.”  Azazel resumed walking and found his way to the courtyard where lightning was dancing across the area.  He looked over and saw a hellcat with brown fur with lightning wrapped around her twin swords.

                The hellcat held a stern look at the older white felinus across the arena.  The white felinus had an eyepatch over his right eye.  The eyepatch had shining red glass in place of the cloth that would cover his eye.  He wore a red leather trench coat with a deep crimson plated shirt underneath.  In one hand was a silver crossbow; in the other was a cane with a silver statue of a dead mouse attached to the handle.

                “Kamikaze, you’ve improved considerably in the last five years…but not enough.  You know you can do more, so why do you continue to hold back?  I know what you can do, yet you refuse to continue training your innate abilities.  Why?”  The felinus asked to his attacker.  The hellcat glared at her teacher and sheathed her blades.  As she did, the lightning coursing around her swords began dancing around her body as her long sleek tail began to harden like steel.  The lightning focused around her tail as she leapt up into the air and slammed her tail towards her target.

                The defending felinus let go of his crossbow as it dissipated into thin air, clutched his cane, and launched it into the air.  As Kamikaze’s tail collided with the cane, she felt her body seize up and fall to the ground as if she was ten times her weight.  The cat smirked as is cane returned to him and he knelt, the shine in his glass patch fading away, revealing an empty husk where his eye is supposed to be.

                “Captain Dusk…how did you…?” the hellcat struggled to get up as her body recovered from the fall.  Her tail returned to its natural sleek state as she finally got back up to her feet.  Emerald eyes glancing away from the patch, uncomfortable to look at the hollow hole behind it.

                “You have more to learn.  You’re easily antagonized, and you rush into battle without knowing your opponent.  Never assume you know everything about your opponent, regardless of how long you’ve known them.  There’s more to my combat than my crossbows,” Dusk said as he glanced over and saw Azazel standing there.  “You’re late.  Stay in your study session for too long again?”

                Azazel half-smiled and shrugged, not even bothering to answer the rhetorical question.  He looked at the weapons racked up next to the courtyard and looked at Kamikaze as she struggled to move to the sidelines, her tail still appearing to weigh her down.  He glanced at the ground under her tail and tilted his head slightly.  “Sir, any limitations on weapons?”

                Dusk raised an eyebrow at the question but shrugged.  “As Kamikaze prefers wielding two weapons at once, I’ll allow the same for you of course, though you usually go straight for the spear.  Why the change?”  Dusk gripped his cane in preparation for his new training partner.

                “I want to test something, that’s all,” Azazel responded.  He moved over to the weapon rack and grabbed a spear and strapped it to his back.  Looking at the other weapons, he opted to grab a short sword next and held it in his left hand.  He moved to the courtyard and lowered his stance, ready to strike.  Charging forward, he lunged swiftly at his teacher with the short sword.  Acting in turn, Dusk swiped at the blade with his cane.

                Upon the impact, Azazel felt the blade get multiple times heavier than it should have been.  He struggled to keep his stance as Dusk continued to strike the sword with his cane.  Dropping the weapon, Azazel slipped backwards, his eyes staying on the sword he just released as it hit the ground.  He glanced up and noticed Dusk beginning to advance, kicking the blade away in his pursuit.

                Azazel smirked as he released the spear from the strap on his back. He moved his stance low as his hands moved into position; his left hand kept back on the pole and his right hand closer to the tip.   He thrust the spear forward with his left hand and watched the spear and Dusk’s can connect.  He braced himself for the increased weight, but it didn’t come.

                I was right… he thought to himself.  He looked to his combat teacher.  “Mental manipulation only works if the target isn’t aware of the manipulation, right?” He inquired as he stabbed with the spear several times, Dusk avoiding each stab.  The white felinus smirked as he watched his student continue to stab.  The two continued exchanging blows between the spear and the cane before Dusk kicked himself backwards.  He attached his cane to the straps on his right leg.

                “Well done, Azazel.  You noticed the lack of damage on the ground and how easily I kicked the sword away, didn’t you?  I’m impressed…but it’s not enough.” Dusk materialized dual crossbows as he vanished from sight.  Azazel instinctively spun on his feet to meet his attacker from behind.  He lunged his spear forward to hit nothing but air, however.  The hound’s eyes widened as he felt the tip of a crossbow bolt tip the back of his neck.

                Azazel sighed as he lowered his spear.  “Having a good eye isn’t good enough if your opponent can out speed your sight…” he muttered to himself as he turned to face Dusk.  “I guess I’m not there yet…you’re still too fast to follow.”  Azazel picked up the short sword before racking both his chosen weapons.  He closed his eyes and shook his head in frustration.

                “Three years of daily training and still not enough…” Azazel muttered to himself as he turned around and quietly walked away from the courtyard.  He heard Kamikaze running after him, but did his best to ignore her.

                “Hey!  Get back here you mutt!” Kamikaze shouted, grabbing Azazel by the shoulder and spinning him around.  She looked at the gray hound.  “It’s not like you to get this worked up over training.  What’s going on?”  Emerald eyes locked with Azazel’s crimson and he looked away.  He turned his back on his sister and continued walking.

                “I’m just tired, I guess.  I’ve been so focused on my studies that I’ve been neglecting my training.  I just…” he stopped once he realized where his feet had taken him to.  They were in front of the library.  He opened the door to the library and looked towards the back, spotting the door sealed by the golden aura.  “I just want to see it…the divine spear, Gungnir.”  He looked at Kamikaze briefly before walking up to the door.  The golden glow from the aura glistened in his eyes as he placed his right hand onto the handle.

                Azazel’s breath slowed slightly as he twisted the handle.  He pushed the door once to no avail, the golden aura seeming to block the door from opening.  His gaze intensified as his eyes flashed briefly; his left eye flashed gold and his right eye flashed purple.  He pushed on the door again and the aura intensified before breaking.  The door opened, revealing what was inside.

                A spear sat chained against the wall.  Standing at six feet, the Diving Spear Gungnir was a black polearm with a golden spearhead.  The spearhead had the image of a dragon burned into it and a purple stripe wound around the pole part of the spear.  Azazel stared at the spear for a moment before starting to step forward.  He stopped when he heard Kamikaze whimper behind him.  He was about to turn around until he heard a voice call out directly behind him and he seized up.

                “What…are you doing, pup?”  Azazel’s eyes widened recognizing the voice as Master Zetsumei’s.  His ears drooped as he turned to face his master.  He didn’t look the coonsune in the eyes, instead opting to stare at the ground.

                “I just…I wanted to see it…I’m sorry,” Azazel mumbled.  He felt his master’s hand on his shoulder, guiding him out of the room as Takumi closed the door back up.  The coonsune placed his left hand on the door as the golden aura returned even stronger than before.

                “Curiosity is a double-edged sword, Azazel.  I don’t know how you broke the seal on this room, but don’t try opening it again, is that clear?”  Takumi held a stern glare at his pupil who simply nodded and trudged out of the library.  Takumi watched the pup leave with Kamikaze close behind him.  His gaze returned to the sealed door and placed his right hand on the door this time as a sigil appeared in the center of the door.

                The sigil showed the head of a purple dragon with different colored eyes: the left eye, gold, and the right, purple.  Takumi sighed softly as he crossed his arms.  “So you’ve finally found a new owner. Another dragon?  Concerning, to say the least.  But at the very least…this means Azazel’s desire to eventually own you is for nothing,” Takumi said as the sigil vanished.

                “Still…the fact that he was able to break my seal is concerning.  There’s more power to this pup at such a young age…I’ll have to monitor his training more closely…”

Author's Note

Tentatively finished.