To A Thief - Chapter 46: Ruler of the Skies

A Chapter by Jobyn

There is more to the sky than meets the eye.

Stiff had remained on the ground for a while, clutching his father's pendant in hand while Sekai and Lion gave him a moment. Eventually he placed it around his neck and got back up on his feet.

"You think he's going to be okay?" Lion asked Sekai as they both waited by the little island's cliff side.

Sekai didn't answer, but he turned to look at Stiff who was looking up at the sky now, eyes glancing at each cloud.

"Hm?" Sekai tilted his head curiously and uncrossing his arms.

Looking away from the sky, Stiff turned his head to both of them and gave them a big grin.

"Shouldn't have doubted him," Lion put a hand to her hip with a helpless smile. "Dummy. He's okay."

"Well, of course," Sekai smirked. "He is Aiden's kid, after all."

The Icarus Wing Mk III

Back aboard the Icarus Wing, the trio proceeded to make their way to their original destination. It wasn't much longer now, as it was here in the Tavnazian Archipelago that this place was located, albeit hidden and closed off to everybody.

Well, everybody who didn't know how to get there. Sekai was an "exception."

The sky remained covered in rain clouds, although it never appeared to rain. There was thunder here and there, but that was it. As they continued to fly through the sky, Stiff watched the land below stretch on for miles. What struck him was that it looked as though there were no signs of civilization here. No cities, no outposts- aside from the old one he was born in, and not even a single adventurer running by. There were animals and beasts, however.

Is this some kind of forgotten region? Come to think of it, the Tavnazian Archipelago wasn't connected to the mainland. I've never heard Moku or anybody back home talk about it before... but there were passages in history books that spoke of a forgotten region that lay dormant in the west.

Was I the only one born here that was still alive?

"It's empty, isn't it?" Sekai said as he stood beside Stiff and leaned against the airship's railing to look over the side.

"Huh? Oh, yeah..." Stiff replied, glancing once at him then back down. "What exactly is this place?"

Sekai turned and pressed his back against the railing, crossing his arms as he started speaking. "This was once the homeland of a proud and thriving nation known as Tavnazia. Yours and your parents' homeland. Before the war, this place had a gulf that connected it to the mainland. That's how I traveled here to learn of airships and how I met Serena before going back to start my career as a Thief."

"Homeland?" Stiff looked at him in surprise. "So this is where I was born... I always knew the orphanage to be my home, but even then I've forgotten where that was. Was that here too?"

Sekai shook his head. "No. That orphanage was in a place known as Grauberg. It was a once beautiful valley that became home to one of Altana's last line of defenses. People from all over the world were brought to Grauberg, including those of Tavnazia once the Shadow Lord began to scour the west. You were born during the time a secret weapon of destruction was constructed by the beastmen."

"A secret weapon?" Stiff looked up at Sekai as he listened closely.

"Yes," Sekai nodded. "It was used to disintegrate the gulf in order to prevent the armies of the mainland to support Tavnazia while they attempted to flee. Nobody was expecting it. How could the beastmen have built such a thing on their own? Tavnazia's last hope was a small resistance of ships that sailed west to rescue them. One such resistance before one that I joined was led by Eri. I'm assuming she planned to bring Serena back to the mainland, but... well, you know the rest. She must have joined the orphanage to watch over you."

Stiff could feel his teeth gritting. "The Shadow Lord..." he growled, clutching his chest. The thought of harboring such darkness inside of him made him sick. But he let up as he thought of Sister Eri. "She went through hell to take care of me... and I never even properly thanked her. I was constantly getting in trouble and running too far from the orphanage. I always told her that I would become this great adventurer, and she never doubted me for a second..."

"Well, right she was," Sekai closed his eyes and nodded factually. "So after the Shadow Lord was defeated, there was evidence that the remaining beastmen planned another attack with the weapon over the next six years that was supposed to be on a much larger scale. They planned to wipe out the entire mainland with it, but the absence of the Shadow Lord and their dwindled numbers proved to be a bit of an issue. The scale was much smaller than they expected, however they were still able to wipe out a few regions," he sighed regrettably, looking up at the sky as he continued.

"Grauberg took the extent of the damage, and that was just after I met you and had your orphanage transfer to the safety of Windurst... others weren't so lucky. You can still see the damage left in places like La Theine Plateau; those deep crevices. After that, the majority of the beastmen's remaining forces were wiped out and the world slowly began to heal itself."

Stiff gazed down at the land below in deep thought. "So much destruction... just where was my father in all of this?"

Sekai looked at him. "We might find that out today. Just be ready for anything."

Stiff turned and blinked at him, but then nodded in acknowledgment. "Right."

We flew for a while longer up until we started passing through many sections of floating earth. Yes. Floating. Just before we entered the area, Sekai had his crew enable some kind of barrier that stretched over the airship from the hull.

Sekai explained the floating "islands" as a natural but unstable phenomena that was happening due to some very powerful and ancient Avatars that never left this place. What's more, he told me that I would be meeting them real soon.

That was, of course, until we saw a large shadow looming over us within the clouds.

"Tell me that's another island," Lion muttered as she looked up with wide eyes.

"... I don't think so," Sekai replied when it began to grow larger as if it were coming straight for us.

The last thing that Stiff could see before a big sudden flash of light was shot directly at the Icarus Wing was a pair of great wings that pulled the clouds apart.

"Whoa!" Sekai exclaimed as the Icarus Wing took a direct hit and began to spiral out of control, sending everybody flying all over the main deck. "Keep her steady, d****t!!"

"I can't boss! She's locked down!" The pilot shouted over the link com. "Activating emergency boosters! Hang on tight!"

The force of the impact had sent Stiff tumbling right over the airship's railing. He was able to hold on at the last second, but his fingers were slowly slipping away from the bars. "S**t... I'm slipping!

"Stiff!" Lion shouted as she struggled to make her way towards the railing. But the ship was so out of control that every movement she made nearly sent her tumbling over the deck. "Hang on!'

"I can't...!" Stiff grunted as he tried desperately to pull himself over the side. The whole world looked like it was spiraling. His fingers eventually gave out, bringing him to plummet down towards the floating islands below screaming.

"STIFF!" Both Sekai and Lion shouted as the Icarus Wing shrunk into the distance while he fell.

Just then, his back hit something hard... but he hadn't landed on the ground. That was way below.

Upon turning, his hands touched scales that were as hard as adamant steel. When he got a good look at what he had just landed on, he threw himself back in shock. "D-DRAGON!?"

It was a giant dragon-like creature known as a wyrm. Its scales were earthen-colored and ran along its entire body, leading up to some sharp looking horns on its head... not to mention it was enormous.

Realizing he had jumped off of it and was about to plummet once more, Stiff quickly grabbed onto the scales on its tail and screamed as it flew with him hanging on, oblivious to his presence until it threw its long neck back and looked at him through burning yellow eyes.

My options are either to let go and fall to my death, or hang on and be eaten or burned...

Contemplating what way he wanted to die, Stiff's eyes widened as the wyrm let out a piercing loud roar and began to swerve its body around in the air, flying fast in a figure-eight motion to try and shake the puny hume off its tail.

Stiff's heart was racing as it flew towards an incoming island in the distance that might just be low enough for him to fall down from and not break every bone in his body.

Turning sharply in midair, the wyrm snapped its tail behind it like a whip and sent Stiff rocketing towards the island.

"AHH!" Stiff screamed as his face was nearly flattened by the rapid winds pushing against it. He could hear the sounds of his cheeks slapping against his jaws!

If I hit the ground at this speed, I'll be disintegrated!

He thought fast with the three or so seconds he had left to live, and could only think of one thing that might soften his landing. Taking out both of his daggers from their sheaths, he activated one Pulse Attack on each blade and prepared himself.

He chucked the first dagger into the ground below just before he landed. He would use the force that was released from the resulting explosion as an indirect "cushion" that would hopefully slow him down enough to use the next Pulse Attack for a soft landing.

Well, it slowed him down for sure, but at the speed he was going, he wasn't so sure anymore and to make matters worse, he was spinning out of control now. Nonetheless, he prepared himself again and chucked the second dagger towards the ground when he was close and stable enough.

He could feel the immediate rush of resistance from the explosion pushing against his body, making his flesh feel like some burlap sack hanging on a fishing pole. Now for the landing... it was ungraceful, to say the least. It went something like this:

OOF! (Tumble) (Roll) (Tumble) (Crack!) (Tumble!) (Slide) (TUMBLE!) (Stop.)

Stiff's clothes were completely shredded as he finally came to a halt, laying there half-conscious. His head felt like it had been hit by an airship. The only things still intact was his skin, his trousers- although barely, and his father's pendant.

By some kind of miracle, no bones were broken. It just hurt like f****n' hell and he could feel warm blood running down his face as well.

The piercing sound of the wyrm's roar knocked Stiff right out of his dazed state and made him realize he was still in big trouble.

It turned to look at him, stopping its flight and remaining in midair, watching him as if it was surprised to see he was still alive. Perhaps it had missed his unique use of Pulse Attacks and regarded the explosions as his body hitting the earth.

Quickly standing up on buckling knees, Stiff gritted his teeth and held onto his shoulder as he glared at it. "That... hurt."

The wyrm opened its massive jaws and revealed its razor sharp teeth as it began to charge up another one of those light beams that it had struck the Icarus Wing with earlier.

"Great," Stiff muttered, preparing himself to Blur. Looking in the distance, he could see his daggers stuck into the ground, but they were quite far as he had tumbled for so long while landing.

With one big pulse of light, the wyrm shot its attack directly at him. activating Flee, Stiff Blurred towards his daggers in the distance and did not stop. He could feel the force of the wyrm's attacks exploding behind him, dodging one by one with consecutive Blurs all the while heading straight for it. The beast kept lowering itself towards the island while trying to blow its puny target up.

Picking up his daggers along the way, Stiff found himself screaming in anticipation because what he was about to do was stupid and crazy in every stretch. He activated two Pulse Attacks just as before and got ready.

Once close enough that he was looking straight up at the giant wyrm, Stiff slammed his left Pulse Attack into the ground and Blurred up into the air at the same time, going a lot higher and faster than he normally would due to the combined use of the two abilities. The wyrm snapped at him as he leaped over its head, but missed.

Perfect.

Landing on the long and scaly neck, Stiff quickly ran up along it like a "bridge" not stopping until he was right up to the head of the beast and with all his might, struck the damn thing directly in the head with his remaining Pulse Attack.

By now you know the result of these things... giant explosions that send Stiff flying back unless he keeps holding onto the hilt of his weapon.

The wyrm roared out in a fury, shaking away Stiff from its head. He was quick to use its scaly spine and tail to slide down to safety below, and when he turned with a smirk expecting to see its head blown apart, what he saw horrified him.

He saw nothing. Nothing at all. Not even a scratch.

But what he heard next, scared him even more.

"YOU!" The wyrm roared in booming voice that was clearly english. "You are no Greater Wyrm! Why do you possess such an ability!?"

Stiff fell back on his rear shivering from the shock and the piercing voice. "Th... This thing can talk!?"

The area began to darken almost entirely, although it was still early and that definitely wasn't the sun setting. It was something else.

Looking up, Stiff stared traumatized at the large shapes that had practically engulfed the sky over him. What they were, however... was an entire family of these things being led by an even larger, blue-scaled one that differed in appearance than the others of the same size as the one he had just fought.

What that means is, the big one is even scarier than the others.

They all looked down at the little hume who stood below them, the big one with its piercing white eyes. It's appearance could almost pass off as humanoid. It just had to be some kind of god.

"What has the goddess brought to us this day, I wonder... Not many could withstand the fury of Ouryu," it spoke in an even deeper and more powerful tone, referring to the earthen-scaled one. "I am Bahamut, the Ruler of the Skies."

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Continued in Chapter 47: Dawn

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