Before Salinia

The world was created after a lone deity who wandered the universe with their companion. The deity alone had the power of creation, destruction was left to their companion. This god had tried to create planets with life on them before, but they just couldn't seem to quite grasp all of the intricacies of creating a self-sustaining world. World after world collapsed, blew up, or was just dead and void of all life. Each failure was erased from existence by this companion.   "Are you ready, Rysyn?" A soft voice called out to a floating figure. The figure is an androgynous, pale humanoid. They have short, black hair with jagged ends. Their clothes are dirty robes riddled with holes and tears. The figure continues to float in silence, seemingly alone in space. "Rysyn, I saw that smile, come on we have things to do" The soft voice called out again. The now smiling figure opened their eyes and turned up to face the voice, "What 'things'? We have all of time and that was exhausting for me" Rysyn replied. The source of the soft voice floated closer to Rysyn. Another androgynous humanoid, but more feminine and with a porcelain skin tone. They have shoulder-length brown hair that looks soft to the touch and wears similar robes to Rysyn. Their robes are in pristine condition, no dirt or a single hole or tear could be found on them. "Could you make the next one a little less tough, Melnyr?" Rysyn asked as the other figure approached. "As if it matters for you, you were just pretending to be tired, weren't you?" Melnyr said as they crossed their arms and smirked. "You got me!" Rysyn exclaimed as they laughed a little. "I really just like you calling out to me, always so concerned. So what's next? Did you already have plans?" Melnyr rolled their eyes and turned away "Of course I'm concerned, you're still expanding your powers and they're taking a toll on you, whether you want to act like it or not, because you're just as concerned for me." Melnyr said as they looked over their shoulder back to Rysyn. "And our next course of action is to just explore for a while. Maybe we can find something new." Rysyn was adjusting their robes as Melnyr talked but stopped at the mention of seeing something new. "Something new? Like what? Better rocks? Bigger Stars? We haven't found anything new since...well since ever. Isn't that why you started these projects of yours?" Rysyn asked, already knowing the answer. "Well, yes, but I just feel that it is my calling or my destiny. Why else would I be able to create such things as that." Melnyr replied as they gestured for Rysyn to turn around. There was half a planet floating not too far behind them. "And you're going to have to work a little harder if you're going to keep up with me" Melnyr joked as they bumped Rysyn on the shoulder with their hand. "Well I'd hate to hurt your confidence by using my full power" Rysyn retorted and laughed. "Let's go Melnyr, I can't wait to see what you do next" The duo set out to find something new and exciting. They traveled for a long time, but then again, what is time to timeless beings?   Eventually, the duo stumbled upon a planet that was completely ablaze and covered with magma. They couldn't believe it, they had finally found something new. The only thing they had found before that was firey were the stars. They traveled down to the surface and explored for a while before they stumbled upon an enormous wyrm swimming through the magma. They observed it for a while, for this was the first sign of life they had seen while on this mission of theirs. The wyrm found a large island to climb onto where it then found a flat, open area. It screeched incredibly loud towards the opening and reality itself seemed to tear open. Through the tear was a barren planet, void of everything but stone. It then summoned waves upon waves of magma and forced it through the tear. The magma started to slowly run down a mountain on the other side of the tear, completely covering it once it reached the bottom. The wyrm let out another piercing screech, as one of the distant mountains in the tear started to shake. Half of the mountain exploded, sending rocks and boulders flying in all directions. Through the smoke and clouds, a shadow slowly swayed. As the smoke started to clear, the duo started to see what appeared to be legs, long, sharp legs. The creature started to make a deafening chittering sound with a lot of clicks and hisses. Before the smoke cleared, the monster and its countless legs scurried down the mountain at incredible speed, breaking small mountains into pieces and clearing massive chasms along the way. As soon as it reached the bottom of the mountain, the creature looked like an evil centipede, if that was even possible. The duo felt an incredible malice coming from the centipede as it rushed towards the magma, then the tear, and eventually the wyrm. As it neared the tear, it thrust one of its colossal legs through the tear, towards the wyrm. The wyrm slithered out of the way and quickly bit into the leg with all its might, cutting off the leg of the evil monstrosity. Both creatures let out a shriek, the centipede out of pain, and the wyrm to close the tear. The wyrm grabbed the leg in its mouth and started to swim once again until it reached a massive cave entrance. The duo watched as the wyrm slithered in and started to feast on the leg that it risked its life for.   Melnyr and Rysyn were in awe of the two massive creatures that they had found. They were not sure where the tear went or how it was created, but it led to even more fascinating creatures. The companion suggested that they stay and observe the wyrm for a while in hopes of learning whatever this technique was. After some amount of time, it was discovered that the tear was either breaking down the barrier between this dimension and another or possibly creating a wedge to open a doorway. With this knowledge at hand, the two went and tried to practice for the first time in either of their existences. Neither Melnyr or Rysyn could recall their beginnings, just that they had always seemed to be and had been traveling together as long as they could remember. Melnyr had the power of creation, amongst a litany of other powers and abilities, but they were not all-powerful or all-knowing. Rysyn was the same except lacked any ability to create whilst exceeding at destroying anything they pleased. They complimented each other well, whereas one lacked, the other would fill in. Given this, it was strange for them to both try and do the same thing and yet, it was even stranger to find something completely new and exciting like this.   After another extent of time, the duo was beginning to open their own tears to other dimensions, granted, not at the same scale as the ones opened by the wyrm. Early on in creating these tears, they noticed that Rysyn's way of creating them was more permanent. Where Melnyr had succeeded in creating a "wedge" to open the doorway, Rysyn simply broke down the doorway altogether. Luckily the power of creation could make another doorway as soon as the concept was understood. Once they were both satisfied with their progress and started to grow bored of watching the wyrm, they decided to open a tear and see where it would take them next. Melnyr wanted to do one more thing before they left, they wanted to try and converse with the wyrm. The whole time that they have been on this molten wasteland, they have simply observed, never interacted. They observed the wyrm open more tears occasionally. Mostly to the same area as before, the barren rock planet.   It started to become apparent that the wyrm had some sort of connection to the centipede, almost like a rivalry, but that wouldn't explain the sheer hatred the centipede had for the wyrm. The wyrm got lucky every once in a while and seemed to goad the centipede into attacking through the tear and the wyrm would gain another leg to feast on like before. On one occasion the wyrm was not quick enough and had the tip of its tail almost completely severed. When the tear closed on that occasion, a deep, malicious laugh conjured into the brains of the duo and the wyrm and then the voice simply said, "I always collect my debts, your head will be mine when the tear opens again." The wyrm stayed in its cave, which it filled halfway with magma, almost like it was healing itself with a hot bath. It stayed there until it was healed, then it rose from the lava and headed out to another island. Surely the wyrm wasn't going to open another tear and risk its life again. The times it got lucky were few and far between, while the times it nearly lost its life or was injured started happening more and more frequently. The wyrm slithered onto the usual island and took a deep inhale, then released its usual screech, except the pitch was slightly different. As the duo stared, anticipating the same barren wasteland they had witnessed dozens of times before, were shocked to see an endless stretch of blue land with rolling hills. As soon as they saw the endless blue, they realized that this was not land, and those were not hills, but some sort of variation of magma. It was less dense and moved with ease as it constantly rose and sank within itself. The wyrm started summoning the waves of magma as it had before and as soon as it impacted the blue surface, steam exploded through the tear, and the wyrm slithered to the side of it. The duo waited in anticipation for what would happen next, but nothing did, for a long time. The wyrm waited patiently as the magma continued to flow into the tear and steam continued to explode outward. Eventually, the steam started to thin out and was less violent. Once the steam cleared, like the smoke from the exploding mountain did before, there was a massive island on the other side of the tear. As soon as they saw the island, the wyrm entered the tear and slithered out to the edge near the water. The duo couldn't help themselves, what was this new world filled with another amazing substance? Once through the tear, they rose high into the sky to not be seen by the wyrm. They wouldn't dare interrupt this new and exciting development. As the wyrm neared the edge of the self-made island, it let out a loud howl, that sounded like it was more for grabbing attention rather than intimidation or any sort of declaration. After a few minutes passed, while the wyrm was still waiting patiently, the water on the horizon slowly started to rise. It rose more and more as it came closer and closer. Something was heading this way, much like the centipede down its mountain, this creature was wasting no time to meet the wyrm. The creature was finally upon the island and burst through the water's surface with huge claws that were covered in a hard carapace, much like the centipede. The duo couldn't believe it, there was yet another massive creature with seemingly its own world like the wyrm and centipede. Surely this one wouldn't be so malicious and evil like the previous one. As the water from the explosive entrance fell back into the sea, a massive form was in front of the wyrm, looking it straight in the eye. The creature looked to have a long midsection like the centipede, but not nearly as long. It had a lot of legs, but again, not as many. Its huge claws furled tight into its chest as if it were simply holding them. Their large eyes were sitting on stalks that seemed to move independently of each other, and all of that and its body was covered in bright vibrant colors. Gradients of reds, yellows, greens, and blues color its body (This was a mantis shrimp).   Just as before with the centipede, a voice rang throughout the area, originating from the shrimp. "What could you possibly want from here? I should kill you and toss you back through the tear you slithered out from." The wyrm has never shown emotion as long as it has been observed, but this time something was definitely different. During each encounter with the centipede, the wyrm simply seemed either determined or even just mindless. Just like another creature going on a hunt to gather some food. Something must have changed in the wyrm after the last encounter because, the wyrm looked both frightened and anxious. The wyrm dropped its head and spoke for the first time, "Please, just hear me out, I can't do it anymore, not by myself." The mantis released one of its furled claws at the ground beside the wyrm, obliterating everything in its path. A massive shockwave sent Melnir and Rysyn hurdling backwards. This explosion caught them off guard, neither one saw what happened. Melnir quickly caught their balance and looked to find Rysyn beside them, but they weren't there. Melnir quickly looked all around and spotted them falling towards the water, unconscious. "Rysyn!" shouted Melnir, as they rushed towards them and launched multiple rope-like constructs from their hand. The constructs bolted towards Rysyn, grabbing them at the last moment. Melnir started pulling them back up as they saw something, something in the water had just turned around and retreated into the darkness. All Melnir saw was a toothy grin, dull yellow eyes, and...legs? "What was that? What was that malicious smile and this feeling?" Melnir thought as they retrieved Rysyn. Rysyn regained consciousness as soon as Melnir grasped them from the rope constructs. "What was that? Are you okay Rysyn? I never imagined that you would get hurt, the thought has never occurred to me" Melnir said, while floating mid-air, holding Rysyn until they regained their senses. As Rysyn was coming to, Melnir glanced back towards the heated conversation between the wyrm and its counterpart and heard the mantis shrimp tell the wyrm that they would supply water this one time, and if they still couldn't retrieve what was stolen then the centipede wouldn't be the wyrm's only enemy.   With this, the Shrimp furls its claws and slowly submerges while maintaining eye contact with the wyrm. At the last possible second, Melnir could have sworn that the shrimp looked directly at them as it then disappeared into the darkness beneath the surface. The wyrm let out a long exhale, turned around, and went through a tear, back to its world. Melnir and Rysyn being hesitant with their new abilities to create these tears, decided to hurry through the wyrm's before it closed. As they darted through the portal, Melnir felt extreme heat and pressure on their right side for a split second and then a massive shock on their left. The wyrm was waiting for them to follow through the portal. It lashed out with a terrifyingly strong tail attack that cracked the very island they were on. Rysyn, still not completely back to their senses, fell to the ground as Melnir was buried into the rocky island. Rysyn crawled to their hands and knees as they noticed a smoking hole in the ground where Melnir was sent flying. Melnir had reacted in a split second before the hit, just enough to push Rysyn out of the way. "Melnir!" Rysyn cried and then turned to the wyrm. Rysyn's whole expression had changed, there were no emotions present except for one, rage. As soon as the two locked eyes, Rysyn's started glowing purple, veins started to turn darker and more visible running from their eyes, down their face and neck, and then to their hands. A strange humming sound started, or maybe it was a deep buzzing, either way, it sounded as if it was building to something. The frequency started rising, going higher and higher until it was unbearable. The wyrm roared at Rysyn and the source of this ear-piercing sound. Rysyn is unphased by this. Rysyn has erased countless things in the past, this is nothing new, but nothing has ever hurt Melnir either. Rysyn starts walking towards the wyrm, every step leaving ash in its wake. The buzzing is getting louder and louder as the purple energy from Rysyn's eyes starts to pour out and run down their face. The wyrm shrieks and starts to send waves of lava at them, much like it did before with the tears. The lava covers Rysyn for a split second, then turns purple, then to ash and it falls slowly around Rysyn. Seeing this the wyrm shrieks again, but this time a voice cries out "What are you!? Why are you here!?" Rysyn doesn't answer, or even acknowledge the response. The wyrm lashes out with its tail again, just like with Melnir. Rysyn simply lifts their forearm to block, but nothing is blocked, only erased. There was a bloodcurdling roar released, followed by a loud splash as an enormous piece of tail landed in the lava lakes surrounding the island. As the buzzing could not possibly seem to get louder, Rysyn reached the wyrm with a trail of ashen footprints soaked in purple tears. A glowing hand reaches towards the wyrm's body, and in that moment, the wyrm felt true fear. This wasn't some threat by an old counterpart or some homicidal debt collector. No, this was simply erasure. Whatever was on the receiving end of the horrifying buzzing would simply turn to ash and cease to exist. The Wyrm froze, paralyzed with fear. It closed its eyes and accepted its fate.   The wyrm's thoughts were racing. It used to be so small, only a few feet or so in length when it first crawled out of the lava. Much like Melnir and Rysyn, the wyrm has no memories or knowledge about where it came from. It just remembers crawling out of the lava one day. It wandered around for a long time, looking for something, anything. All it found was more lava and the occasional island. It would rest for a while and then continue swimming. One day while it was on an island, it felt a tremendous gust of wind and flew towards the lava. As the wyrm was falling, it braced itself to hit lava, but instead hit another island. "What was that? How far did I fly? There wasn't another island in sight" thought the wyrm. It looked up and was completely shocked by the sight. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but solid rock. It was as if all of the lava had quickly cooled and hardened back into its solid form. "Is that all it takes to defeat you?" "You'll have to be much stronger for when the bug arrives." The wyrm heard this booming voice ring inside its head. It was almost deafening. The wyrm quickly looked around, trying to find the source of the voice and what had just attacked. Suddenly, another enormous pressure pushed down onto the wyrm. This time it came in quick increments and then an explosion behind the wyrm. It turned around and saw huge claws. The wyrm froze. It had never seen another creature before and this one was gigantic.   What were these thoughts? Was it the wyrm's life flashing before its eyes or maybe its body trying to make sense of this overwhelming fear by relating it to previous experiences? "Either way it doesn't matter, this is the end," thought the wyrm as it tensed its whole body as tight as it could. The buzzing suddenly stopped and was replaced with a beautiful humming noise. "It's over, it's all over. No more fighting Finis to reclaim our elements. No more pleading with Aquiris for help against him. I'm so sorry Celes, I was the reason you lost your flight and are still injured. I tried so hard my friend." Through the humming, the wyrm heard a soft and gentle voice say "Rysyn please stop, I'm okay. I wasn't hurt, just caught off guard." Then the wyrm felt a warm hand on its tail and opened its eyes. Melnir's eyes and hands were glowing a vibrant blue color. Such a beautiful blue, more so than Aquiris's oceans. Rysyn stood behind Melnir wiping their eyes. The purple energy and the terrifying buzzing were gone. "I'm so sorry about my companion and what they did to your tail, but you did attack us without warning. I can do and create many things, but I've never been good with organic tissue. It just doesn't go well." said Melnir as they rested their hands on the wyrm's tail. "I'm so sorry about attacking you, Aquiris noticed you two and told me you must be with Finis. She said that is should get the jump on you while I can." The wyrm was still trying to come to terms with its now not immediate destruction. "Who are you two? What are you?" The wyrm asked while glancing at Rysyn, who was just staring at the ground. Rysyn then looked up and said "We are Melnir and Rysyn, and we don't know how to answer that. We've always traveled together from world to world, sometimes creating our own." Rysyn looked to Melnir as he said "Well Melnir would create them. They were always so beautiful to me, but they hated them." "I didn't hate them, I just wanted them to be more. Like this world with its lava or the water world, we were just in. These places are amazing, and I never even knew about them being a possibility!" Melnir Exclaimed. "But enough about that, how can I fix your tail...wyrm? I'm sorry, do you have a name?" Melnir asked the wyrm. "Yes, I do, it's Lavis," the wyrm told Melnir. "Okay Lavis, tell me what I can do. I can create all kinds of things but organic things, but I get the feeling that you aren't completely organic. You also seem to have quite different capabilities than us two." Melnir said. Lavis looked around, then over at his tail that was melting in the lava. It wasn't catching on fire; it was more equivalent to a rock or some sort of metal melting down. "Think of it more like lava or even a stack of separate rocks, something that can still move and flex like my real body would," said Lavis. Melnir looked over at the halfway-melted tail and then back at Lavis. "Alright I'll give it my best" Melnir closed their eyes and began to focus on the injury, imagining what the tail used to be and thinking of the flowing, molten rock. The humming got louder, and the brilliant blue light got brighter and brighter. Nothing seemed to be happening, and then Melnir felt a familiar hand on their shoulder. "You can do this, there's no challenge too difficult. I don't believe that there is anything that you can't accomplish and master." Rysyn's kind words seemed to be that small boost that Melnir needed. The blue light extended from Melnir's hands and out towards Lavis. Lavis instinctively winced but felt nothing but warmth and comfort. The light started to extend out, taking on the shape of the old tail. As the light reached the same length and size that the original was, it started to dull. Streaks of a dim red glow started to appear through the blue. Once the light was gone, a long, tail-shaped stone lay on the ground, attached to Lavis. The stone had red streaks flowing through it and seemed to only be stone on the outside. The outer shell had breaks in it where the lava flowed. This allowed the tail to move freely, like organic tissue. "You did it! I knew you could!" Rysyn shouted. Melnir grinned and then looked towards Lavis and asked "Well? Can you move it?" Lavis looked at his tail and tried to move it, but nothing happened. he picked up his tail at the base, right before the stone and yet, the tip didn't move. Melnir's grin vanished as their shoulders fell. "It was another failure; I don't know why I keep attempting things outside of my abilities." Rysyn looked at Melnir, heartbroken for them, and then looked at Lavis. "Can't you control lava?" Lavis nodded and said, "Of course, let me try that!" The wyrm looked at his tail again and focused. Melnir looked as well without any actual hope, it had just been too many failures. Melnir looked away and towards Rysyn, who had the biggest grin they had ever seen. Rysyn pointed to the very tip of the tail. The tail moved. It may have been the smallest movement possible, but it moved. Melnir did it. They had taken a step closer to understanding how to incorporate their powers with living beings.   “So, you two have been here for how long?" Lavis asked while practicing moving his new tail. "It's been a while, I'm not very sure. We've never really kept track of time before." Rysyn said as they looked at Melnir with slight confusion. Melnir saw this and looked to Lavis, "You are the first living thing we have ever met besides each other, and honestly, we can't ever remember being apart. So, keeping track of time has never been a thing. I don't know how we would. What would we base it on?" Lavis paused, looked up into the air, then turned back to Melnir. "We usually keep track of it by how many times the sun goes over our heads. I guess that would only work on a planet and not well in space, or even going between planets. Aquiris yelled at me before because of it. She didn't know that time passed differently in her world than it did in mine. Luckily Celes helped me out in explaining it, I'm terrible at expressing myself to others." Lavis rambled on and on about time and then about the others until he looked at Melnir and Rysyn, both completely confused. Melnir spoke up "Lavis, who are Aquiris and Celes?" "Aquiris is the mantis shrimp that told me to attack you two, that was horrible advice. I'll be sure to let her know that next time unless she wants to hear the buzzing!" Lavis yelled while shaking his new tail. "Celes is my friend, he's so nice, at least to me. He says he doesn't like Aquiris because she's too 'prudish,' whatever that means. Then nobody likes Finis. He tricked me and hurt my friend" Lavis said as he slumped over. "Celes is really strong and smart and kind. Finis came here and said that he had gifts for everyone and that he needed me to tell the others because he didn't know where the other two were. It turned out that there weren't any gifts, it was a trap. Celes warned me that it was a trap, but I wouldn't listen. I wanted to do something nice for him and even Aquiris, but I didn't know what. Then Finis showed up and it seemed perfect. Aquiris went because she said she 'had something for Finis.' When we arrived where Finis told me to go, he wasn't there. It was a valley surrounded by mountains. Finis had prepared the area for an ambush beforehand. Once we noticed he wasn't there, the ground started to shake violently, then it crumbled. Celes, being as amazing as always, grabbed me in his talons and bolted into the air as Aquiris fell into the open cavern below the mountains. I yelled out for her; Celes told me not to worry about her because she was stronger than everybody. As Celes was flying and about to peak the huge mountains, Finis crawled up one and yelled that our elements were his. I didn't understand what that meant but Celes got mad and started flying towards him. Finis smirked just like he always did. Then he lifted half his body with all his gross legs extended before he slammed all of them into himself. I don't remember what happened after that. I remember seeing a lot of rocks flying and there was dust everywhere. I woke up feeling weak, I could barely move. Then I saw Celes, I couldn't believe it. Nobody could beat him; he was so strong and taught me so much. Most of his feathers were ripped off and there was so much blood. Chunks of him were gone and he was barely breathing. I tried so hard to get closer to him, but it hurt too much. My back was in so much pain, then I saw a huge hole in it. it barely missed my spine" Lavis moved his body so Melnir and Rysyn could see the scar. They also noticed lumps right above it, under the skin. There was one on each side, perfectly symmetrical. Lavis then turned around and continued his story "I looked back to Celes and tried again to reach him. I pushed through the pain, it felt like something was ripped from my body. I eventually went to him. On top of all the other injuries, he had a huge hole through his stomach. It looked just like the one on my back. Finis seemed to have left, I guess he accomplished everything he wanted. With everything in my being, I screamed as hard as I could and opened a tear. It was barely big enough to fit through. Then I told Celes to hold on and that what I was going to do was going to hurt. I bit onto his leg and dragged his massive body through the portal. As awful as it is, he wouldn't have made it through if he wasn't missing so many feathers and other stuff." Melnir looked over at Rysyn and back to Lavis "So, is Celes okay now? Where is he?" Melnir asked. Lavis looked up to meet Melnir's gaze "He's still alive. He's always in pain because he just never really recovered from the attack. I learned that those holes were from Finis. Finis had stabbed us and somehow took our elements. I don't understand what that means for me but for Celes, he lost everything. Celes loved to fly because it gave him freedom. He could go wherever he wanted, and I got that taken from him. Luckily, he has a few floating islands where he lives so he can walk around. I tried to help him make more but he just yelled at me to leave. We still haven't talked since then. He lives in his own world though, like the other three of us. Thank you two for listening to my story and to me ramble, I don't have anybody to talk to anymore." Lavis said as he got quiet and looked away. Rysyn spoke up "Well what happened to Aquiris? We saw that she is still alive, and she looked fine to us. She seemed very strong." Lavis looked back at them "She fell into a really deep cavern. She said it was really dark in there and like a labyrinth. Her shell is super strong, so the fall didn't really hurt her. All the rocks that fell after hitting Celes was a different story. They cracked her shell in a few places and broke one of her claws. Finis went down there after he attacked us and got her too. I could hear her before we left, fighting the best she could with her one claw. I saw her again a few months later. Her shell was still cracked, and one claw was kept close to her chest. She attacked me on sight but was still weak from the fight so luckily, I escaped. Eventually, I got back on speaking terms, if you want to call it that. You guys saw how she treats me, and I can't really blame her. I hate myself too. She was viciously attacked in that monster's home territory. It was much worse than what we experienced. Ours was quick, but he toyed with her until she eventually got so mad that she just started attacking the dark without thinking. The cavern started to collapse, and Finis started to attack. In the end, she was left buried under the rocks. He snatched her out from under it, created a tear to her world, stabbed her twice in her stomach, and then just tossed her through the tear. Her world used to have waterfalls that came from the sky. Celes told me that even he couldn't reach the top of them. Somehow, she had created other creatures that would swim all over and even up the waterfalls. I was told that it was very beautiful. She never really liked me, so she kept all of that from me. She would say that she didn't want me trying anything. I guess she thought I might try to make other creatures as well, but I don't even know where to begin with that. It's all gone now anyway, I guess that was her 'Element' that was taken." Lavis said looking at the duo. "Can we help? I heard you tell Aquiris that you couldn't fight Finis anymore. Is that how you get the 'Elements' back?" Melnir asked. Lavis responded "We don't know but it's a start. We don't know how he took them in the first place." Melnir looked at Rysyn and asked "Would you want to help these unfortunate creatures? I've never been the one to damage things." Rysyn started to respond "Yes" but stopped halfway through the word. They looked down and rubbed their right arm, then looked over at the old tail that was almost completely melted. "I don't know if that's such a good idea," Rysyn said as they looked back at the ground. "What are you talking about? You're the strongest person I know. It takes all I have to attempt to create anything. I've never seen you even break a sweat do erase anything, no matter the size. Your abilities are so much more amazing than mine. Today was the first day I've done anything useful since I don't even know when." Melnir said enthusiastically. Rysyn immediately walked over and hugged Melnir "I don't believe that but thank you for the encouragement. I'll help." Rysyn looked to Lavis "Where do we start?"   Lavis turned away from them and slithered to the edge of the small rock island that they were on. He screeches, a very familiar sound to them at this point, and opens a small tear, just big enough to look through. It's the rock world with the centipede, with Finis. "This is where we'll go," said Lavis while looking into the portal. "Finis took our elements somehow and has either stored them within this general area or even possibly within himself." Melnir chimed in "How do you know that it's this location?" "This is the area that I always find him in and ever since I found him here, he's extremely hostile towards me. Way more than before when he was in any other area." Lavis replied. "Then what about the possibility of him storing the elements within himself? That doesn't seem to add up to him being hostile in a certain location. It sounds like he's protecting something, but if they're already within him then what would he even protect? It seems to me like all of you just have your world but not a lot of specific things within it that you protect." Rysyn retorted. Lavis looked around the fiery landscape of his world and said "You're right, our worlds are special to us. To my knowledge, neither Celes, Aquiris, nor I have anything specific to protect within our world, outside of the world itself of course. Aquiris used to but ever since she lost her element, she just swims around aimlessly. I feel so bad for her." Rysyn looked to Melnir and let out a small smirk, then turned to Lavis. "So, all we have to do is kill Finis or get him to give the elements back?" "In theory yes, but how could you say such a thing as it is a trivial matter? I have been attempting that very thing for decades. All I've managed to do so far was take a few of his legs, and that was by luck. I couldn't even take them by force, I used the tears just to accomplish it. Honestly, it sometimes felt like he let me have those small victories, just for the false hope that they brought." "Well first off" Rysyn stated, as a familiar, eerie buzzing sound crept into Lavis's mind. Rysyn lifted their hand as it turned purple and continued their statement, "I'm not you. I don't mean to be harsh but there just isn't an easy way to say it. If I asked you to destroy a planet, would you, do it? Could you, do it?" Lavis looked irritated by the statement and a little hurt by it, he knew that it was true. He then responded "Why would I destroy a planet? I suppose I could eventually." Rysyn nodded their head, "And what about Aquiris or Celes?" "I believe Aquiris could eventually as well. She'd probably be able to do it much faster with her element and I guess she would do it as long as it wasn't hers. Celes on the other hand, I honestly don't know for either question" Lavas answered. Rysyn looked down and let out a deep exhale "As soon as you said anything other than yes to either question, I knew that you wouldn't be much help for this." "Rysyn! That's enough" Melnir shouted. "Lavis has been doing his best to make up for his mistake for a long time, he's lost everything, how can you speak to him like that?" Rysyn turned back to Melnir "I'm sorry that this is hard to hear, but destruction is more of my territory, and with that, you need a different mindset, unfortunately. One that is colder." They looked back to Lavis "I recognize that you have tried very hard, but this just isn't a battle that you can win on your own. You seem to still have a younger mindset where you believe that you can accomplish anything if you work hard enough or if you try hard enough. Sometimes that just isn't the case. If you aren't seeing progress, at what point do you give up?" Rysyn asked. "Rysyn please stop this, how is it helping? What about me? All this time I've tried to create something living, something breathing, and with no progress at all. Not even a little until today. Why shouldn't I have given up?" Melnir said, slightly confused by Rysyn's stance. "Because you're different" Rysyn replied. "You are special, no one can be compared to you so don't get someone's hopes up by doing so. Lavis, you just aren't ready to handle this burden by yourself. Are you sure that the other two won't help you?" Lavis doesn't respond and is just staring off. "Lavis!" Rysyn yelled. Lavis snapped back and looked at Rysyn "No they won't. I've asked Aquiris multiple times and Celes wouldn't even talk to me after the incident." Rysyn nodded again and said, "Very well, I'll go speak with them then." "No! You can't! I can handle this on my own "No you can't!" Rysyn shouted, cutting Lavis off. "I'm sorry to be like this but you have proved that you can't. I do not look down on you for this, you just simply aren't ready. I know you caused this, but this is too much of a burden to put on someone who can't even understand the whole situation. If your 'so-called' friend Celes wants to cower away in his world and admit defeat because he was tricked once, then he is a coward. The same goes for Aquiris. This is no way to teach someone a lesson. How will you learn when Finis kills you? Can you really understand your mistakes as he rips you apart?" Lavis replied softly "No..I cannot." "So I will go speak with them and they will help me, if not then they will not get their elements back. Whatever these elements are, I'll take theirs for myself. Even if I can't use it, I'll squander it as they morn it from their world. Melnir, will you come with me?" Rysyn asked. Melnir, somewhat shocked by what Rysyn said, agreed to go. While they were shocked by Rysyn, nothing like this has happened to them before, so Melnir isn't sure what an alternative would be, so they go along with it. Lavis looks very nervous about the whole plan. He hates confrontation, and while he is grateful that somebody is trying to help, he wants to be able to prove he can take care of it. He wanted so badly to make up for his mistake to Celes. "You stay here, Lavis," Rysyn said as they raised their hand. "We don't need them trying to use you as leverage or something similar during the conversation." Rysyn brought their hand down, which seemed to tear through reality itself. A jagged portal was opened with the water world on the other side. The tear was in the exact spot they were at previously when Lavis and Aquiris had their talk. The two walked through the tear and onto the island. The tear closed behind them as they stepped out. "How do you suppose we get her attention?" Melnir asked. "Lavis did that loud shrieking thing, didn't he?" Rysyn asked. "Yeah he did, on top of creating the island" Melnir replied. "Well it probably wasn't the island that did it since he shrieked, and I can't do that either. I can do something else though that makes a lot of noise" Rysyn said grinning as they lifted their glowing hands that were accompanied by a slight buzzing sound. "Won't that come off as being aggressive, though? We aren't here to start conflict" Melnir stated. "Only one way to find out," Rysyn said through a slight chuckle. Melnir smiled and shook their head, " You like destroying too much" Rysyn lifted their other arm and powered it up while saying "Well yeah, it's kind of my only thing." With that, the buzzing's frequency rose rapidly until it couldn't rise any further. At that moment, Rysyn looked out over the water and simply said "Disappear" as a tremendous pulse of purple energy shot through the water for as far as either of them could see in any direction. The frequency of the buzzing fell even faster than it rose. As it reached the lowest frequencies, the oceans themselves started to hum and vibrate. "Uh-oh," Rysyn said. "What is it?" Melnir asked. "I overdid it, I just meant to do a good-sized area around us, but I got caught up in the moment because I haven't done this in so long." Rysyn responded. Melnir just sighed "Well... that's not good. How much did you do?" "I'm not completely sure but if I had to guess, about half?" Rysyn said casually. As they said this, the oceans all around them turned gray and started to float away. all of the water in sight had been turned to ash. "HALF!?" Melnir shouted in disbelief. "Don't yell at me, I'm sorry. This water stuff is weird. It takes way less effort to erase. Look on the bright side though, I got her attention" Rysyn said pointing in the distance. Aquiris was charging towards them with more anger than she had ever felt. She isn't sure who or what just destroyed so much of her planet, but they're dead.   "You know, with her running like that, it doesn't seem very 'bright side.'" Melnir said as they turned to face Aquiris and prepared for the impending confrontation. "It's a matter of perspective. She got here much quicker than with Lavis's yelling." Rysyn replied with a slight laugh. Melnir smiled and said, "That's fair, just promise me one thing" "What's that?" Rysyn asked. "Don't kill her" Melnir stated. "Fine, I won't kill her. What about disabling?" Rysyn asked looking back to Melnir. "Absolutely no maim" Melnir responded before getting cut off by Rysyn. "No time for answering, we'll talk about it later, here she is." As soon as Aquiris arrived she started releasing her claw attacks at the duo. They dodged the onslaught by jumping down to the ground where the ocean used to be. So much water was erased that the remaining water had yet to equalize and cover the ground once more. "How dare you destroy my oceans! This is why I told that stupid wyrm to take care of you two, but of course, he didn't. He can't do anything right" Aquiris shouted as she turned to follow where the duo had jumped to. Rysyn shouted back "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to destroy so much. I was trying to do a little bit, but it was so easy that I accidentally went overboard." Aquiris sneered and looked even more enraged "Let's see if you have that easy of a time destroying me" Aquiris continued to shout as she pursued them with more attacks. Each one broke the sound barrier and created massive shockwaves throughout the area. Some of the rocks she hit even started to glow with heat. The attacks contained so much energy and moved so fast that they started to melt the surroundings they hit if they weren't completely wiped out. "Please calm down, I know what Rysyn did was terrible, but they truly didn't mean to, and I think I can help you get it back!" Melnir yelled to calm her down. Aquiris turned to Rysyn and shouted "So it was you! You'll pay for this with your life!" "I wouldn't do that Aquiris! Don't push them, they will kill you!" Melnir shouted. Aquiris burst out laughing as she continued to charge Rysyn with a flurry of punches. She looked towards Melnir and shouted, "As soon as I kill them, You're next!" As she said that she turned back to Rysyn and launched another punch, this time with the intent to finally end this conflict. As she did, she could have sworn she saw Rysyn crack a smile right before her punch connected. Except, it didn't connect. It was close and then ashes flew past Rysyn on both sides as the claw disintegrated. It was as if it was hitting a wall that disintegrated objects on contact. Aquiris saw this, but the punch was too fast, and she couldn't stop it. She wailed out in pain and looked at Rysyn, but they were gone. Aquiris suddenly felt something on her head, it was Rysyn. They stood in between her eyestalks. "Now if you don't calm down, you will lose an eye right here and now. If you continue to act like this, It'll be your other eye next. What would you suggest I take next?" Aquiris still looked furious, but hesitant. "What was that just now? Is that how they destroyed my oceans and what is that horrendous buzzing? It was no trick or illusion, my only good claw is gone. Fighting them would be pointless." She thought. "That's enough Rysyn! Look at her, I think she gets the point" Melnir called out as they walked over to Aquiris. "I think you're right," Rysyn said as they jumped down in front of Aquiris. "Sorry about the claw, it wasn't my intent to hurt you, but you aren't going to threaten Melnir like that. Got it?" Rysyn asked as they leaned closer to her with their eyes glowing. She responded through gritted teeth "Yes, I understand." "So, you can also talk normally? You don't have to do the whole scary booming voice?" Rysyn asked. "Of course, I can, now what do you two monsters want from me? Have you not taken enough already?" Aquiris said. Melnir stepped up and said "Well we didn't come to fight at all, but we couldn't just let you kill us. In all fairness though, Rysyn didn't have to destroy so much water. Though to be even fairer than that, I did tell you that I'll help fix it." as they shrugged their shoulders. Aquiris was not amused so Melnir continued "We had a long chat with your wyrm neighbor and he told us all about how he messed up and had all three of your elements taken. He kept saying how he wanted to apologize for it and how he's trying hard to get them back and beat Finis" As Melnir said this Aquiris burst out laughing and said "That stupid boy will never be able to do that. If I can't get my element back, I can at least watch him suffer. Maybe he'll be killed one of." Rysyn shot her a look with their eyes glowing again. Aquiris stopped talking and looked at Melnir. "Anyway" they continued "We have offered to help retrieve your elements and after the unfortunate showing of Rysyn's powers, I'm assuming that you're already convinced. Now about that arm of yours, I'd like to try something if you don't mind. I could help you get it back" Melnir added as they approached the injured limb. Aquiris is quiet for a moment. On one hand, nobody seems to be able to beat Finis, he's always one step ahead, and with their elements, she thought he was unstoppable. Then she looks around her, all of this time and the water still hasn't come back. Without her element, she can't fix this, but at the same time, this show of power has somehow given her hope that she might be able to have her beautiful world back once more. "Okay I'll do it, I'll help however I can if you fix my arm and help fix the oceans once we get the elements back." Aquiris finally responded. "Then it's a deal. I do have one more question though, I'm assuming that the answer is yes, but can you control water to a high degree?" Melnir asked as their eyes lit up with that beautifully vibrant blue. "Yes, I can, why? Aquiris asked, a little confused. "Because the only way that I know to fix your claw is going to require that." Melnir said. They then looked to Rysyn "Can you go retrieve Lavis? He might be helpful in Aquiris becoming accustomed to her new arm." "Of course, I'll be right back," Rysyn said as they opened a tear and went to find Lavis. "Why would He be able to help?" Aquiris asked with a slight hint of concern. "Well, you see, Rysyn is very protective of me. To a deadly extent sometimes. It seems to be directly related to how much danger they believe me to be in. I have just found this out through your little stunt of having Lavis attack us. He paid for your folly with his tail. When we went through the tear after your meeting, he attacked us and sent me flying into the ground. Rysyn thought I was badly injured and almost killed him. I'm sure you're now aware that they could have done so very easily" Melnir said looking at the missing ocean, and then back to the missing claw. "I see'" Aquiris responded, "I am sorry for that, I did not and technically still don't know who you two are. We never get visitors here. It's just the four of us. One time I heard Celes say something about 'meeting light and dark, order and chaos.' It sounded like nonsense to me. Celes hasn't been the same since losing his element, but there isn't anyone else so you two were such a shock. I figured for sure that you two were with Finis." "So, if you four are the only ones, what was the giant creature in your ocean that tried to eat Rysyn as they fell towards it?" Melnir asked, in a somewhat accusatory tone. "Creature? What creature? It's only me here. I swear, I have nothing to gain from harboring someone here. If it was in the water, then the only thing it could have been would be Finis." Aquiris replied, shocked by the information. "Well, that's not good," Melnir said. Aquiris cocked her head a little "Why? Why is that not good?" Melnir looked around and then back to her "Because it wasn't him."       Back in the world of lava, Rysyn flies around to look for Lavis. After a few minutes, Lavis is found lounging around on an island still getting used to his new tail. "Hey Lavis!" Rysyn shouts as they get closer. "Oh hey, Rysyn, how'd it go with Aquiris? Will she help us?" Lavis asked. Rysyn looked towards the new tail and then back at Lavis and said "It went alright, we had to convince her, but she came around. I may have overdone it and in return caused some minor conflict, but don't worry, she's going to help. I need your help at the moment though." Lavis looked slightly intrigued and confused, "You need my help? For what?" he asked as he slithered into a more upright position. Rysyn looked nervously towards Lavis "We need your help with your newly developed skill at using your tail. Will you help Aquiris with her new claw...?" Lavis's look of intrigue fell as he started to move backward just slightly. "They did it again," Lavis thought, "That horrible sound, the erasure." Lavis stared blankly at Rysyn as he thought it through. As Lavis was about to speak, Rysyn spoke again "I'm sorry for earlier. I'm sorry about your tail and the harsh things I said to you. I still stand by what I said, but I never should have said it like that. This is all so new to me. I know that the four of you don't always get along or just don't speak to each other very much, but I have never spoken to anyone but Melnir. For all the countless years that I can remember, it has only been us two. They have always been there for me, and I for them. These feelings are new to me. What I did to you was wrong, but I promise you that it was not an active thought. Just the thought of Melnir being hurt made me lose myself." Lavis slowly returned to his position and moved back toward Rysyn as they were speaking. "I messed up with Aquiris as well. We tried to talk to her, but because I messed up in how I got her attention, she came looking for battle. Something in me felt excited, almost giddy with the thought of combat. I've also never fought before. Once I snapped out of that I saw Aquiris missing her claw and those familiar ashes floating by." Rysyn said more softly as they finished. "So Melnir is making another claw? Do they need my lava?" Lavis asked, trying to just move on from Rysyn's apology. "Yes, and no they're wanting to try and use water. The water should be back soon so we should get going." Rysyn said as they turned and tore through the dimension to show Melnir and Aquiris in a barren land of stone. "The water is coming back. Where did it go and where is that?" said Lavis as he slithered through the tear with Rysyn. "I accidentally destroyed half of her water and now the other half is rushing over the planet to even itself back out," Rysyn responded and then floated over to Melnir. Lavis looked around and at the very edge of the horizon saw the slightest blue glimmer and started to hear a faint roaring noise. "The water was erased," He thought, "What a terrifying being. Why are they even bothering with us, they could wipe out Finis in an instant" Lavis thought as they went to meet up with Melnir and Aquiris. "Lavis! There you are!" Melnir shouted with a big grin. All Lavis's worries were washed away with one look. The thought of that horrifying buzzing noise was drowned out by Melnir's warmth. "I could use your help with explaining to Aquiris how to use her new and improved claw!" Melnir exclaimed with a slight chuckle. They continued "I just really think I have it down now, this new claw will be better than your last one for sure, as soon as you learn how to use it. and that's where you come in, right?" Melnir said as they looked to Lavis who had just reached them. Lavis looked away from Melnir and towards Aquiris, where his facial expression looked more nervous. "Of course, I can do that if that’s okay with Aquiris." Aquiris looked at Lavis and then at his tail, which seemed to be working just like any other body part would. She also seemed to feel a strange sort of power from it. She couldn't quite tell if it was the power used to create it or if it was generating it. She stared down at her new claw and felt something strange. The claw had this same energy that was slowly working its way up to the end of her lost appendage. This energy was in the form of thin blue tendrils, they were barely visible, but Aquiris could sense them. They worked their way up and then plunged into the area around where her claw used to be. She winced at the thought of the pain, but none followed. She felt a warm sensation that traveled into her and somehow connected to her. "What is this? What's happening to me?" Aquiris asked Melnyr hastily. "Don't worry it's just connecting. This was my best idea of how to connect it. I guess Lavis didn't notice it but I promise that it's nothing nefarious or anything. I just want it to work seamlessly." Melnyr responded as they gestured to the claw nervously. Aquiris couldn't help but believe them, she couldn't find any malice in them if she tried. She looked back at the tendrils and they stopped moving, the blue color of them started to change slightly and slowly mixed with another shade of blue. This different shade of blue was her power, remnants of her lost element. When Finis took their elements, slivers of them were left due to the imperfect removal technique that he used. It was still enough for what he needed but because of it, the other three could still control their elements in very slight ways compared to the full power of their element. "So what now Lavis? How do I move this thing?" Aquiris asked impatiently. Lavis nervously looked at Melnyr and Rysyn and then back to Aquiris, "So after practicing for a little bit I figured out that the easiest way is to think of it as moving your old claw like normal but also imagine if it was covered or filled with water. It should work as if you're doing both at once. It was a little tricky for me but once you get the hang of it, you won't even notice it." Aquiris thought about it and then started trying to move the claw. At first nothing, but a few seconds later it started to shake and then it even opened. "Wow! You already got it? That's amazing! Celes always said you were smart." Lavis shouted with joy. Melnyr smiled, They hadn't seen Lavis so excited before. Melnyr thought to themselves "This is good, he wants to help so bad and he's still young, at least compared to the others. No wonder Finis took advantage of him. With a soul that pure, someone was bound to try at some point I guess." As Lavis was dancing (as much as a serpent can dance) with joy Aquiris cut her eyes to him and he stopped. "That was indeed helpful advice, Lavis. Thank you, Melnyr for replacing my claw." Melnyr's smile dropped as they watched Lavis stop dancing, "You're welcome, but I just made it, It'd be useless with Lavis, right?" Melnyr said gesturing to Lavis. Lavis looked at them and back to Aquiris expecting a huff or a sneer or something else equally as ungrateful. He thought to himself "What did I expect, have I not done enough? What does one claw amount to when compared to what was lost? She already lost the use of her other claw during that battle. Maybe she won't" "He will get his thanks when he is done with his task" Aquiris stated sharply, cutting off Lavis's inner thought. She lifted what she could of her other claw, which upon closer inspection looked like it had started to fuse itself together so it wouldn't move. "You want me to thank this idiot for helping me move a claw that he probably had a part in me losing, to begin with?" Aquiris continued. Rysyn stepped towards her and said "Lavis had nothing to do with this, he has been nothing but helpful to you since we got her and all you have done is take advantage of it. I know he is the reason for your elements being taken but at what point is it enough?" "Never! It will never be enough. I hope he suf" Aquiris shouted back at Rysyn before she fell silent. Lavis slithered backward from sheer instinct. Their ears rang with an all too familiar buzzing as Rysyn started to approach, their arm glowing purple. "Then how much shall I take from you!?" Rysyn screamed at Aquiris. She took a step back before Melnyr placed their hand on Rysyn. "Rysyn it is okay, some creatures just might not forgive as easily as others." Rysyn pulled their shoulder away from the warm grasp of Melnyr, "It is not okay, Lavis has paid for her stupidity as she has paid for his. It might not have been equal in the moment but no one should suffer forever." Aquiris looked terrified but steadied herself "He deserves it, he took my life and handed it over to that monster! You don't know what it was like!" She cried out in rage and desperation. Rysyn's face distorted with anger as the buzzing grew louder and the glow got brighter. "I don't care what it was like! We all suffer at some point whether that be at someone else's hand or your own" Rysyn shouted back as they looked at their glowing arm and back to Melnyr. They looked back to Aquiris as they closed the gap between them "Lavis did not take your life, and neither did Finis, but I am if you don't apologize and thank Lavis right now. You will then come with us to see this Celes being and we are going to get all of your elements back. Once that's done, you will leave Lavis alone unless he wishes otherwise." Aquiris looked around desperately for help, anything that could help her. She looked to Melnyr to stop Rysyn but they just shook their head no, as if they were agreeing with them. She looked to the beyond frightened Lavis, she felt so much rage and anger towards him, then back to Rysyn. This fear of Rysyn trumped every emotion imaginable within her. "Okay Okay I'm sorry Lavis, maybe I have been too harsh to you but you don't even know what you lost. You have no idea what it is like. My whole world was leveled and now all I can do is sit here and just hope that you could solve everything. I should have been nicer but I just couldn't bring myself not to hate you. I had the smallest sliver of hope since you are the only one who can fight that monster. I am terrified of him, that fight in the cave haunts me continuously. Every waking moment I am reminded of him and what he did. I can't fight him, at least not alone. You have no battle experience and Celes was killed that day. At least he was on the inside, he is nothing but a shell of his former self." Aquiris continued this long apology/explanation. Rysyn, being satisfied with Aquiris's apology walked back to Melnyr. Melnyr looked concerned and started to speak but Rysyn cut them off, "I wasn't going to do it. I know you probably thought I was because of prior events with them, but I wasn't going to." Melnyr smiled and said "I know, Rysyn. They see you as a monster. Your power scares them. There's nothing good about it to them. With your power, things end abruptly, no more hope and no more dreams. They've never seen anything so terrifying." Melnyr opened their arms wide and approached Rysyn for a hug. Rysyn reciprocated as Melnyr continued, "But I know you better than anyone, better than yourself. You are a beautiful being who is no more a monster than I am." Melnyr stepped out of the hug and finished by saying "You are a little overprotective at times though."   The two turned and met back with Aquiris and Lavis. "So what are to do now? Meet up with this Celes being you two have mentioned?" Melnyr asked. Lavis looked to Aquiris as for her to answer, she let out a slight huff and turned to answer them, "Yes, that should probably be our next move. I must ask the question though, that I'm sure Lavis would also want to know the answer to." Melnyr looked as if they already knew what was coming, they shot a quick glance to Rysyn. Rysyn was currently looking down, they looked somewhat lost in thought about the prior events. Melnyr thought to themselves "I have to dissuade her from wanting Rysyn's help. I don't know what is going on with them since we got here but every time they use their power, I sense a darkness looming from them. It seems to be affecting Rysyn's mood and temper as well." Melnyr answered her back before she asked her question, "If it is a question about our aid or involvement in this, we will aid you, but this is still a problem between the three of you. I will help to the best of my abilities in a supportive role, but neither of us will be taking on the brunt of this battle. I understand that this is a horrible thing that happened and that there is a chance that Rysyn could handle it for you, but that is not their place in this. I apologize for how this sounds, but I still believe that you three can regain what was once yours with my support alone." Lavis looked confused, yet, somehow at peace with this answer. Was it Melnyr's promise bringing this peace? Or was it simply the lack of Rysyn being present in the upcoming battle that relieved his racing mind? Aquiris looked angry. Melnyr could feel the anger in her stare. It was as if it was boring holes into them. "And you honestly believe that you alone can handle something the three of us could not?" Aquiris asked in a fuming tone. Melnyr stared back and smiled, completely ignoring her vile temper, "Of course, was your claw and Lavis's tail not proof of my power?" Aquiris attempted to hold on to her anger, but it was a losing battle. The warm words washed over her fears, "Yes, these two creations are very impressive but at the end of it all, we're both back to how we started, unable to be Finis." Aquiris's tone has shifted from anger to concern. Melnyr's warm words had calmed her but they couldn't rid her of her concern. Only actions could do that. Aquiris continued, "Can you show me something more? Just something to give me hope in this battle. Rysyn wiped out half of my water and hadn't even broken a sweat from that. It looked like you struggled to make my claw. Don't get me wrong, it's great but it isn't any stronger than my other one." Melnyr nodded and said "I can show you whatever you'd like. That claw of yours was my second successful attempt at creating something even pseudo-organic. I just can't create organic things for some reason. It's like I'm missing something and I believe that you four and your 'Elements' might be the key to that. Since you four can control an element, it acts as if the creation is being controlled like it is your own limb. Now, as far as inorganic things go, I'm unmatched." Melnyr finished with a cocky grin and a light laugh. Aquiris looked somewhat surprised by the answer, "How many beings have you met that have a similar ability to yours?" she asked. Melnyr responded "Counting me? well, then that would make a total of umm...one." "One?" Aquiris quickly asked. "One," Melnyr responded. Lavis chimed in, "One?" Rysyn then spoke up, "One, but such a strong 'one'." Aquiris and Melnyr stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity. She broke the awkward silence with "Well then, I guess you aren't wrong. Can we just see a demonstration or something? I don't want to base a plan on being the strongest out of all if that 'all' is only one. That's like Lavis bragging about being the strongest in controlling the element of fire. It's not wrong but it doesn't feel good, ya know? No offense, Lavis, but it did not go well last time." Lavis looked a little hurt, "That is true, I need a lot more practice if I'm going to be like you or Celes." Melnyr looked at them "I have an idea for the demonstration. Can everyone follow me, we need to get to higher ground." The three of them followed right along, not wasting any time. Rysyn couldn't help but feel giddy, they knew something amazing was going to happen. They rushed up to Melnyr's side, "You got this! I know this is just going to be amazing!" Rysyn "whispered" to Melnyr. Melnyr laughed, "You never were good at whispering, but I thank you for believing in me." Melnyr's eyes lit up with their brilliant blue energy, then their shoulders and down their arms. Once it reached their hands, they lifted one in front of them with their palm facing the sky and fingers straight out. They looked around to see where Aquiris and Lavis were and then to Rysyn. "Hold on, we're going up." Melnyr then scooped their hand down and curled their fingers inwards as if to scoop dirt. At that moment, all of the dirt and rock was suddenly lifted into the air. Both Lavis and Aquiris both jolted as the newly formed island was ripped from the ground. This island could have easily held ten of each of them with its size. Rysyn smiled and looked at Melnyr, "Show off" Melnyr smiled back, "Not yet." They looked back for their other passengers had just gained their footing. "Alright, this height should be good," Melnyr said as they stopped the flying island. Rysyn looked into their brilliant blue eyes and could have sworn their heart skipped a beat. They were breathtaking every time. "Are you ready, Rysyn?" Melnyr asked as they extended their other hand. Rysyn grasps it with their own, "Always." The two then started to fly up above the island until they were high enough to be unimpeded by the onlookers. Melnyr took back their hand and floated up just above Rysyn with both arms extended to their side. A beautiful humming started to encapsulate the area. Melnyr took a second, then slammed their hands together. The humming stopped and so did the blue light. Another couple of seconds passed and then Melnyr slowly pulled their hands apart. As soon as they were no longer touching, Melnyr grinned "Flood..," they said and slammed their arms back open. As they moved, the humming got louder and the energy got brighter and more abundant. The blue energy poured from them in all directions. An unfathomable amount from such a small source. Aquiris and Lavis rushed to the edge of the island to see what this energy was to do once it reached its destination. As soon as it touched the ground, it turned to a darker blue and more fluid-like. It turned into the recently destroyed ocean. The amount of water being created and flushed out into the world started creating tsunamis that rushed toward the horizon in every direction. Aquiris and Lavis looked on in awe, frozen with amazement. After a minute or two, the ground was no longer visible and the water had now reached the bottom of their floating island. Rysyn was ecstatic and rushed into Melnyr as soon as they were done, "You created one of the elements! I'm so proud of you!" Melnyr smiled and responded "I knew you'd like that, I had a feeling I could do it after making Lavis's tail. I'm positive now that I can create any of them now that I understand how they're composed." Rysyn was too excited to speak any further. Melnyr wrestled their way from Rysyn's grasp and floated down to Aquiris and Lavis. "Is that proof enough? I restored all the water that Rysyn had destroyed. I also added a few islands for you or Lavis if he comes to visit." Aquiris was speechless. She couldn't do that much even with her element. This is the support that they need. Lavis spoke up, "That was incredible! That is more than enough proof. Right, Aquiris?" Aquiris continued her silence and nodded in agreement. Melnyr clapped their hands and said "Alright then, that's settled. Let's go find Celes and finish rounding out the team."   "So how do we get there? Is it just opening a tear like usual?" Melnyr asked. "I don't actually know where he is, he always came to my planet," Lavis responded. The three then turned to Aquiris. She sighed and finally spoke up, "Yes it's a tear and yes I know how to get there. However, it won't be that simple. Celes's world isn't much of a planet, but more of an empty plane with nothing but endless sky and clouds. I've only been once before and that was only possible due to Celes hardening some of the clouds for me to stand on. So without that, the wyrm and I would likely fall to our deaths, or just fall forever if it is truly endless." Melnyr's face beamed with excitement at the mention of Celes's plane. "Well that won't be an issue, I'll handle our footing. Can you open the tear where he is?" Melnyr asked. Aquiris shook her head and said, "He must be hiding, I can't sense him and I haven't been able to since the battle with Fenris." Melnyr turned to Lavis for his response. "Same here," he responded. Aquiris quickly replied "How do we even know that arrogant bird is even alive? He could have died the minute he went through the tear." Lavis lunged towards Aquiris and snarled "He's not dead! He is still alive! I know it, he has to be," Aquiris interrupted the outburst with a quick strike from her new claw. The strike echoed with a thunderous boom as it pushed Lavis back. She shouted as she walked towards him, "Why!? So you can rest easier knowing you didn't get him killed? Are you even worried about his wellbeing or are you just worried about yourself?" Melnyr and Rysyn were both on guard, ready to step in if this goes too far. Both know that this is probably inevitable and it's better to happen now than amid a battle later on. Lavis caught himself from falling, then coughed up a large amount of blood. "Yes, so I'm not a murderer. Of course, I want him to be okay for his sake as well, but I just don't know how much longer I can do this. A murderer who can only kill his friends. If he's not alive then I have nothing else to fight for." Aquiris glared at him, she wasn't expecting such an honest answer. She also knows that Celes would never die to some meager trap by that lowly bug. Melnyr and Rysyn flew back to them and looked to both as if to ask/tell them that they were done. "Well we still have to try and find him, Aquiris open the tear and I'll go looking for him," said Melnyr. Rysyn tilted their head and responded "Alone?" "Yes, It should be fine Rysyn. If anything happens, I'll come right back" Melnyr responded with a smile. "I would like you to stay here and continue to work with them on using their new appendages and maybe you could even figure out some new way to use your powers for the upcoming battle!" Rysyn wanted to be upset but just couldn't be. "Okay, I'll try to help them," they responded. "And your powers?" Melnyr inquired. "Oh, yeah I'll try to figure something out," Rysyn said while trying to hide their lack of confidence. They didn't understand why Melnyr would ask them to do that, they knew that the power of erasure does just that, erases. It'll never make islands, oceans, or anything at all. What a bleak and uninspiring power. "Hey! Are you monologing in your head about how your power can't create things again?" Melnyr asked with an accusatory tone. Rysyn quickly turned away and huffed "Just go find Celes and I'll handle this here." Melnyr smirked and turned to Aquiris, "Alright let's do it." She turned away from the group and released one of her furled claws with astonishing speed. This wasn't as much a tear as it was punching through. "Well that's one way to do it" Melnyr mused as they flew through the opening.   The tear closed as soon as Melnyr passed through. "So where are we doing this?" Rysyn asked their two new team members. "Doing what?" Lavis asked. "Training, It obviously didn't go well last time. We're going to have to figure something out that isn't solely relying on Melnyr." Rysyn responded. The other two looked confused. "What if something happens to Melnyr and they can't offer support when you two need it? Then what? Do you just lose a second time?" Aquiris looked furious but knew that they weren't wrong. "What could possibly happen to them? Finis couldn't hope of hurting them" She responded. "I don't know, but didn't you mention something about other worlds from the four of yours?" "Well I don't know specifics but Celes has mentioned something before about 'Light and Dark, Order and Chaos.' That was more of in passing though. He would sometimes judge my world based on some standards he made up. That's when he would mention it though." Rysyn thought this over for a moment. "Did he ever do that to you, Lavis?" Rysyn asked. "No, he never did. When he came to visit he would fly around a lot though without me. He said that he was just checking things out since my world was so different than his" said Lavis. "Hmm...so I'm inclined to believe that there is definitely more to his saying than just to sound cool. Aquiris, how do you sense these other worlds?" Rysyn pondered and then asked. "Well, now it's easy since I know where they are. The first time I focused on the feeling that I got from each element. Each one seems to have its own unique energy that it admits. Each one of us resonates with our perspective element and can then manipulate it as we see fit. Or at least we could with our 'Element,' now it's just remnants." She responded. "Okay, so first of all, can we please rename your 'Elements.' It's so confusing when you speak about it. Who even named it?" "Celes," Both of them said quickly as to escape any accusations. "Well we should change it. So all I have to do is become familiar with the energy of the elements or whatever it is I'm searching for, then broaden the search for a large quantity of that?" Rysyn asked. "Almost. It's actually a little easier than that. The elements' energy tends to lead back to the Primordial" "The Primordial?" "Yes, that's what we are, we are the progenitors of the elements, except for Lavis." Rysyn looked to Lavis for a response. "I don't know what she means. Celes told me before that I would grow to become the new Primordial. He then never elaborated on what that meant or what happened to the other one." "Okay, so you guys can die and either be reborn without memories or maybe one has to exist for each element, so when the other one died, you were born out of the element itself. Either way, this isn't that important at the moment. Between the four that you listed, I seem to have an affinity for one of them" Rysyn said, looking at both of them. They both looked down slightly, so as to avoid eye contact. Both were remembering their recent encounters. "Chaos.." they said in unison. Rysyn's shoulders dropped, if only slightly, and they looked away. This confirmation from outside forces was unexpected and deeply saddening for Rysyn. They've always known it but would never accept it. Someone as perfect as Melnyr would never be with someone who destroys everything in their path. The embodiment of chaos should be far away from that shining light to prevent snuffing it out. Rysyn said quietly "Yes, I'll try and find if it leads somewhere" Aquiris looked nervous to ask but did so anyway, "If you have such an affinity for it, how did you never feel it? You must have felt some sort of pull." Rysyn was quiet for a moment, then turned to face them and said "Every moment of every day I feel it, except for when I'm with Melnyr. They are my serenity in this cruel existence" "How bad is it? Is it just uncomfortable or does it cause you pain?" Lavis asked with a sincere tone. "There's no pain at the moment. The pain will come from the aftermath." Rysyn said as they sat on the ground and crossed their legs. "What do you mean the aftermath? The aftermath for what?" Aquiris asked. "For when I can't fight it anymore and give in. It would feel so good to finally accept my nature. If I do that, everything goes with it and no one will stop it, not even death itself would be safe." Rysyn said as they stared out over the vast oceans in front of them. "Melnyr would be so disappointed, So I'll just keep fighting it for as long as I can." Both Aquiris and Lavis were speechless, neither one had seen Rysyn open up even a little bit. They also had no idea of Rysyn's internal struggle and thought that they were just some maniac who wouldn't think twice of erasing anything they wanted. Lavis broke the silence by asking "Are you sure that it's a good idea without Melnyr here then? Shouldn't you have them with you before you attempt to reach out to whatever this chaos is?" Rysyn thought about it and eventually responded, "I think you're right. I have a few ideas for our little training session so let's get to it."   On another world, a fierce hurricane continues to rage on as it has been for centuries. Amid this calamity, a small hole appears which Melnyr steps out of and is immediately flung. There is no land in sight or anything else in sight besides the ever-twisting and turning winds. They attempt to gather themselves but fail to acquire basic directions. Which way is up and which way is down? It's the same as when the two would fly through the void of space, but space was much more peaceful than this. Melnyr continues to try and right themselves but the everchanging current of the wind feels like a raging ocean slamming them against a cliffside. That is if the cliffside is another raging ocean. After about a minute of trying to fly, Melnyr has enough of this wind. They grasp some of the storm clouds in each hand and then infuse them with their energy. "Let's hope this works." Melnyr thought aloud. "Disperse!" Melnyr shouted as they brought their hands together with a thunderous boom! In an instant, the skies were crystal clear as far as the eye could see. Since they could finally take a moment and look around, Melnyr was shocked by their new landscape, or lack thereof. There was nothing anywhere. It felt oddly comforting with the complete lack of sound or external stimuli. It was much like that of their previous travels through space before they met Lavis and his magma planet. Something was off though, they had felt something during the storm. It was some sort of presence. "This must be from Celes," Melnyr thought, "was he attacking me? Well, I would be a stranger to him, also I guess it wouldn't be out of the question for him to do something like that with how the other two talked of his prowess of his element." Melnyr, with that, sets out on a new adventure alone for the third primordial. As they fly around they notice small whisps of energy, "Is this the signature of the element of air? It's so concentrated here that it is much easier to follow." Melnyr thought while exploring. They found heavier concentrations of the energy now and then and this would lead them in their search for Celes.     Part II   After some time has passed, back in the water world of Aquiris the two primordials are in a fierce battle. Steam explosions are being set off with each trade of blows. Aquiris scuttles quickly in and around the molten rocks as they are hurled towards her. A huge chunk is flying towards her, the size of a proper island, and she can't dodge it. She squares herself with the flying island flying toward her and she releases a furled claw that's half stone and half flowing water. The water shoots out of the claw simultaneously with the release of the claw. The island, along with the sound barrier and everything within around a mile in that direction is shattered. As the dust settles there is a lone figure in the blast range. The shape of a stone wyrm, larger than Lavis, is left standing. "Good job you two!" Rysyn cried out from a distance. Aquiris walked towards the wyrm statue and the statue started to glow. Almost instantly after the glowing started, the shine became blindingly bright, and then all of the rock melted away. A familiar figure was left in the statue's place. "That was a really strong punch Aquiris!" The wyrm shouted. "That 'armor' was surprisingly strong, Lavis," Aquiris said as she closed the gap between them. Rysyn flies down toward the two and starts critiquing. "That punch was great Aquiris, maybe try and do it without having to stop and face it, Finis isn't going to give you that time. Lavis, that new 'armor' that you've been using works great but how do you think it'll fair against someone who can control rocks?" Lavis, who is now much larger than he was before Melnyr left, looks around and thinks about it, "I think our powers have some overlap in what they control. I'm a master of fire and maybe half that skill level for lava. It seems that no matter how hard I practice, I can't have full control of it. I believe that it works the same for Finis, in that he has a mastery over rocks themselves but not lava." Rysyn shakes their head in agreement and responds, "I think you're right. Then It's probably best if you keep the armor in a state of lava rather than letting it cool and harden into rock. I guess it would be less effective but, it'll be better than wearing a weapon for the other side." Lavis nods in agreement, then starts to leave when Rysyn asks another question. R: "Wait, you're a master of fire? Not lava? Why don't you use fire? I've only seen you use lava this whole time." Rysyn asked in disbelief. L: Lavis shook their head yes "Well I thought that if I got better with lava then I would have an advantage over Finis so I've confined myself to just that area of my abilities." R: "I guess I should have asked this way sooner, I just assumed it was lava. So what areas fall under your control?" L: Lavis looked around and pondered the question "I'm not really sure" R: "....." L: "....." R: "So uhh... maybe we should figure that out?" L: "Yeah, we could do that." R: "Well we should probably do the same with Aquiris." Rysyn then called Aquiris over and asked her the same questions   A: "Well mostly just water, It could be liquids as well but each one is easier or harder to control. I feel a slight connection to Lavis's lava, but not enough to control it. It's just enough to detect it. I feel all water as an extension of myself, but not as strongly as when I still had my element. R: "So what can you do with the water? Just control its movement or what? A: "I can control and manipulate its shape and form. Like this for instance" Aquiris then extended out a claw towards the ocean beside them and a stream of water floated through the air towards her. The water flowed and swirled into a sphere, then a cube, then a shape almost resembling Rysyn. A: "I can also control the temperature of the water. I can freeze it on command or even boil it and then control the vapor." R: "That's amazing! Well, It seems like you have yours covered so we just need to work with Lavis to find the extent of theirs." L: "Well before we do that, I was wondering, what all can you do?" R: "So far I've only ever been able to erase things. Melnyr seems to believe that I have some hidden potential or something that I haven't found. I think that destroying things is probably all I'm able to do. A: "How do you erase things exactly? R: "As far as I can tell things that come into contact with my energy are just erased. If I concentrate on something it's like I can feel that thing's weak spot and set off a chain reaction inside it until it is all erased. That's how I would erase Melnyr's worlds that they weren't satisfied with. It takes a lot out of me though A: "Whenever I control water, I can feel each individual part of it. I don't know how to explain it further but, it feels like there are individual pieces within the water and I can control those. It even lets me do stuff like this." Aquiris extends out their claw once again and concentrates. Suddenly, water starts to appear from nowhere and forms a small sphere in front of her. "I could feel the water in the air itself, so I pooled all of it together within an area and cooled it to form a liquid again. Can you feel the individual parts of things like that? R: "I'll try. I've never put that much thought into it." Rysyn walks over to a nearby rock. They extend their hand as a slight buzzing sound becomes audible and their purple energy surrounds the hand. They focus on the rock, trying to find the smallest piece of it that they can. They find a weak point in it, then another, and then another. After a few minutes of concentrating and searching they found them, the smallest parts. Rysyn cracked a slight smile. "I always thought Melnyr just said those things to try and cheer me up, I never really believed them. I always appreciated it though. It turns out they were right." As they finished talking, the energy lept from their hand and onto the rock. It started to turn to ash and fade away, except for something on the inside. As all the ash faded and was blown away, A statue that was a perfect replica of Melnyr was left. They were in a pose similar to the one when they restored Aquiris's ocean. A: "Well it seems like that was a success. It's like you just needed the knowledge behind it, you already had the power" L: "You created something! That means that you can do more than destroy. I can't wait for Melnyr to see this!"