The party awoke early the next morning and began to walk towards Vargania. They were already relatively close to the city. They estimated that they should be able to see the city over the horizon by the late afternoon. It would another day or two to get there though. The city's immense size is what allows it to be seen from a distance.
Suddenly, Jezza stopped short and her face went pale. "Jezza?" Mathis asked. "What's the matter?"
"I..I can feel them. I can feel them approaching us."
"The Fire Force?" Aren asked. Jezza nodded.
"That reminds me Aren," Alex said. "How can Jezza still use magic? If she was injected with Matron, wouldn't her powers have diminished when Mathis absorbed the Matron?"
"I, I, I don't know," Aren stuttered. Alex gave him a quizzical look, then turned away. He looked toward the sky and saw something rather disturbing. Off in the distance, he saw a small red spot in the sky. He didn't know what it was, but it disturbed him.
As they continued to walk, the red spot got larger. When the city was visible over the horizon, the entire sky was colored scarlet. To Nevanyk, it looked like the color of blood. But to Jezza, it looked like the sky was ablaze in fire.
Jezza stopped again, and looked into the sky. "They're here." As she said this, three figures descended from the burning sky. One, looked like a monkey; the other was a large, muscular man with no hair; and the third was a tall, handsome man with long black hair.
"Jezza, Aren, nice to meet you again," Ignis said.
Jezza did nothing, but Aren walked up to the Fire Force. The party tried to stop him, but it was no use. They didn't want him to do anything drastic. They were quite surprised to see Aren kneel down to Ignis. "My mission is complete Ignis. I have brought the interlopers to you."
"Aren you back-stabbing bastard!" Nevanyk cursed as he tightened his grip on the naginata.
"Very good Aren. You have been a worthy pawn. But now your time is up." Ignis outstretched his palm toward the kneeling man. Alex's party was still recovering from shock. They trusted Aren with their life! It just didn't make sense.
"How could you Aren!?" Alex proclaimed. "I thought you hated Vargania!"
"Oh I do Alex. That's why I sided with Ignis." Aren looked up at his executioner. "It would be an honor to be cleansed by you."
Ignis looked down at the man. "Very well. You shall be cleansed." A burst of flame shot out of Ignis' hand, and utterly disintegrated Aren.
"AREN!" Jezza screamed. Even though he was a traitor, she couldn't help but feel for him. Her fists clenched, an she stared at Ignis. "Why the hell did you kill him!"
"Because he wanted me to. Anyway, his part was complete. He has brought you all to me." Ignis looked at Jezza. "Why don't you return to your heritage Jezza. Come away from these useless humans."
"What do you mean 'my heritage'!? Just who the hell am I!?"
"Ha, ha. You don't know, girl?" Blaze asked.
"Hee, eeh, hee, of course she doesn't!" Erif babbled. "She's been with these, hee, ha, ha, humans too long."
"Come Jezza," Ignis asked, "don't tell me you actually forgot our mission?"
"Mission?"
"Yes, our mission. You see, ever since the dawn of time, our race had one purpose: to cleanse the universe. You see, the universe was born, void of life. It is this useless life that has corrupted the universe over the ages. It is our mission to scour the universe and cleanse it with our fire. Vargan was just a pawn. We used him for our own purposes. And no, his time is also up."
Ignis turned around, and faced the city. A small ball of fire formed in his hand. "And now, you will see my power." Ignis raised the orb over his head, and hurled it at the city. The city exploded in a wave of fire and destruction. When the initial blast died down, you could still see the blazing city over the horizon.
Alex fell to his knees. He watched the burning city ,and felt a sense of guilt. He still couldn't totally comprehend what was happening. What he did know, was that they would have to defeat these three. "All right!" He proclaimed as he stood up. "The time has come!" Alex pulled out his sword and held it high. "I really don't care about your cause, or how powerful you are! I don't care if the entire universe is on your side. All I know, is that if we don't defeat you, all of Lograndia and Lunar will die!" A subtle white glow began to radiate from Alex. The glow increased, until it was considerable in brightness.
"A nice speech Alex," Ignis noted flatly, "but can your actions back up your pretty words?"
Alex didn't hear Ignis' comment. He was too enveloped with whatever was coming over him. Without thinking, he crossed his arms in an X, then spread them vertically out to the sides. A blue light began to mix with the white, then amassed into a ball above his head. "Blue Dragon Glacier!" The ball changed into a dragon, which charged at Erif. As it came close to him, it spewed a wall of ice, which smashed him into the ground.
All was still, then the ice began to melt at a rapid pace. The water that ran from beneath the ice, was stained with blood. When the entire wall was melted away, there was no trace of Erif, save for the red liquid that now covered the ground. Alex, due to the amount of stress, collapsed to the ground.
Blaze was a tad shocked at his partners demise, but Ignis wasn't phased at all. "He always was the weakest." Ignis turned to Blaze. "Blaze, take care of them."
"You got it Ignis." Blaze turned to the group. "Your gonna pay for what you did. Prepare to die, interlopers." Blaze raised his hands, then thrust them forward as a wall of fire spewed from the ground.
Nevanyk jumped out of the way, and charged at the man. As he came within fifty feet of him, he had to turn back. An immense wave of heat was emanating from him. "There's no way I can get near him! It's up to you two now!"
Mathis prepared to attack the monster. "Polar Winds!" A gust of below-freezing winds whipped at Blaze. By the time they got through his heat barrier however, they were nothing more than a breeze.
"Ha, ha, ha! What's the matter boy! Can't play in the big leagues!" Blaze fired a burst of flame, that nailed Nevanyk and knocked him unconscious.
Mathis didn't know why, but he felt completely full of power. A new wave of energy began to surge through his soul. Mathis closed his eyes, and began to chant a spell. "Powers of destruction that well in the core of the soul. Amass altogether into one uniform being. May the souls of the many become the needs of a few. Return to existence and show your true form." Mathis opened his eyes, and looked at Blaze. While he was chanting his spell, it seemed that the entire world began to 'wave'. The aura around Mathis was so concentrated, that Jezza had to back away from him.
Mathis reached out to Blaze and screamed, "Armageddon!" A ray of energy shot from Mathis hand, and when it reached Blaze, exploded in a dome of energy. Bright flashes of energy filled the sky, and a deafening boom filled resonated throughout the air. When the blast was at last complete, there remained nothing but a hole; a hole that appeared to have no bottom.
Mathis collapsed to the ground and Jezza ran to him. "Mathis are you all right!?"
Mathis looked up and gazed into her violet eyes. "Did, did, I get him?"
Jezza wrapped her arms around him and began to cry. "Yes Mathis, you did."
"Good. You know, I'll always protect you. I love you"
"I know Mathis, I know. I love you too." Jezza wiped away her tears, and looked at the exhausted mage. "Forever," she said as she kissed him. When their lips separated, she stood up and looked down at him. "Now Mathis, it is my turn to protect you."
"How very touching. I'll make you a deal; submit now, and I'll promise to kill you both together."
Jezza quickly spun around and looked Ignis straight in the face. "I will never submit to you!"
"Such a pity. You really have no chance against me since you haven't received proper training. My power is ten times that of Blaze. In other words, I will crush you easily. Your friends had more skill, and luck. But now, it's just you, and, me."
"Your wrong Ignis! What allowed them to win was the power of their own soul! Their inner goodness. I have learned that the greatest power comes from within! You will pay for underestimating the power of the human soul!"
At that moment, Nevanyk and Alex regained consciousness. They watched as Jezza slowly approached Ignis. "You annoy me. Now die." Ignis tossed a ball of fire at Jezza. The ball dissolved into an invisible barrier that surrounded her. "What the hell?" Ignis continued to hurl fire at Jezza, but to no avail. Every shot was deflected by her invisible shield.
When she reached Ignis, she grabbed a hold of his shoulders. Her head fell, and a tear trickled down her cheek. "Mathis, I'll never forget you."
"Jezza! Noooo!" His pleas would not be heard, as the area where Jezza and Ignis stood exploded. A pillar of fire rose to the heavens, leaving nothing but charred earth.
Mathis continued to cry into the ground, as Nevanyk appeared over him. "Get up." Mathis refused to answer. He just continued to sob. "I said, get up." Still, no reply. "Stop crying you baby!" Nevanyk kicked Mathis, causing him to fall to the ground.
"What the hell did you do that for?"
"At least I got a reply now," Nevanyk answered. To Mathis' astonishment, he noticed that Nevanyk was smiling. He then, returned to his crying. Nevanyk, now totally enraged, picked the boy up by the collar. "Do you think you're the only one to lose someone you've loved! I've seen two people that I've loved dearly, get killed in front of me! You have to get over it!"
"I don't care," Mathis managed to mutter between sobs.
Nevanyk threw the boy to the ground. "I thought you were stronger than this! I thought you could save this corrupt heap of a planet! I guess I was wrong about you." Nevanyk turned his back to the boy. "We don't need cry-babies. C'mon Alex, lets go defeat Malachy on our own."
"No, wait!" Mathis' eyes had stopped watering. "I won't cry anymore." Nevanyk said nothing. He just stood there. "I said I won't cry anymore! Jezza wouldn't want me to cry now! I'll have a chance to cry later, but now we have to get to Malachy!" Mathis was once more standing firm. Nevanyk smiled, then turned around.
Nevanyk walked up to Mathis and outstretched his hand. Mathis took it, and shook. "Welcome back, Mathis." Mathis smiled, knowing that he had finally gotten the respect of Nevanyk. Jezza would not have died in vain, he would be sure of that. Everything else was taking care of. All that was left now, was to go to Megalensis.