Chapter 20: Chapter Nineteen: Frozen Showdown

Valdus lay beside Ace, their backs against an ice wall, looking up at Vertex. She shone with the pristine glow of ice that now reinforced her scales, towering over the Corrupt and snarling down at it. Her anxiety cleared with the power surging through her, she steeled herself for the imminent fight. The ocean’s waters surrounding the island crashed against the island, and a blizzard began to form in the serpent’s vicinity.

“She looks mad...! Looks like the Corrupt’s going to get it!”
Ace wheezed with laughter.

Valdus laughed as well. Not only had the Celestial Orb been waiting, but it had almost seemed as if it were waiting specifically for Vertex - her dream being to become the protector of Eldoria’s waters. With that torch passed on, now was her chance to prove her mettle; to take down the Corrupt which had first attacked the Orb.

“Re-... Return... I-it...calls...!”
The Corrupt began to talk, yet its speech seemed glitched,
“De-...defile...!”

“You...!”
Rage shone from Vertex’s eyes as she spoke,
“I’m not letting any of you control me again! You’ve forced others to do horrendous things against their own will... You forced me to harm others...and you forced me to watch as I struck at the people that I wanted to protect! From now on I’ll live the way I’ve always wanted to live; to protect everyone I care about!”

The Corrupt tilted its head and staggered forward. The blizzard began to slow it, but the strength it still wielded from Kaenrae began to burst out of control once more. It stopped as its body began to pulsate wildly again, strange tendrils tearing out from its back like a cruel mutation, more shadows growing further from within it. It feigned its defeat to control the power, before lunging at Vertex at an unimaginable speed, but Vertex remained still. She almost seemed calm, despite her angered expression, and with the Corrupt caught off guard, she summoned a large icicle, striking the Corrupt and crushing it into the frozen floor. The shadowy tendrils wrapped around the icicle, but once the icicle shattered the Corrupt’s tendrils were torn. It let out a shriek of pain, before lunging at Vertex again.

This time she dodged, flying around behind it before slamming it into the ground again with her claws. She then flew upward into the sky, the blizzard strengthening further. Valdus and Ace were a safe distance away from the fight, but the chill from the blizzard still reached them. They shivered from the cold as they watched Vertex overpower the shadowed figure.

“S-succumb...to th-th-the dark...ness...!”
The Corrupt spoke again, a loud static echoing along with its voice.

Vertex opened her jaws, water forming from her breath. The water swirled wildly, before forming into the shape of a spike. It then froze into solid ice, aiming at the Corrupt. Vertex’s eyes shone a vibrant blue as more particles of ice flowed around the spike, causing it to rotate faster and faster. The Corrupt attempted another leap, but this time Vertex was ready to finish it off. She clamped her jaws shut, causing the ice spike to fire straight into the Corrupt’s chest. The spike punctured through its body, and shadows spurted out like blood. It gave out one final shriek of pain, before bursting into black dust and fading away.

By then, Vertex no longer was snarling. She was exhausted from how much energy the magic usage had taken from her, and with a sigh of relief, she suddenly collapsed, falling toward the island floor. Remnants of the blizzard lessened her fall while it carried away the black dust into thin air. The radiant shine from the Celestial Orb remained, but the ice which armoured Vertex began to melt away, revealing her scales which sat beneath that ice. She also shrank to a smaller size, much smaller size, closer to Valdus’s height.

“Vertex!!”
Valdus stumbled to his feet and fell forward, attempting to rush over to her.

His voice croaked, his body still in pain.

“Please, do not worry! She is safe. Most of her Essence has just been expended due to that fight, that is all. She will need to rest for the time being. I will attempt to signal another Celestial to help you three off the island.”
The Celestial Orb called out,
“And...one last thing, young human... Valdus - I thank you - for bringing Vertex to this island. If it weren’t for her to save this island, Eldoria’s waters would have been consumed by Corruption. Cursed...entirely...”

Valdus let out a sigh, relaxing himself before returning a calm nod, hoping the Orb would understand the small gesture.

“You two should rest as well. Ignis is arriving with a few other dragons to carry you to shore.”
The Celestial Orb continued.

Ace took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He rested quickly, and fatigue soon won Valdus over - the cold of the island feeling strangely comfortable. As they slept, Ignis and four other dragons from the canyon arrived at the frozen island.

Ignis walked over to Vertex, and sighed.
“Glacio, Vertex was far too young for this much Essence. The amount you passed on to her in an instant was not a good idea. We have seen this happen once before...with Saphira...”

“I apologise for this, Ignis... I know for a first-time Celestial to be flooded with Celestial strength should rarely ever be done – especially at her age – but the Corrupt stole strength from the Wings of Corruption...”
The Celestial Orb mumbled.

Kaenrae... Why...? What in Eldoria are you trying to do now?
Ignis left that thought for later, nudging Vertex gently before responding.
“We will carry them to the beach, as requested.”

“Do make sure to have them rest well. Especially Vertex...”
Glacio then transferred the rest of what she had to say telepathically to Ignis.
“As for me, my time has come; to leave Eldoria to you all...and to join the Ancestors... I have played my part - my role as a Celestial - and I now pass it on to Vertex. Let her know of the news when she is ready to hear it, and please...look after her...”
There was a brief pause, before Glacio then continued,
“There’s...one other thing I wanted to say, before I go... It’s...strange to me...that even though you’re my elder, I leave to join the others, before you. I...apologise... For not remaining longer... Perhaps, in a way I failed... Failed you...failed everyone...failed Vertex...for not being able to remain long enough... Had I perhaps been strong enough to remain until Vertex was truly ready...but alas...this is goodbye... I will watch over her, along with the other Ancestors. Farewell...”

A wisp of light then flowed from the Orb and rose into the sky. Ignis watched that light drift away, before gritting his teeth and facing toward the ground. He shook his head for a moment and heaved a shaky sighed.

“You don’t have to apologise... Never have you had to...but I just can’t stand seeing everyone leave...without me...”
Ignis spoke to himself.

He then nodded to the other dragons. They then carried Valdus, Ace, while Ignis carried Vertex, back to shore, off the frozen island. There, they rested. The other dragons returned to the canyon first, letting Ignis wait until the three had awoken.

Must I really look over another young one’s fate? How can we be sure that the same events won’t happen again?
Ignis thought to himself as he watched over them,
Can we possibly hope that things will work this time...?

 

After a few hours had passed by, at last Vertex awoke first, speaking groggily,
“O-ow... Ugh, my head hurts...”
She then held her hands over her mouth as an ill expression sprung upon her face.
“It’s not just a headache...!”

Vertex rushed toward the seashore and hurled out a bucketful of water. From being overworked with so much power, her stomach was churning, and she was beginning to feel rather sick. As Vertex tried to recover, Valdus and Ace soon came to. Valdus stumbled to his feet and walked over to Ignis to sit beside him.

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“Hehe...hey...! You missed quite the fight out there...!”
Valdus humoured to Ignis.

“It may have been ’quite the fight’, but... There’s something I’ll need to tell Vertex soon enough.”
Ignis uttered.

Valdus looked up at Ignis in confusion and noticed the serious expression, which Ignis directed at Vertex, who was still attempting to recover from her condition.

She curled up by the seashore and groaned.
“I wonder if I can meet the lady I spoke to from the orb...”

Ignis glanced at Valdus and sighed. As he looked toward Vertex again, he walked over to her. A bad feeling washed over Valdus, and he reached his arm out in hopes to stop Ignis, but before he could speak out, the fire dragon did so first.

“Young dragon, this may not be the time to speak of such news, especially in your current state, but I must inform you of that island, and of that orb you each saw. It should be obvious by now...that orb was a Celestial Orb. The previous Celestial who called for your help, back on that island... Her name was Glacio Alsius, a...pupil of mine, of sorts, as well as an old friend of mine...much like many others...”
Ignis at first sounded hesitant, yet he mustered the words, despite now sounding upset.

Worry flowed through Vertex’s eyes as soon as she heard the word ‘previous’, and she looked up at Ignis with her head lowered.

Ignis continued to speak,
“You fully understand the role a Celestial plays, but often a time soon comes where they must pass that role on. We Celestials then become the Essence of the Celestial Orb, waiting dormant inside for someone whom we can choose as our successor. When we pass the torch of this role onto them, we leave this world...to join the Ancestors... We... Vertex...Glacio is...was...”
Ignis hesitated to say the rest.
“...she watched over you for so long...waiting for that moment to arrive...”

At that moment, a strange emptiness flooded Vertex as her expression fell to dread. She understood what Ignis had left out, her mind filling the gaps in his sentences. She now felt stricken by loss, yet since she’d never gotten the chance to know Glacio at all, she knew of no way on how to react. She turned toward the ocean; toward where the island was.

“I-... I hardly got to know her...and...now you tell me that she’s gone...?”
Vertex spoke.

All Valdus and Ace could do was to just listen.

“Y-you’re not...telling the truth, right...? It’s just a sick joke...right? Ignis...? Please...!”
Vertex turned to face Ignis again, tears now streaming down her face.
“You can’t just...say that!!”

Valdus faced away as Vertex cried out. Ignis stared back at her, unmoving with a strong gaze. He closed his eyes and turned away. Filled with distraught, Vertex dropped her head down onto the sand, her expression now falling empty.

“She knew her time was near, and she was waiting for you to take her place. Everyone finds their time someday, and we are to accept that time when it arrives...”
Ignis’s voice wavered as he responded.

“I know, Ignis! I know that! I get it, but I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her!! And...sure, I’ve always wanted to become a Celestial, to protect the seas so that others could live safely...but not like this...!!”
Vertex snapped,
“How come she couldn’t stay around as long as you-?”

“Tell me if someone would want to live for as long as I have! To try and protect everyone time and time again! Tell me, what is there to gain when you're forced to watch as everyone leaves you behind?”
Ignis suddenly snapped back, turning to face Vertex again,
“I’ve-... I’ve...lived for far too long...yet I can’t just leave... I can’t rest just yet...”
He was then taken aback by his own reaction, shocked and stepping back before facing away again.

Everyone then fell silent. Nothing else was to be said, there had already been enough. Vertex turned away from the others, facing toward the island once more, sobbing with her hands over her face.

Ignis gritted his teeth and moved to sit beside Valdus, muttering as he continued to face away as well.
“Glacio entrusted me to watch over her, but...I’m lost on what to do... I feel that I cannot...and that I have no right to...”

Valdus sat facing the ground, while Ace laid nearby on his back, staring up at the sky. The wind flowed, and the waves were calm. Each of them waited for someone, or something, to break the silence.

“I’ll do it... I’ll watch over her, when I can.”
Valdus then muttered back.

Ignis stood up afterward and huffed,
“I’ll be returning to the canyon...”

Ace followed Ignis, waving to Valdus, but Valdus spent a moment longer on that beach. He stood up and walked over to Vertex, standing beside her, while she still laid flat upon the sand. Her hands were now beside her head, with just a few tears now, glancing up at Valdus.

Valdus glanced back at her and gave a small - albeit awkward - smile.
“Look, I-”
His smile then fell to a defeated expression, almost solemn.
“I...feel like Ace and I dragged you into something rough. I’m sorry we didn’t get to tell you what this whole thing was, before...everything went down, but Sailus asked for us to stay quiet about the Celestial business.”

With a worried look, Vertex raised her head to look closer at him, seeing how concerned he was for her sake.

Valdus continued to talk.
“It might not be my place to say, but...I think Glacio would-...is proud of you, already. You’ll become a great Celestial, I’m sure of it. Just imagining all of Eldoria’s waters crystal clear is... I mean, me saying something’s probably making this even more awkward and all, but- Glacio trusted you, hoped for you, for a good reason. And, before I forget to say... You’re not alone in this, Vertex. I can promise you that. If you ever need help - someone to chat to or whatever - you can call for me. If...I’d be of any help, that is. Heh...”

Without warning, Vertex suddenly leaped up off the sand and hugged Valdus tightly, causing him to fall onto his back as she muttered, fighting back more tears,
“Thank you...”

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