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Achieving Heaven

The elevator went up for a while, accompanied by a distorted sound of music that had been degraded in the years after the war. Not only did it made an ominous atmosphere, it made the occupants uncomfortable.

"I hate elevator music back when I was a child," said Aranis while trying to close her ears. "Now it sounds like it comes out from the depth of hell itself."

"How much higher should we go?" asked Raine.

The mercenary did not reply, so Raine touched his shoulder, which startled him so he turned around.

"Yes? Oh, sorry. Let me pull these off first." The mercenary then pulled out something out of his ears.

"Ear plugs, huh?" said Raine. "Good idea."

"I always think that the elevators in these buildings are one way trips to hell, so I don't want to get depressed before I reach a settlement. Want some?"

After handing over spare ear plugs, Raine asked, "How much higher should we go?"

"We will get to the top floor, otherwise known as the 50th floor," said the mercenary. "We'll change elevator midway through."

"50thfloor?! Are you guys trying to get to heaven?"

"This building was a skyscraper back in the day," said Aranis. "Usually it's higher than this, but I doubt much is left after the war."

"I'm surprised people once were able to make these constructs like it was nothing."

"It usually takes three to four years to finish one if using the human style, but then a week if using elven style," said Aranis. "We used magic to make the sleek buildings you see on the other side of the city, but the downside is the floor it had. We can only fit 15 floors on a skyscraper while a human's can fit a hundred floors or more in their tallest buildings."

"Nobody can feel safe if you are living inside a giant spike ready to pierce the heavens, right? Anyway, I haven't told you my name, have I? My name is Kazan Ort Telbafan."

"That's a name I've not heard for a while," said Aranis, smiling. "For someone who's descended from one of the biggest sorcerer family, you don't seem to have a flair of nobility in you."

"I hope you're joking. I've been scraping for food since I was a kid. My father never told me about our ancestry."

"Does it matter?"

"Of course not. Nothing matters anymore," said Kazan with a solemn face. "Nobility or not, all we can do now is survive and hope for a better future."

Aranis never thought she heard that from a noble family descent. This strengthened her own convictions that the world had ended. The noble human mage families were the people who maintained the stability of magical phenomena and were also the people who maintained order in the magical community. Due to their influence and their power, they were tasked in helping the non-magical community to be able to co-exist with the magical ones, especially the elves and magically-inclined beast races. However, some noble family, due to human nature, became arrogant and sought to maintain purity of their blood, with questionable and downright morally wrong actions like incest and such, which disgusted the other families to cut ties with them.

Despite of not being involved in the lavish and glamorous socialite lifestyle of the 'city elves' and the noble humans, Aranis knew a lot of them and became friends with them. Alas, a human's age was short compared to an elf, and most of her friends had already dead. She knew they had children to continue the family name, but then again, despite of them being mages, the 'human purity' was a thing in the past. She found one who belong to the house of Elmir being a hybrid race, and so others.

As for the house of Telfaban, Aranis did not know them personally, but she knew that they were once one of the 'big 5', the leader of the human Council of Magic. That day was, again, in the past, and aside from reminding Kazan that he was descended from nobility, there was no use in telling him that his family was very influential. In the end, his influence was nothing in a world without order.

The elevator finally reached the 50th floor after a long and torturously slow ascent, accompanied with distorted elevator music. Fortunately, Kazan's ear plug worked like a charm. When the door of the elevator opened, the two newcomers gasped.

The fiftieth floor was converted into a cult meeting room, completed with a burning effigy and a circle of cultists muttering words that Aranis knew as the old Gelish dialect, a common 'city elf' dialect of the elvish language. She had not heard of the words for almost 400 years. For Raine, however, it was just gibberish.

The wordings and the dialect made Aranis think that the cult leader, or at least the priest, was a 'city elf', which was right. As soon as the three of them came out of the elevator, a fair skinned elf with white-blonde hair and ageless face greeted them with a shining light that overwhelmed Raine and Kazan. Aranis didn't know who the elf was, but the one thing she knew was that the elf was old. Older than even her. As a show of respect, Aranis laid down her bow and sword, and then bowed.

The elf spoke in a fair language of the old, one that Aranis knew. It felt like a relief for her, to hear a familiar language again.

"(Raise your head, wood elf)," said the elf. "(I welcome you to this humble place)."

"(It is an honor, light-keeper)."

"(Hush, now)," said the elf with a smile. "(Light-keeper I was, but no more. I'm just like you, an elf. In a dire time where everything we both know has gone, light-keeper is but a title, long forgotten by men and beasts. But let's not dally in the time of past. For an elf of such age, your name has a weight. Speak, and I will provide an answer for your questions)."

"(Yes, Light-keeper. The name bestowed upon me is Aranis, of the house of Darion. I am the daughter of Lirena and Elgas Darion. With the name of my blood father and my blood mother, I request a permission to traverse through your domain)."

"(Your permission is granted, Aranis, daughter of Elgas. For it is a custom of old to give you my name in gratitude and respect. I am Ganymede, daughter of Euros)."

While the two elves exchanged words based on their customs, Raine wasn't sure how to talk to them. In his ears, both were talking a language that hadn't been used for centuries. He wanted to know what they were saying, but he wouldn't be able to learn anyway. The human was then distracted by Kazan.

"Don't worry about Ganymede, Raine," said Kazan. "She may be one of the elves, but she's very down to earth. That's the reason why this cult was created in the first place."

"Aranis doesn't seem to think so."

"Old customs die hard, I guess. Oh, and Raine. Fair warning. This place is very secretive, so the elevator had a unique spell that can give a post-hypnotic suggestion to forget this place even existed. The moment you get out of this place, you won't be able to know where it is, except the conversations."

"So how are you able to get in?"

"This cloak comes in handy for that," said Kazan while showing the cloak. "For security reasons, Ganymede don't want to give you two any cloaks."

"I understand. So, why are you taking us here if we are going to forget it anyway?"

"The first reason is to protect you from the Agents. The second is your job."

"Job?"

"As secretive as we are, the People of the Light do not stay away from information," said Ganymede as she approached Raine. "One of our agents found out that you are trying to sort out the problems between us and the Agents of Tomorrow."

"Yes, but what is 'People of the Light'?"

"That is our original term, but our popularity was more apparent as the Collectives, even if I object to it," said Ganymede. She turned towards Raine, apparently finished with Aranis. She then said, "Raine Winlow, I suppose your reason of visiting us is to find out our motives. Is that right?"

"More or less. It's more Aranis's problem than me."

"He's right, light-keeper," said Aranis, in common language so Raine could understand. "A free-town, with children from many races, are in peril due to the Agents ransacking the place, demanding to find one of your acolytes. We are not sure who it is, and we cannot hide the fact that we are practicing magic ourselves."

"Yes, I know which free-town is that. Of all the free-towns made from the ruins of Estheldan, that one is full of magic. Forgive me for causing much harm to the people of your town, Aranis. It is true that one of the disciples hid from the Agents there. Yet, do not assume that this is out of cowardice in expense of the civilians. It is to protect them, as she is one of so many volunteers who chose to stay."

"Stay? Stay from what?"

"Aranis will be able to explain better. As for me, I am currently pre-occupied with the preparations."

The elf nodded and took Kazan and Raine to a corner of the room.

"Ganymede is trying to conjure a powerful ancient magic," said Aranis. "Yet in doing so, she needs more than just her magic. She needs other mages throughout the land who want to follow her."

"Is the magic in question an elven magic?" asked Kazan.

"Yes, it is, but the knowledge of it is lost, and I don't know if it even existed, until the Light-Keeper told me of their intention. I know this sounds peculiar, and you might think of them as lunatics, but they are trying to ascend."

"Like...ascending to heaven or something like that?"

"Yes. It's a very old forbidden magic that turns those who finished the long chant into pure energy, which in turn causes them to 'achieve heaven', as the people of old say. Right now, it's halfway there, but somehow, Ganymede is trying to speed up the process."

"Because of the Agents."

"Yes. Now, we either leave this place or join their cause. That's the reason of that filter. When we get out of this place, we will soon lose our memories of ever getting into the 50th floor. Yes, that includes you, Kazan."

"Wait, me? Then what's this cloak do?"

"Nothing. She gave you three chances," said one of the cultists near him.

"That's helpful," said Kazan while throwing his cloak away, revealing a suit beneath it.

"So, what's your choice?"

"To be honest with you, I don't really care much about their motives. As long as they don't trigger second apocalypse and end up completely destroying this world, I'm fine with their secrets. But, if you're asking about me joining them, the answer is 'no'," said Raine. "But I suppose you want to join them?"

"I want to, but I prefer living in this world," said Aranis. "I know the magic is harmless to those not in the Collectives, and that is fine for me."

"But what are you going to do?"

"I know this sounds harsh, but running away...isn't the answer. I know they have their own reasons, but I can't just get away from my life, right?"

"Well said," said Raine, smiling. "So, Kazan, what is your..."

Raine noticed something by the corner of his eyes. It wasn't much, but he knew there was something wrong there. He took a quick glance there and found his answer. Before Kazan could ask him what's wrong, Raine approached a cloaked cultist who did not follow the other groups in chanting the words or even standing around the magic circle. It was a small sight which could be quickly forgotten, but Raine remembered one thing that was in his mind.

As he approached the cultist, he drew his knife and said, "I'm not sure how anyone in this place doesn't realize that you're mute."

The other cultists near Raine was wondering what's happening, but they were surprised when the human punched the cloaked person and forcefully tore his cloak, revealing a partially naked human underneath with bombs strapped on his chest. Raine knew he was right, mostly because he saw the distinctive collar around the human's neck, one that he already saw with the others before meeting with Aranis.

"Don't try anything funny," said Raine. "I know those explosives will somehow blow up if you die. I know it's clichéd, but it's true."

"Raine, what's going on?" asked Aranis.

"This guy's one of them," said Raine. "He's an Agent."

There was a surprised gasp from the other cultists. Ganymede then approached the man and examined him. What she found completely surprised her and she was holding her breath as if disgusted.

"Something the matter?"

"The explosives are not only strapped to him. It is also in him," said Ganymede. "He's a walking living bomb whose life now is nothing but a bomb."

"Good thing you're on the 50th floor." Raine then lifted the man, who was struggling to get off, while Raine carried him to one of the windows. He broke the window and prepared the human bomb. Ganymede rushed and stopped him.

"What are you doing?!" exclaimed the elf.

"Saving your lives in exchange of his," said Raine. "He's not in the mood to talk, is he?"

"Are you insane?! There are people living underneath this floor! The explosion won't kill us, but it will kill them!"

"How's the first floor?"

"Raine, think this through," said Aranis. "You can't kill more than him. I don't want innocent people to be involved in this."

"So, what's your idea, then? Creating a force field around him? I know it will work, but do you realize how the Agents hate you so much they made an Aether bomb?"

There were murmurs talking about how it was possible and such.

"Your force field will hold the blast, but the Aether will creep out of him and mutate all of us. We need to throw him off. It's us or them."

"Are you trying to sacrifice the people downstairs?!"

"Do any of you have other ideas?"

The others couldn't say anything. They were speechless. It was true that, killing the person was the only way to end his suffering. Yet, with so much as stake, they also need to choose. They had no other way to do it.

Suddenly, Ganymede said, "Disciples, change the magic circle and make the Junos symbol. One of you, prepare a bucket of gold dust and create a second circle. Aranis, (recite the creed of the house of Teldis)."

Aranis understood what she meant, but she didn't know what magic she was planning. The cultists were trying to do what their leader told them to do. Kazan and Raine were in the dark about all this.

Ganymede asked Raine to get away from the man, who was barely conscious by this point. He wasn't sure what they were trying to do, but then she said, "This place is no longer viable to continue our research. There is no other choice but to move."

"Move? You mean, with teleportation spell?" said Raine.

"Yes, but this is going to be very dangerous. As all of us get into the magic circle...do what you must. Do not hesitate, just do it and go."

Raine was still confused to the development, but Aranis said, "We have to jump from this floor!"

This surprised Raine and Kazan. "Are you crazy?!" he exclaimed. Aranis stood by her words.

"The elevator won't get us down fast enough to escape the blast. We need to jump! Raine, I need your enhancer spells the most. Do you know any way to break our fall?"

"If it's only the first ten floors, I can mitigate the injuries to bruises, but I'm not sure if it's 50 floors! We may not become a juice at the ground floor, but we still fucking die!"

"Who says we are going to fall to the ground floor? Isn't there a shorter building on the other side of this place?"

Raine ran to check if Aranis was right. On the windows behind the elevator pillar, there was a shorter brick building with a flat roof, yet rotten wood that could cave in any moment. But then, even if it looked unsafe, it sat on the thirtieth floor of the building they were in, and it was their only chance.

As the last cultist (now uncloaked to prevent more spies) stepped into the circle, Ganymede turned towards Aranis and said, "(Forgive me for the brief meeting, Aranis, but we must make haste. I hope we meet again under different circumstances. Do not let fate guide you)."

"(As you are, Light-Keeper. Safe journeys)."

Ganymede smiled towards her, and turned to Raine. She then said, "Take Kazan with you, Raine. Let's meet again later."

"Will I remember all this?"

"Yes, if you're going to jump," said Ganymede, smiling. "Now hurry and get out of this tower. Goodbye, Raine, Kazan."

Both nodded and quickly turned around as Ganymede asked one of the cultists to mercy kill the human bomb. The cultist shot him through the heart, bleeding him out and gave the two group a window of time before his heart stopped. They had at least 5 seconds before the bomb exploded.

Ganymede had known the ancient art of teleportation as she was once attending portal gates when she was young, and before the world became like that. While there was no time to prepare for a long-distance teleportation, she could do an emergency teleportation to a nearby elven building with portal gate in it, enough for all the cultists to come through. The only problem she would expect was some displacements due to incomplete incantation and the necessity to be brief. She didn't have time to warn the others, so in the end, she hoped she could minimize the damage.

Before the bomb exploded, she quickly used the magic and vanished, one by one, with no one left except the three visitors. They didn't see what happened to Ganymede and the Collectives as they were too pre-occupied in saving themselves in the most extreme of ways.

Aranis knew what she was saying. Jumping from that floor to the shorter building was the only way they could escape the Aether radiation. While her field wasn't in enchantment, she knew how to transfer her mana and link it to both Kazan and Raine. From there, depending on how many magical circuits opened within their body, it could make the sharing disastrous or a success, never in between. All mages during her time, regardless of race, knew of it. But, both Raine and Kazan were born during these times, so they had no formal lesson. It was quite ironic, considering that Kazan's family was one of the royal mages.

Even then, she tried to trust Raine and his enhancement magic. It was a gamble, and she intended to win.

Raine used his ability on his whole body, then hold on Aranis's hand, out of impulse. This enabled her to transfer the enhancement towards her, then to Kazan, who was beside her. They had no time to think as they heard an explosion behind them. They knew they needed to jump if they wanted to survive, and hoped that the enhancement would work.

They braced themselves, and they jumped. Raine was both surprised and terrified by the height. He had never seen such height before, and he never jumped from a high-rise building before. All these impulses made him scream, both to keep him conscious and to vent out his fear. Both Aranis and Kazan also screamed, but only Aranis screamed the slightest. She kept concentrating the mana transfer so they could be safe.

The moment of truth came just some seconds after. They reached the top of the neighboring building, and as Raine had predicted, the fall caused the roof to cave in. The force of their fall was so much that they crashed through the wooden floors of the old building, until they stopped somewhere in the fifteenth floor.

Dazed and hurt, the three of them groaned in pain as they were bruised and bleeding, though not that serious, meaning they could still walk. No broken bones, either, so the enhancement worked on the three of them.

Raine looked up towards the building they were in. The Aether formed a black cloud that shrouded the top of the building, but quickly dissipated as the wind started to blow them away, hopefully from civilians. The human then looked at the height they fell in, and was pleasantly surprised that they survived with minor injuries.

"Fuck...," said Raine while catching his breath. "That...is the last time...I'll ever do that. Ever."

"Even if that's a hasty enhancement...you really are something," said Aranis beside him. "I owe you one."

"Buy me a drink later. Kazan?"

Kazan wasn't able to speak, but he managed to give a thumb up towards them, signaling that he was okay. Raine, while rubbing his bruised shoulder, looked towards the ground floor and saw a conflict. He then saw some heavily armored Agents running out and shooting towards something, while others ran in panic.

"I don't think that's the last of our problems," said Raine. "C'mon. We need to find the others. I hope Ganymede and the others made it out safely."

Both nodded, and started walking down the stairs, despite of being hurt and exhausted after falling from great heights. Seeing the hastiness of the Collectives and the brutal method of the Agents, they knew how dangerous it would be if an open conflict happened between them. They weren't sure how dangerous the Agents were, but if they were so dedicated in eradicating magic, they would turn everything upside down just to satisfy their reasoning.

In the end, the victims were those who were caught between. When a war starts, nothing is the same anymore. Everyone dies, and everything ends. The pattern never changes.

War never changes.