Onward to the Sun

Chapter 3: Meeting Helios Firestorm

Chapter 3: Meeting Helios Firestorm

He held blue fire on both of his hands, but he was not burning at all. It was as if he was immune to the beautiful flames that remind me of sapphire and azure; it almost seemed like the fire was not hurting him at all—or I guess the fire actually was not because it was his creation. The fire played at his own will as if he has tamed it. It was his.

He threw these orbs of fire towards the monsters who were lunging at him like arrows propelling and tracing their parabola. More of the creatures who were hit by his fire was driven away with great velocity, some wolves hit the old trees around the forest and they turned to dust and disappeared as leaves fell off the foliage, but there was still a lot of them—too many to count with my bare fingers, and it seems like the man was starting to feel exhausted because his fire now was gradually going weaker compared to its former state a few minutes ago. He was also drenched in his own blood and sweat now and he is starting to gasp for air. I guess using this fire magic is taking a toll on his body.

He was surrounded and outnumbered by these smoldering and smoky wolves, but he managed to still keep their distance by gradually throwing fire around him to scare these evil creatures off. The wolves ended up rounding upon him as if waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack and put him out of his misery—there were too many of them, and I cannot even count because they were all too fast, and they were scattered in every direction while facing the cornered man. They were all like creatures made up of smoke and shadow. The man, however, stayed very alert and vigilant regardless of his current state and condition. He still managed to defend himself against this pack of deadly wolves, especially with the ones that were trying to dash towards him.

This fire magician, or whatever he is, wore this school uniform with navy blue accent stripes—a dark shade of midnight blue blazer that has a school coat of arms on it, short pants that were an inch above his knees, a cable-knit diamond-patterned sweater vest and white dress shirt underneath, he had black socks that were at least one inch below his knees too. He was sporting these black leather shoes that were dirty already with mud and blood. He was already in a messy state, and some parts of his uniform were already dirty and dilapidated.

The man closed his eyes as if manifesting his magic more and concentrating it, he had both of his palms facing each other in front of his chest and a blue orb of fire appeared. It was glowing a warm hue and it was blinding to the eyes. This time, the man’s fire looked stronger and brighter compared to the previous flames that he conjured beforehand. I guess he still has a few tricks up in his sleeves.

“As a Direct Descendant of the Sun Goddess, I hereby pray to Sol that she grants me strength, to bless me with the purest flames that shall extinguish the evil Night Creatures who have risen from the depths of Hexi Mundo. Grant me, Sol, the power that encompasses all creations, in order to return nature in its former balance by eliminating the darkness that shrouds the Sun. Grant me, Sol, the fire that started it all, in order to end the shadows that lurk deep within.” The man chanted and while he did it, his palms started to glow along with his eyes, and when he finally finished saying the words he needed to say, his fire became brighter once more, and it looked deadly but beautiful this time around. It was as if in-between his palms as well, there was a floating concentration of energy, of flames that seem to be able to devour anything.

The blue fire started to shift and transform to a shade of dark red, yellow, and orange as a lighter shade of sapphire electricity engulfed it—and it somehow reminded me of the actual Sun. It actually looked like a mini-version of it, the magician extended both his arms and raised it towards the sky, and the Sun-like orb rose above him as if following the movements of his hands; suddenly, the place became hot and windy, making it harder to breathe. The atmosphere became heavier than usual, and a part of me was screaming for me to run away already, but I could not. I was rooted on my spot, too engrossed with whatever was actually happening in front of me. I just stayed hidden.

The wolves appeared to have felt the gravity and force of the stranger’s magic, and they started to run away, scared for their life, but the man was merciless, and he clapped his hands; a vibration occurred a few seconds later like there was a rippling effect of his clap that echoed across the forest, there was silence at first, like a calm before the storm, then I felt the surging energy that was being transmitted from the glowing orb of fire above him—I felt something powerful, like a force to be reckoned with, I cannot really fathom what it was, but I just waited silently as the prevailing energy was being emitted from the man.

My eyes widened when a wolf went in my direction and it was almost the same as my size—it was that enormous, like a colossal beast, and it caught my presence because I gasped, the wolf growled at me. Its glowing silver eyes seemed furious as it stared at me, as if telling me that this will be my last second alive. I took a few steps back, my heartbeat fast. I wanted to run away, but I felt my knees weakening. I was rendered useless because of fear, and I fell to the ground as I tripped unto a twig behind me.

This is just a dream. I made myself believe that, I constantly repeated these words inside my head, but I know now, more than anything else, that this is all real.

Because if this was just a dream, why do I feel pain in my back? Why can I feel the environment and everything else?

I wanted to keep denying this fact because it does not make sense at all, but still, I can’t. So, this is how it all goes for me? I am teleported to this magical world that my mother has painted before she conceived me, and I will immediately meet my end here.

The wolf lunged towards my direction, its mouth very wide open as if I was its prey and food. I just stared blankly, waiting for my last seconds of being alive. I always believed that memories of your past will flash right in front of your eyes as you are a few seconds away from your death, but I guess that is just a lie because no memory is playing in my head—only nothingness, only an abyss. I guess it is because there is nothing memorable in my life, except for when I was in eleventh grade where I punched the guy in his face for messing up with me and calling me nerd and names. I could not tolerate any more of their bullying, that is why.

“Impello.” The man spoke after a few seconds and in a blink of an eye, the small Sun above the man which the wolves ran away from started to emit and conjure fire-chains with burning arrows in all sorts of directions, hitting all wolves with such precision, turning these dark creatures into nothing but a cloud of dust, this also includes the wolf that was about to devour me.

I touched myself with wide eyes—I am unscathed, and alive.

“Amun.” The man declared after, and the mini-Sun above him disappeared.

He fell on his knees after a few seconds, blood gushing out of his left hand. It seems like he has used all of his power already, and he was fatigued. There were no more signs of these night creatures around, and he sighed with relief. I did the same too. However, something appeared in front of the man, which made me guard up more because it had very sinister energy. It gives the impression of a portal, with its very own shades of blue and dark purple which were moving in a distorted and obscured fashion, like a liquid floating midair, but it was not water. Something came out of it like it was a door opened from space—it was a man in a black cloak, he removed his hood and that is when I saw that he had two horns too above his head. A devil. He had this dark and sinister aura around him to, enough to make me feel nausea and frightened. For each step that he takes as well, the grass around him withers away into a dull and gray color.

“Who would have thought that there will be a survivor of the Sunfioree Kingdom?” The devil chuckled as if he found the idea amusing. “Regardless, a pleasure to finally end the last descendant of Sol,” the devil spoke towards the defenseless fire magician. “It is a foolish thing to do for you to come at me, alone. Either you underestimate me, or you overestimate yourself.”

The man, however, managed to still go beyond his limit, and he conjured fire once more despite his exhausted condition—I can feel his wrath and fury now as he glared at the devil. His fire was weaker and smaller now compared to his fire before. He threw it like a bullet towards the devil, but the devil used his palm to grab the bullet-like fire, and he closed his palm, extinguishing the flames of the man like it was nothing.

“A futile act, dear child.” The devil laughed, “still, for you to be able to exterminate all of my Wolflings on your own, it is quite a feat. However, that makes you very dangerous to the Obscurum Army and me. You have to be executed now so that you can finally join your ancestors.” The devil declared.

“Not if I execute you first,” the man retorted. His glowing eyes showed fury and anger, and they held this intensity that I cannot fathom. “You took everything away from me... My family, my friends, my people, and my kingdom.” He balled his hands into fists, and I can see his knuckles turning into a shade of yellow and white. “I will destroy the Obscurum Army, and I will start with you.” He declared.

The devil raised his eyebrow, “I love seeing stupid people try to have their revenge only to fail miserably. Dearest child, you should have just remained hidden somewhere instead of trying to hunt us down, you could have been spared if you did that. But looking at you—a fool, that is a hard act to do. Are you not being too full of yourself?” It was as if the devil was irritated because of the man, and he suddenly emerged in front of him, it was too fast to see, and the devil grabbed the man on his neck, choked him, and raised him like he was a sack of potatoes. “You cannot win on your own. You are weak, even if you are a descendant of Sol.”

The man struggled to breathe and he failed miserably, his face now turned red, like a tomato.

“Any last words?” The devil asked as he stared at the terrified eyes of the man who was now helpless. I wanted to help, but I could not do anything at all but remain hidden and watch. What is it that I can possibly do? “No last words, alright...” And with that, the devil used his other free hand and pierced it straight through the center of his chest. The man coughed blood, and the devil removed his hand from the man’s body, revealing a hole in it, and more blood streamed out of it.

A few seconds later, after the devil was contented with watching the man approach his last time of being alive, the devil released the man from its clench, and the man fell onto the ground. The devil no longer waited for the man to die because it seemed confident that the man eventually would in just a span of a few seconds. The devil used his magic after and opened the same portal once more, and he crossed it, leaving the soon-to-be-dead man who was now laying cold on the grass of the woods.

All this time, I was holding my own breath, and it was only when the devil was gone that I finally gasped for air too. I do not know, but I was petrified that the devil might notice me.

I stared at the man after, and without even realizing it, I was already running in his direction. The man had his eyes closed now, and he was already very pale. He lost too much blood. I stared at the hole right at the center of his chest, and more blood was flowing out of it, painting the grass around him with a shade of crimson color. I panicked and was flustered when the man coughed blood once more.

He was almost dead and barely breathing, but alive. Still, how will I be able to help him? I am not a doctor or a nurse, I do not know what to do!

Suddenly, I felt this force deep within me—as if something has just awakened and been released from its seal, it felt drawn towards the man’s body for no concrete reason. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on it, and this peculiar force from within me seems to be speaking to me, or my body, and it was commanding me to touch the man. I do not know why, but I just did and followed this weird force, that perchance, is just my own instincts. What difference will it do if I touch him, though? I shoved the thought away.

When my hand has finally held the cold arm of the man who was on the brink of his own death, I felt something being released from within me, an energy I never thought I would possess. My eyes widened as I watched my own hand glow, and the light that my hand emitted started to run deep within the veins of the man. I watched the light travel across his body in a beautiful manner, the light went towards the hole of his physique as if it was stitching the flesh back together in its original and former state, and the light soon trailed its path unto his injured arms, the bite marks started to evaporate too as if they were never there in the first place. It was as if time has reversed for him.

All of his injuries started to fade away until he was completely healed already. I could not believe what just happened. All I was thinking of now was this question—did I do it?

Well, if this was just a dream, I guess anything can happen... But I know this was not a dream and that idea confuses me more, even though all of the events that happened were strange and almost impossible, I know that I was not dreaming—because I felt pain a few seconds ago and I felt the humidity of the place too because of this fire magician. I felt everything else. I felt connected to this world, and that is enough for me to know this is all real, and not a dream or nightmare.

I remember the voices before that called me and told me to touch the painting. It finally made sense that the painting was actually a portal that leads me to another world. The only conclusion left that can finally connect the dots, therefore, is that I was teleported or spirited away to another world where dark creatures and magic exists. It all happened on my 18th birthday.

I stared at the man who was still unconscious. From this point of view, I can see the freckles on his cheeks and his dark red eyebrow and eyelashes that were thick and long. He featured a tanned skin, but he was not too dark. He was beautiful, despite his messy state right now. Wait, now that I think of it, he was no longer in a messy state—his dirty and tattered clothes were back to normal already as if they were not ruined in the battle he had a while ago. He looked completely fine now, as if whatever happened a few minute ago did not happen at all.

The man soon opened his eyes, and I immediately stared right into mine—he had those mixtures of dark red and auburn, almost ruby-like orbs, for his eyes. His pupils dilated at the sight of my face as if he was surprised to see a girl who was close to him, he blinked several times once more, and his eyes widened after. He immediately stood up, and he seems surprised once more as he flexed his arms, not feeling any pain at all, then he proceeded to examine the center of his chest, where there used to be a hole, but there was none now.

“Who are you? Did you do this to me?” He asked as he showed the parts of his body where there used to be injuries, “or am I in Elysium already? Is this the afterlife?” He frowned. He looked around and realized that he was in the exact position and place where he used to fight the monsters. He seems rather confused now.

“I-I don’t know, all I did was touch you, and suddenly, your severe injuries are gone.” I stuttered. “I didn’t do anything to you, I only held your arm!” I explained myself, hoping he would listen because I know this man is a perilous man, considering how he had managed to execute all of those night creatures before the devil came. What if he decides to toast me up too like those night creatures?

The man suddenly conjured blue flames again, and my eyes widened in terror out of assumption. I thought he would use that to burn the hell out of me now but he did otherwise. He decided to put out the flame on his palm after carefully looking at it, and he looked at me once more, “not only did my injuries were healed, my clothes are back to normal too, and lastly, my mana is also complete already—as if it was never used or exhausted in the first place.” His eyebrows creased, and he looked at me once more. “That means you are not a healer. No, you cannot be. If you are not, though, then what are you?”

“Believe me. I also do not know. I am lost too... All I know, however, is that I am not from this world.” I sighed and the man raised an eyebrow, as if telling me to fill him up with more to make my situation known, “I was teleported here from my world and I somehow explored the place thinking it was a dream, only to realize sooner that I actually was not dreaming and that all of this is real, then I saw you here fighting these monsters and I watched from a safe distance, then this devil with horns appeared out of the blue, and executed you. Then I felt my instincts running wild when the devil retreated at long last, telling me to approach you and touch you, then, the light started to emerge from my own hand and it traveled across your veins, healing all your wounds and injuries as if time has reversed itself from your body.” I explained as the man listened to me intently.

I looked at him, and he seems to believe me, or perhaps he was just gullible. Still, I was in no position to fool him and I had no intentions to. He has finally put his guard down, and I sighed because I cannot really have him being cautious of me, right? He was good at combat. If he deems me as an enemy, then it surely will be the end of me too.

“I see...” The man nodded, trusting the story that I told him. “You are not from this world, then.” I nodded silently, “When I was a child, I heard myths and tales about parallel worlds, alternate universes, and such, but I never thought it’d be real until now. I thought these were all just made-up stories.”

“So, you actually believe me?” I asked.

“What reason should I not, and what would you gain and benefit from, anyway, if we say that you are actually lying?” He pointed out.

“Nothing,” we both said in unison.

“So, you do believe me and my story.”

“Yes.” The man replied. “Also, considering your peculiar dress, I know you really are not from this world.” He insisted, then I looked at my own clothes—an oversized tee-shirt that has a unicorn imprint on it, and I also wore this pink pajama with rainbow and clouds embroidered on it. “Anyway, I am Helios Firestorm, you are?” He asked.

“Luna Clockwork.” I smiled.

“Clockwork... That oddly sounds familiar.” He said out of the blue, and then he looked at me once more. “If I may, Lady Clockwork—”

“Luna is fine.” I smiled, cutting him off. I guess this is part of their culture. Still, it felt too formal for my liking.

“Alright, then, Lady Luna—”

“Luna.” I pursed my lips.

“Fine...” He sighed, “Luna, if I may, is it not presumptuous of me if I assume that you are clueless of what is happening and, therefore, you have no idea where you are and what you just did to me?”

“You are not presuming at all, Mister Firestorm,” I responded. “I am clueless to everything that is currently happening.”

“You can call me Helios, too. To make it fair.” He smiled at me, showcasing his perfect set of teeth. “Perhaps it was fated for both of us to meet.” He added after I remained silent because I do not really believe in kismet or destiny. “Anyway, welcome to Magus Mundo, a world where acnologia exists.”

“Acnologia?”

He nodded, and he conjured fire once more, “like this,” he demonstrated, and then he extinguished the fire after a few seconds. “I am a fire acnologian, a direct descendant of the Sun Goddess, Sol, and I belong to the Divine Tier, the highest tier of acnologians.”

I nodded, if I translate it to my own words—I guess magic here is what they call ‘acnologia’ and ‘acnologians’ are the magicians. I mentally noted this.

“Luna, I am very grateful that you have saved my life, and that leaves me in great debt and favor of you. It will be a shame on my part too if I just leave you here on your own, in a world that you are not familiar with, after finding out your story too... This is why I offer you the option to join me as I travel back to Astaria Academia, The School of Sword and Sorcery. I think the Headmistress there will be able to help you with your peculiar case and situation, or at least, that is what I hope for.”

I remained silent as I reconsidered his offer. He seems harmless now, though, and if he had any bad plans for me, he would have done it a few seconds ago.

“So, are you coming with me?” He asked.

I nodded, “please let me join you—I am really stuck in a bizarre position now. I need all the help I can get so that I can find out what happened to me and how I can return to my world too.”