Two men are talking in a huge cave. They are both wearing bright white cloaks as they sip their mugs of booze. A candle was the only thing that lit up their surroundings.
“I heard Cirrus got overran by sirens…”
“Pfft, as if. Haven’t you read the papers they gave us? It clearly says they lure in sailors with their harmonious voice and then kill them.”
"Then what happened to Cirrus?
“We lost connection to them a few days ago when they stopped dropping mails from the sky.”
“You should go ask them, if you’re so curious.”
They are both sentries that guard the entrance to Mount Othryx. They were once centurions of the bronze legion, so they were the perfect candidates to guard the cave. They couldn’t refuse neither, since a certain general was around to keep them in check.
“How about a joke to lighten the mood?”
“Go ahead.”
“Knock knock…”
“Who’s there.”
“Peace…”
“Peace… who?”
“Peace out-”
The flame was extinguished by the a gentle breeze. Both centurions stared at one another, only being able to see the glow of their eyes through the darkness.
“Funny right?”
“You’re going to give me a heart attack.”
“Come on man, don’t be so depressed all the time!”
“How about this, I’ll light the candle without using my magic.”
“Just light it already.”
The centurion reached his hands under the table. He grabs two rough rocks and placed them on the table with a loud bang. He starts smacking the stones on each other. The light comes back.
“So, what about that gal last week?”
“Which gal?”
“The one with the weird ice powers.”
“That arm of hers… what happened?”
“You meant The Hoarfrost Poltergeist right?”
“She said she froze it to stop the infection from spread to her.”
“You sure she’s normal?”
“That arm she froze can still move.”
“Plus, there’s no way she can keep her arm frozen for that long.”
“Probably some weird magic spell or something…”
“Why are you complaining this to me?”
“Because there’s a chance she’s already an atlantean!”
“There’s no way a human can constantly keep a magic spell going!”
“She’s been real helpful ever since she arrived here.”
“Besides, we can just kill her when she turns into one.”
“Oh and I’m not helping you kill her, she’s powerful for a savant.”
“Hmph, fine by me.”
The frustrated centurion slams his mug onto the table. The candle on the table fell as soon as it shook. The light however, didn’t dim.
The flame wasn’t flowing in the air like a candle should. The smell of melting wax hadn’t came back the entire time. The smell of sea salt filled the room instead of the usual breath of fresh air.
“…One…”
“Two…”
“THREE!”
Both centurions cast bolts of lightning at the intruder. The atlantean is sent flying upwards and out of the cave.
“We make a good team.” The enthusiastic centurion strikes a pose.
“Just do your job.” The bored centurion switches to a fighting stance.
The atlantean jumps down the cave and splats on the ground like a pancake. The two centurions awkwardly stand there, waiting for their opponent to get up. It did not in fact, get up.
“That was… anticlimactic.”
“Well said.”
“Let’s go back to our post.”
“Sure.”
As the two turned around, the sound of a large amount of wood being crushed echoed through the cave. It’s a ship in light teal, or at least WAS a ship.
“Look what came in our mail today.” The bored centurion said calmly.
“OUR CAMPSITE… I JUST REBUILT IT YESTERDAY COME ONNNNNN-” The enthusiastic centurion fell to the ground in utter defeat.
“I’m going to check it out.”
The centurion walks his way to what was remaining of the skyship. There’s no way someone could survive that… he thought.
The head of a siren pops out from the rubble. It was still alive, trying to squirm its way out of its wooden prison. It was screaming, not to intimidate the centurion, it was a scream made out of pure fear.
A crystal hand pierces through the siren’s torso. Its hand was more long and lanky compared to the human arm. The arm swung around in the air, as if it was trying to find where it was. This act was enough to intimidate the other centurion to draw his sword.
“MARK, STOP SOBBING AND HELP ME OUT HERE.” The bored centurion shouted to the centurion who was laying on the ground.
“Eh- Oh-OH WHAT IN THE WAR SEAS IS THAT-” The centurion drew his bow and arrow at the crystal arm.
The crystal arm touches the ground. Another arm came out of the rubble and touched the ground. A flower of flesh took form as it rose from the remnants of the skyship. The eye of crystal in the flower opens as blood started to leak out of it. It makes a deeply unsettling laughter causing the centurion to flinch and miss his shot. A large green magic circle formed under the feet of the centurion with the sword.
The sword wielding centurion jumps into the air, avoiding the giant geode of crystal that sprouted out from the ground. The atlantean jumps out of the rubble and dropkicks the centurion with the bow right in the face. The centurion takes the full blow and is knocked even deeper into the caverns.
“MARK-”
What the hell is this thing…
A better glance at the atlantean made even less sense. It’s ribcage is empty, both inside and outside. Long crystal limbs to support itself, a body that doesn’t even have a digestive system, it was a mystery on how this thing could even survive, but there was no time to ponder on that thought.
The atlantean rushed at full speed towards the only centurion left. He blocks the first strike with his sword, shattering it instantly. The atlantean punches the man’s head sending him a few feet back. The centurion’s helmet helped cushion the impact but was completely dented in one side. The centurion was left dazed by the attack, unable to clearly see where the atlantean was.
And I thought my life was going to be just a little bit longer.
CLINK
…it’s not over?
“OI, YOU INJURED?”
A figure with dark blue hair stood in front of the centurion. She was wearing a mix of white and blue clothing that was soothing to the eyes. Her eyes were covered by a pair of orange tinted sunglasses. One of her arms was covered in an ice gauntlet of sorts, the other was completely normal. She was clashing against the atlantean’s dual red and green tridents with a measly ice staff.
“Y-yes… I’m fine.”
“Then get out of here.”
“Carry your friend back to the main camp.”
The centurion looks to his side. His fellow centurion was lying right beside him with a bleeding nose. He nods, grabbing his comrade and starts climbing up the steep cave. The lady turns back to the atlantean.
“You’re an interesting fellow aren’t you.” She snickered. It responds with a deep laugh. “Heh, you’re funny.”
A flash of green and red pushes both of them to an equal distance from one another. The atlantean merges both tridents into one much larger and much frightening sight of a weapon. The lady creates a greathammer of ice and aims it at her opponent.
“Shall we dance till we part ways, my partner straight from hell?”
A clash of phenomenal colours light the cave up like a fireworks show. The relaxing blue of what was once the sky clashed against the light green of the forests that used to look oh so lively and the crimson red of those who had sacrificed themselves in the apocalypse. It each repelled each other yet complimented each other to be combine into a gallery of art pieces in an art museum. It was a display of magic prowess worthy of the god’s attention.
In the tumult fierce, the waves crashed against nature itself. Amidst the fray where the elements clashed, blood had been spilled, weakening the water’s wrath. As time went on, the ocean seemed to lay still as blood stained the field. Once the playing field was tilted, then the ocean fought back. It froze into ice, wilting trees and flowers alike. Crimson paint was stopped in its tracks, unable to move from the icy collapse.
The atlantean’s limbs were violently exploding when in contact with the lady’s ice spells. It doesn’t know why, unable to land a single attack on the girl without suffering a major blow to any parts of its crystal limbs. It was being pushed back to the entrance of the cavern, where all the atlantean ships were.
A whack to the chest with a greathammer made out of ice later… it falls off into the sea of ships.
“Whew… that was tough.” She wipes the sweat off her head.
“Getting used to this whole curse thing is tough.”
“I should probably head back… they’re making pumpkin pie today~”
Iri Lopez, The Hoarfrost Poltergeist
Absorbed the Frostbite Curse under unknown circumstances.
Her right arm was infected, but she froze it before it could do any harm to her body.
me trying to not write a fight scene in every story I make (impossible)
also yippee second curse user ever introduced in the abyss sea :3
