Acolyte's Quest: Traversing Mirror Anchor [End]

[Zeik]

Zeik watched as his sigils shattered the Nulgurian barrier, the fractured energies dispersing into the night like embers caught in the wind. Despite his brief dissertation on naten econ, he hadn’t been entirely sure he could open the door. The complexity of the barrier had suggested layers of intent woven into its design—intent meant to keep out those who lacked the precision to unravel it.

And yet, the door now stood open.

Zero played coy, his casual posture betraying nothing of what he knew.

"You're damn right that's why I brought you along. The barrier, I didn't expect, but there's something more... esoteric on the other side."

he said, voice light with feigned ignorance. A simple lie for a simple man.

Zeik narrowed his gaze but let it slide. "There wasn’t a way to open this door without alerting them. I was barely able to diffuse the correlating bomb and temporal displacement, but…" He paused, measuring his words, knowing they wouldn't matter. He exhaled sharply as Zero’s form blurred, and suddenly, they were moving—pulled through the shifting terrain as the wind carried them like whispers across the night.

The sensation was disorienting yet familiar. Zeik steadied himself against the turbulent ride, his breath syncing with the rhythm of the currents. Being a Lunedge had always given Zero a natural affinity for the wind, and moments like this—when movement overtook meaning—were when he was most in his element. Zeik couldn't help but chuckle. He had the distinct feeling that Zero had just told him to *shut up* without saying a word.

When they finally came to a halt, Zeik met his friend’s gaze. Zero looked the same, but Zeik knew better. Knew that he was staring at a stranger wearing the face of someone he once trusted. The silence between them stretched, heavy with everything left unsaid. It was the kind of silence that swallowed years of camaraderie whole.

“I can always trust you to be yourself,” Zeik said finally, the weight of his voice cutting through the stillness.

Zero’s face lit up, that unshakable joy returning as if the tension had never existed. Fae physiology was an enigma—each of their kind so different from the next. Once feared as soulless husks, compared to artificial constructs, they had long been misunderstood. Some had no bodies at all, others bled strange fluids unlike the primordial elements they were comprised of.

And yet, Zeik had seen Zero bleed…once

It was easy to be deceived into thinking the Fae were human—or at least close enough to count. Conscious. Sentient. Capable of feeling loss and pressure. But consciousness was a fickle thing, manifesting in ways most barely understood.

Zeik turned away, his voice quieter now. "You're lying again."

Zeik kept his gaze fixed ahead, unwilling to meet his eyes or waiting for a reply. Beneath the anger, beneath the betrayal, something deeper festered—something worse. Hurt.

Zero’s lie wasn’t just about the barrier. It was about something far greater.

It meant Zero didn’t believe Zeik was capable of understanding him. His methods. His choices.

And that wound—raw, unspoken—was the kind that settled into the bones, reshaping a person from the inside out. He'd seen before-once.

[Fate II]

Crossing the isthmus onto the lonely island in the Sea of Aeon, Zero and Zeik approached a frozen sand beach just like the one they left. Behind them, the sandbar was washed away by the flapping tides and left them with no exit. The winds wailed around them, unfettered through a clear, night sky across a frozen solid beach. The island itself was barren, an almost perfect triangle in an expanse of crashing waves.

Though they had reached their destination, Zero and Zeik could see nothing that would differentiate this piece of land from the rest of the barren wastes they weathered to arrive. The frozen flats before them could house one hundred elephants easily with no clear obstructions, but its topography bowed slightly toward the center of the island with a small mound raised directly in the center.

[The Arceneaux Family]

“Barrier Compromised. Second Daughter deployed.

“Oh?” Alphonse said from the seat of his throne across the long table from his loving, adoring wife, Gwendolyn. “Who could possibly knocking on the door to Iden?”

“I couldn’t imagine darling. But Terra will be sure to provide our guests ample entertainment, won’t you?” She said, flicking a finger across the lobe of her ear to a glowing bauble transmitting her voice to the now deployed daughter en route to intercept the barrier busters.

“Of course, mother,” Terra said, transmitting her voice from the Hangar Bay 2. From there, she commanded the whole of the A4D, the Arceneaux Anti Air Division that had been installed to guard the Strait of Aeon from land faring trespass. She had been watching since Zero and Zeik began their trek across the frozen desert astride a mantagolem and somehow survived the onslaught of the artillery field her and her father installed. Typically, the molten salt dealt with unwelcome company by incinerating them with molten salt sourced from the seawater wherever they deployed, but the pair made it to the Nulgurian barrier completely unscathed. By the time they removed it, she already initiated her sortie and suit up. She donned her helmet, greaves, gauntlets and breastplate while the hangar’s klaxon and strobes cycled. ”I’ll be back, Nero, just wait.”

“Don’t hurt yourself, dear. Make sure you’re back for dinner, you don’t want to upset your mother,” Alphonse said, whispering over Gwendolyn’s shoulder directly into her earring and resting his hands gently on her shoulders. Gwendolyn reached back and gazed lovingly into his eyes, their pitch black orbs reminder her of the first day they met back in Edo, sending her heart a flutter.

“We’ll hold dinner until you return,” Gwendolyn said. “Won’t we darlings?” The dining table sat at least 15 people on each side with a crimson runner and golden lace tracing the center with full table settings in front of each guest. They were in all manner of formal tech wear designed by the Arceneaux Corporation, waiting patiently for dinner to be served.

While everyone waited quietly, nodding in unison to Gwendolyn’s query, Alphonse responded for them.“Of course we will. Do good things, dear.” He placed a kiss on his wife’s neck and slowly returned to his seat at the opposite end of the table.

In the hangar, Terra stepped into the launcher track, a long magnetic rail with a seat aimed out over the southern sea of Aeon that separated the Desert from the Hyperion Backcountry. The hangar doors opened to the wailing winds sweeping through the mountains carrying slicing frost through the valleys and peaks. The launcher’s track mobilized, stretching out into the winds and tracking its targets out onto the tiny island the A4D guarded for the Arceneaux Corporation.

Target locked.

“Second daughter, engaging opposition. Commence launch sequence.”

Terra sat into the launcher seat and adjusted her gauntlets one last time as the countdown marched on.

3… 2… 1… Bye bye!

The launcher engaged, sparks flying from the high voltage the electromagnetic rails required to function in the frigid climate of the Hyperion Mountains. It sported enough horsepower to plant ordinance across the sea between the Desert and the mountains in less than a quarter of a second. Terra’s protective gear made her a weapon, ammunition of the Arceneaux corporation and the point man of the A4D. The responsibility fell squarely on on her shoulders to guard the Strait of Aeon, in addition to other responsibilities within the underground walls of Shangri La, the network of cities the Arceneaux Corporation developed. Those responsibilities came secondary to the one at hand, stopping Zero and Zeik from moving further into Arceneaux claimed territory.

Terra barreled in a meteor like ball of light toward the trespassers to satisfy the will of the family.

[Zeik]

Zeik stood still, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling in defiance, refusing to lay flat. It was the sensation—the deep, gnawing feeling—that something was coming. Something *
wrong. The moment the barrier shattered, that faint hum of energy in the air had changed, and now the vibrations were rippling outward, alerting him, alerting everyone.

He didn’t need special instruments or complicated readings to know what was approaching. He could feel it—the pulse of Naten energy, more potent than the air itself. His sensitivity to it was uncanny, a gift that let him sense even the faintest shifts in the flow of energy around him. He could tell the exact size of the object moving toward them, like the beat of a distant drum reaching his very bones. It was large— larger than most, but not enormous. He estimated its weight and mass with uncanny accuracy, gauging the strain it would place on the surrounding terrain. He could sense the interference in the air caused by the movement, the way it parted the atmosphere like a ship slicing through water.

But it wasn’t just size he could measure. He could sense the specific nature of its movement, its momentum, the way it cut through the air. The vibrations hummed differently as it neared—suspiciously steady. Too controlled.

It was a girl. But not like any he’d ever encountered. His Naten sensitivity revealed oddities: a shifting aura, a stark difference in density as if her presence was a walking anomaly. Something mechanical. Her armor hummed with an unnatural rhythm, its mass fluctuating in a manner that made his stomach tighten. It wasn’t just armor—there was something more. He could almost feel the distinct tension around her joints, as if the metal was integrated with the very sinew of her body. Her movements were deliberate, calculated. The entire presence felt more like a weapon than a person.

Zeik clenched his jaw. Every muscle in his body screamed to act, to prepare. He couldn’t afford to hesitate—not with her closing in.

He instinctively reached for his ear, pressing his fingers against the comm system, hoping for a crackle of response from his wife. The silence that greeted him only deepened his concern. Radio static filled his ears, the usual sharp buzz of communication now distorted and distant. His brows furrowed. Deep underground, the shifting earth, the energy interference, the layers of rock—something was blocking the signal. The usual network of systems he relied on was failing him at the worst possible time.

The girl was closer now, and Zeik could sense every shift in the air with uncanny precision. He could hear her footsteps now, each footfall vibrating through the ground, carrying the distinct weight of her form. He had no way of knowing what her next move would be, but he could feel her there, right outside.

Whatever she was, whatever she had become, he had no illusions about how dangerous she was. And now, with the communication down he exhaled sharply, his gaze narrowing. The city’s operation wasn’t designed for hospitality—this place didn’t get visitors often. The very nature of its existence was built on secrecy, its doors rarely opening for anyone who wasn’t explicitly invited. That meant the people in charge had already made a decision: Zeik and ZK were intruders, and whoever ran this place had no interest in formalities. Instead of diplomacy, they had sent *her*.

A single unit.

Zeik’s fingers twitched at the thought. He knew arrogance when he saw it, and this reeked of it. Whoever commanded this city had such unwavering confidence in their creation that they believed "one" would be enough. Not a squad. Not an overwhelming force. Just this girl in her strange armor, sent alone to dispose of two warriors without a second thought.

The sheer presumption of it made his stomach twist in disgust.

He had seen it before—men and nations who relied too much on their marvels of war, who placed blind faith in technology, weapons, and constructs they barely understood. It wasn’t strength. It was hubris. And more often than not, that kind of thinking led to ruin.

"Arrogance."

Zeik sighed, running a hand through his hair before glancing toward ZK. “They must not get visitors often,” he muttered. Then, with a dry smirk and a shake of his head, he added,

"We must be interrupting those who are in charge."

[Ves]

Zeik turned away, his voice quieter now. "You're lying again."

Zeik kept his gaze fixed ahead, unwilling to meet his eyes or waiting for a reply. Beneath the anger, beneath the betrayal, something deeper festered—something worse. Hurt.

Zero’s lie wasn’t just about the barrier. It was about something far greater.

It meant Zero didn’t believe Zeik was capable of understanding him. His methods. His choices.

And that wound—raw, unspoken—was the kind that settled into the bones, reshaping a person from the inside out. He'd seen before-once.

"You normally ask clarifying questions sooner." Zero said, eyes locked on the coming force.

He felt the sting of disappointment in Zeik's voice, but only responded with the simplest truth. Zero dreaded this moment he saw the sigil on the barrier. In the time Zeik took to recover in silence on the trip from Muu to Aeon, Zero might have introduced him to the possibility of active opposition outside of what the Acolytes advised them. There was a long history with the Arceneaux Corp that could not be broached between them lightly.

"Arrogance."

Zeik sighed, running a hand through his hair before glancing toward ZK. “They must not get visitors often,” he muttered. Then, with a dry smirk and a shake of his head, he added,

"We must be interrupting those who are in charge."

What is any relationship without secrets though? The truth of the matter was that the Arceneaux Corporation sent a single robot to face the two of them. He assumed them competent enough to charge the breaking of that barrier with a formidable opponent, but was sure they couldn't account for The Cursed Flame and the Speed Demon knocking on their door.

"They're known to be pretty full of themselves. But don't let your guard down."

Zeik looked rejuvenated now, his bandages stripped away and leaving behind the man Zero remembered, his friend and comrade from the Fall of Arcturus, the reliable mage, and cursed, terrible flame.

Terra barreled in a meteor like ball of light toward the trespassers to satisfy the will of the family.

The incoming force barreled toward them with a familiar aura emanating from them, one Zero hadn't felt in quite some time since he abandoned, or sidebarred, his quest for Reliqs du Ven. His skin tingled on its approach, marking the reawakening of a very special nerve within him. This glowing meteor of Mistral energy bent the currents around them on their approach, but he felt the approach of something even darker, more foul than the Arceneaux typical fare.

Zero's eyes came to life as he leaned forward and lunged into a roundoff in Judeian Choreo, bounding into a quick as wind backflip with a pressurized tuft gathered around his ankle. With the approaching fireball in sight, he loosed a kick arcing through the frozen sky and sending a massive burst of wind pressing down on their coming foe. Its quick compression caused a burst of steam from its impact point on top of the ball of fire, so if it was light enough to be moved it should have done some major damage. But he knew the work of the Arceneaux Corporation, the likelihood of this contraption falling that easily were low, but not zero.

[The Arceneaux Family]

A thunderous boom threw her blazing trajectory off target, grounding the one woman ordinance heading for The End of the World. Her specialized Arc Tek armor guarded her from the high temperature but she wasn't prepared for the preemptive strike from before she made her approach. Her original assumptions about the barrier busters were already materially inaccurate at a worrying degree.

Terra's meteoric approach was grounded in a pressurized boom sending her beneath the choppy waters of the Strait of Aeon. It was a cheap hit, but they were fast enough to knock her out of the sky. The A4D Arc Tek loadout had more then enough contingency to survive a short time underwater since the current mission's landscape called for it, but Terra had to consider her next move very carefully.

"They're fast" she thought, sending her concerns back to HQ Shangri La with her mother and father listening.

"And you're oh so resourceful. You'll do fine, dear," Gwendolyn said back to her through the audio/visual communicator on her wrist. "Don't forget your father's gift either."

"Right."

Terra's Arc Tek armor gave her massive protection from the icy waves of the strait. The suit was comprised of high quality Aeternitum strands, flexible and durable alloy made from materials mined from a very small area in the Mek Mountains. The Arceneaux Research and Development division prided themselves on the kits of the First Family, crafting specific gear to best suit their support loadouts and individual skills. Terra's came equipped with forearm thrusters fitted for airspace and submerged operations. She aimed her fists forward and the thrusters activated, starting a course to circumnavigate the small island, moving opposite of her opponents view of her original trajectory. The special design allowed for her to move her body nimbly while swimming through the water, cutting through the rough waters like a drill, coiling the currents around her to propel her faster.

Around their backside, Terra had a clear view of her targets on the visor's display, making them out with penetrative thermal vision from below the water's surface. She didn't know their abilities, only that they were capable of breaking the Nulgurian barrier and that required a deep knowledge of the arcane arts. That, in conjunction with the previous person's reaction speed, gave her immense anxiety. Her thoughts led her back to her brother, deep within Shangri La stuck in the Arc Tek regeneration bay. His sleeping face and her duty to their adoptive parents steeled her resolve, bringing her hands to create a series of mudras and hand seals. The waters around her calmed for a moment, then swirled over an under her, encasing her in a dense, roiling ball of aquatic current. Underwater, she maintained an advantage since she lost the element of surprise to the cooler of the two heat signatures.

[Zero Venkage]

Zeik turned away, his voice quieter now. "You're lying again."

Zeik kept his gaze fixed ahead, unwilling to meet his eyes or waiting for a reply. Beneath the anger, beneath the betrayal, something deeper festered—something worse. Hurt.

Zero’s lie wasn’t just about the barrier. It was about something far greater.

It meant Zero didn’t believe Zeik was capable of understanding him. His methods. His choices.

And that wound—raw, unspoken—was the kind that settled into the bones, reshaping a person from the inside out. He'd seen before-once.

"You normally ask clarifying questions sooner." Zero said, eyes locked on the coming force.

He felt the sting of disappointment in Zeik's voice, but only responded with the simplest truth. Zero dreaded this moment he saw the sigil on the barrier. In the time Zeik took to recover in silence on the trip from Muu to Aeon, Zero might have introduced him to the possibility of active opposition outside of what the Acolytes advised them. There was a long history with the Arceneaux Corp that could not be broached between them lightly.

"Arrogance."

Zeik sighed, running a hand through his hair before glancing toward ZK. “They must not get visitors often,” he muttered. Then, with a dry smirk and a shake of his head, he added,

"We must be interrupting those who are in charge."

What is any relationship without secrets though? The truth of the matter was that the Arceneaux Corporation sent a single robot to face the two of them. He assumed them competent enough to charge the breaking of that barrier with a formidable opponent, but was sure they couldn't account for The Cursed Flame and the Speed Demon knocking on their door.

"They're known to be pretty full of themselves. But don't let your guard down."

Zeik looked rejuvenated now, his bandages stripped away and leaving behind the man Zero remembered, his friend and comrade from the Fall of Arcturus, the reliable mage, and cursed, terrible flame.

Terra barreled in a meteor like ball of light toward the trespassers to satisfy the will of the family.

The incoming force barreled toward them with a familiar aura emanating from them, one Zero hadn't felt in quite some time since he abandoned, or sidebarred, his quest for Reliqs du Ven. His skin tingled on its approach, marking the reawakening of a very special nerve within him. This glowing meteor of Mistral energy bent the currents around them on their approach, but he felt the approach of something even darker, more foul than the Arceneaux typical fare.

Zero's eyes came to life as he leaned forward and lunged into a roundoff in Judeian Choreo, bounding into a quick as wind backflip with a pressurized tuft gathered around his ankle. With the approaching fireball in sight, he loosed a kick arcing through the frozen sky and sending a massive burst of wind pressing down on their coming foe. Its quick compression caused a burst of steam from its impact point on top of the ball of fire, so if it was light enough to be moved it should have done some major damage. But he knew the work of the Arceneaux Corporation, the likelihood of this contraption falling that easily were low, but not zero.

[The Arceneaux Family]

A thunderous boom threw her blazing trajectory off target, grounding the one woman ordinance heading for The End of the World. Her specialized Arc Tek armor guarded her from the high temperature but she wasn't prepared for the preemptive strike from before she made her approach. Her original assumptions about the barrier busters were already materially inaccurate at a worrying degree.

Terra's meteoric approach was grounded in a pressurized boom sending her beneath the choppy waters of the Strait of Aeon. It was a cheap hit, but they were fast enough to knock her out of the sky. The A4D Arc Tek loadout had more then enough contingency to survive a short time underwater since the current mission's landscape called for it, but Terra had to consider her next move very carefully.

"They're fast" she thought, sending her concerns back to HQ Shangri La with her mother and father listening.

"And you're oh so resourceful. You'll do fine, dear," Gwendolyn said back to her through the audio/visual communicator on her wrist. "Don't forget your father's gift either."

"Right."

Terra's Arc Tek armor gave her massive protection from the icy waves of the strait. The suit was comprised of high quality Aeternitum strands, flexible and durable alloy made from materials mined from a very small area in the Mek Mountains. The Arceneaux Research and Development division prided themselves on the kits of the First Family, crafting specific gear to best suit their support loadouts and individual skills. Terra's came equipped with forearm thrusters fitted for airspace and submerged operations. She aimed her fists forward and the thrusters activated, starting a course to circumnavigate the small island, moving opposite of her opponents view of her original trajectory. The special design allowed for her to move her body nimbly while swimming through the water, cutting through the rough waters like a drill, coiling the currents around her to propel her faster.

Around their backside, Terra had a clear view of her targets on the visor's display, making them out with penetrative thermal vision from below the water's surface. She didn't know their abilities, only that they were capable of breaking the Nulgurian barrier and that required a deep knowledge of the arcane arts. That, in conjunction with the previous person's reaction speed, gave her immense anxiety. Her thoughts led her back to her brother, deep within Shangri La stuck in the Arc Tek regeneration bay. His sleeping face and her duty to their adoptive parents steeled her resolve, bringing her hands to create a series of mudras and hand seals. The waters around her calmed for a moment, then swirled over an under her, encasing her in a dense, roiling ball of aquatic current. Underwater, she maintained an advantage since she lost the element of surprise to the cooler of the two heat signatures.

[Zeik]

Zeik’s eyes narrowed as he watched Terra weave Ava into the mechanized suit, his lip curling with quiet disgust. There was something grotesque about the sight—an intrusion of cold, unfeeling metal into the sacred artistry of Ava. The seamless fusion of machine and flesh was an impressive feat of technological mastery, but to Zeik, it was an abomination.

"You've been turned into a weapon..."

He spoke the words aloud, more to himself than anyone else, his voice laced with bitterness. His fingers curled at his sides, his body absorbing the ambient Naten as he wove his own Ava in preparation. He knew better than to underestimate his adversary—this young woman, bound to war, following orders like so many others before her. A soldier, perhaps unwilling. Perhaps forced. Perhaps no different from those he'd cut down before.

And yet...

His brow furrowed. Was it right to strike with lethal intent? Would he be cutting down a willing enemy or merely another victim of the machine that had shaped her? His battle-hardened instincts clashed with an impulse rarer in him—hesitation. His gut told him she was dangerous, but was that enough? Was he truly so jaded that survival alone justified killing a mere child.

He exhaled slowly, eyes flickering with contemplation.

No. This wasn’t about morality.

Hesitation was a liability. Risking his life—or worse, the lives of his allies—because of an emotional whim was the height of arrogance. It wasn’t fitting for a warrior of his age.

So, he buried the hesitation.



"Come to me... my Animus."

The moment the words left his lips, a shift took place within him. A tremor, not of fear, but of something primal. A heat that wasn’t physical but felt like fire licking at his veins. His blood boiled—not in pain, but in hunger. His fingers flexed as his grip tightened on the hilt of his Animus. The blue-pulsing katana in his grasp felt both natural and foreign, like an extension of himself that he could never fully control. The moment it formed, a shift took place inside him—a chemical reaction of spirit and instinct, setting his nerves ablaze with unhinged excitement.

A sharp-toothed grin spread across his face, his pupils dilating ever so slightly as the rush overtook him. It was intoxicating. This moment, the threshold before violence, where instinct bared its fangs and the mind became something *other.*

The battlefield.

This was where Zeik and Zk met in the middle. This was their element, their proving ground, their cathedral of carnage. Together, they had torn titans, gods, and monstrosities asunder. They had reduced so-called immortals to limbs scattered across the planet, a symphony of fire, lightning, and unrelenting speed. The battlefield was where their friendship thrived

The moment his Animus manifested—a blue, pulsing katana humming with raw power—his demeanor shifted. The calculated serenity that defined Zeik fractured, giving way to something more unhinged. His breath quickened, his grip on the sword tightening as his heartbeat thundered in his chest.

The sheath materialized at his side, a mere formality. He would not need it. Not when the thrill of battle sang so sweetly.

A chuckle bubbled up in his throat—low, almost amused. But there was an edge to it, something dark and feverish. His shoulders tensed, his stance shifting ever so slightly forward, like a predator itching to pounce. The air around him crackled while he weaved his Ava, whilw thw blade continue feeding off the sheer intensity of his will.

"Lethal force? Or you wanna 'save' this weapon?"

He asked while adjusting his grip on his katana. He could already feel the answer clawing at the back of his mind, demanding release.

He bared his teeth in a grin.

[The Arceneaux Family]

Terra’s seals completed and the roiling water around her spun like a death wheel, creating a slicing sawblade out of the condensed, pressurized water she took control of. It sent a thin geyser shooting out of the surface in front of the pair before her whole body and the rolling wheel of death gained traction and barreled toward her two targets on the surface. Her approach was fast, bearing down on the one who knocked her form the sky first. The saw was twice her body length, but the speed her aquatic armor spun at could slice a hair in two; it carved into the frozen earth leaving a frozen ridge in her wake.

High potency energy detected, use extreme caution. Her Arc Tek suit spoke directly into her mind, warning her of the formidable strength that could match the speed that already made her nervous.

Don’t worry, dear, Alphonse said to his daughter in the same split second. They’ve already opened the way. All you need to do is place the pike and we’ll extract you.

Understood, her mind shot back to her father before her consciousness returned to the battle at hand. The Arc Tek outfit allowed quantum transmission between HQ and the suit, providing time for them to formulate plans in the heat of battle and coordinate faster than most opponents could react to. Unfortunately, it seemed that at least he of her opponents was faster than she could reliably react to, sparking her unease, but her father’s encouragement let her forge ahead. They had a plan and she intended to stick to it, even if she might not be able to beat the trespassers.