Nawx (Project IzeBorn Book 1)

  Branch A: The Realization of Life

  Verse I

  Bond with the Enemy

  It was all abandoned, available for scrap and thievery. The Eldon Factory stood high on the prosperous hills that always seemed to blow the gentlest of breezes. The tall bodies of the grass danced within the slow breeze, looking as if they were moving to invisible music - the wind's majestic whispers.

  But it wasn't long before something had smashed onto the dancing grass. A boot of a man as he stared proudly at the factory's walls. The man had long black hair, his eyes shined a deep blue as his lips grew a smirk.

  "You ready for the mission?" He asked as he turned back at the two men who had been standing behind him.

  Their names were Densetsu and Atreyu. Densetsu was a much more of a stronger built guy than Atreyu. He had large muscles, as he'd always cut the sleeves of his shirts to expose them. He had long white hair but he had it up in a rough looking ponytail that looked kind of rushed. Atreyu was smaller, scrawnier looking. He had just long enough hair to cover his eyes, also purely white.

  "You askin' me, or the kid?" Densetsu asked as he cracked his knuckles, clearly showing off.

  "Dense, let the boy be useful. He came to our village looking desperate. Let the boy repay his debt." Drakkar frowned, turning back around at the factory.

  The three began running up to the entrance of the factory, Dense patting on the back of Atreyu, giving him a bit more speed as he easily passed by him. Densetsu kicked open the large iron doors and aimed his large assault rifles inside the dark room. Drakkar entered as he snapped his fingers, turning on his flashlight that was laid securely on his shoulder, as did Densetsu and Atreyu afterward.

  "So... What is it we're doing here again?" Atreyu asked cautiously as he looked upward, seeing the ceiling go up like it was endless.

  "Don't worry about it. Just do as you're told and you can rest safely another night." Drakkar spoke in a rude tone as his eyes wandered toward another iron door at the other side of the room.

  Drakkar spoke not a word as he looked at Densetsu and nodded, giving him the signal to kick open the doors and aimed inside to make sure the room was secure.

  "Damn, Drakkar. This place sure is big! You sure we can explore this place before twilight arrives?" Densetsu asked as he rubbed the top of one of his assault rifles on the top of his head, looking to have been confused from the room that separated into different hallways like a maze.

  "I'm sure we will. Though we'd have to split up." He announced as he looked at Atreyu, handing him a petty steel sword. "Don't die on me, kiddo."

  "Sounds good to me, let's meet back here then." Densetsu says as he turns toward the hallway closest to him and starts walking down.

  "Remember - if you feel danger, at anything, shoot and kill. We've lost too many."

  Atreyu looks down at the sword in his hand, observing the silver blade until it shot a shine into his eyes.

  "Why... Why should I matter? I'm just a weakling." Atreyu mutters as his grip on the sword tightens.

  "Heh. Everyone starts somewhere. But if you stay a weakling, I won't hesitate to kill you off. This village is for the ones who want to survive only." He mutters back at him, as he steps toward the hallway of his choosing.

  Atreyu loosens his grip of the sword, panting softly as he looked down the hallway that presented itself to him. He took a step forward, and then stopped as he had seen a fading blue light in the distance. His eyes widened, was his eyes playing tricks on him? Or was it the darkness. He had a strong fear of the darkness, from before he arrived at the village.

  As he stepped forward slowly, reoccurring moments poured into his thoughts. He remembered when he wandered into an abandoned village and witnessing the slaughter of all those people. As he began to look for materials that would aid his survival, he came across and open book inside what it looked to be a holy place.

  'The Dark One' was printed in bold on the top of the page, with a whole description under the header of what this dark one was. It wasn't completely clear, he had assumed that it was thought up as a materialization of the people's fear. A dark being who took the form of a normal being who cast curses upon people who would be forced to give up their lives. Atreyu actually came up with a more light-hearted theory as he would take the book with him. Maybe the people would be cast off into a new, peaceful world. Like it was the unborn God's way of helping humanity escape to a different world, away from this doomed one.

  He came closer and closer to the blue light, it was way more bright than when he first saw it. He peered into an open door and saw the source of the blue light. Two matching swords had been laid on a metal block in the little room. He tilted his head as he took a step into the room, flashing his light across the room. A dozen artifacts had been hung around the room, souvenirs had been laid across the floor. Pictures were thrown along the floor. Atreyu picked one up. It was a crayon drawing from a little kid. A dad, mom, brother, sister and dog were drawn on the thin page. An arrow was pointed down at the sister with the writing, "Me" on it. It must've been the little girl who drew it. Another arrow was pointed down at the dad, with the writing, "Liar". Atreyu's eyes frowned as he noticed that detail.

  "Is... This how humans were in the past?"

  As he spoke, he gasped as the page would shatter into his hands. Falling to the floor where it would create a little pile of ash. He sighed as he turned around to observe the rest of the room, spotting a big object. His curiosity was shown as he approached the object. He rested his hand on the object, feeling the deep coldness that was spread within his hand. He took his hand away and gripped a fist softly, becoming somewhat afraid of what it could have been. The light of his flashlight glimpsed on the object, shining brightly into his eyes. Forcibly, he covers his eyes with his arm and tried to look forward.

  He spotted a figure. Narrowing his eyes, it became clearer, it was a person. He quickly drew his sword and stared at the figure as his eyes fully adjusted to the darkness that surrounded him. It was a woman. She was standing in this clear vault-thing. Her eyes were closed as if she was asleep or dead. Her hair was long, similar to how long Densetsu's was, it reached down to her hips. She also had on some robotic armor, was she a machine?

  He looked up at her face. She had such a calm face, but he could sense some distortion within the mysterious being so he remained cautious. However, something told him that this being was peaceful, somehow. He stared at her eyelids, seeing one open slowly. He gasped as he jumped back, away from the vault and into the wall that stood behind him. The woman gasped as well, softly and quietly. He lips barely opened as the redness of her eyes gave some sort of light toward her before fading down and becoming just normal red eyes. Her head tilted to the side slowly, her eyes had open enough for her to see Atreyu. And her own curiosity was noticeable as she held up her hand slowly and placed it onto the glass in front of her.

  He still appeared to be afraid of her, but that sense of peace overpowered him against and forced him to walk forward. He looked up at the woman's face, seeing her look down at him. Still, with that same calm face, she had when she was out cold. He blinked and looked down at her hand as it pressed softly onto the glass in front of him. He lifted his hand with little hesitation, and pushed it forward onto the glass of the vault, in the placement she had her hand on the other side.

  Smoke began coming out of the vault, as the bottom of the glass had appeared to be rising, opening up right in front of Atreyu. He gasped and jumped back again as he raised his sword forward. She kept her calm look still, looking down and stepping out of the vault as if she were used to this.

  She stood in front of him, her eyes rose upward and glanced at him once against. A sudden chi
ll went through Atreyu as his eyes met with her's.

  "Are you... A machine?" Atreyu asked, holding the sword forward with a tight grip.

  She gave no response as she just stood there, observing his behavior.

  "Well!? Are you going to answer me, you damn cyborg!?"

  She remained quiet. But she took a few steps toward him until she stood close in front of him. He looked down and gripped onto the upper part of his arm tightly.

  "Hm." She muttered, looking back up at him. "Why do you choose to fight when you have no strength?" She asks, her voice was quiet and it sounded pretty sweet.

  His face grew red. He quickly shifted away from her.

  "Y-You're a machine! I shouldn't even be speaking to you!"

  "Well- I wouldn't really say I am a robot, or what you refer to as a machine..."

  Atreyu's eyes frowned as he crossed his arms.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I woke up in that vault, but I don't know why. I explored this place and found those dual blades and this armor. If I was a machine, my... Uh, skin... Would be this armor."

  "I don't believe that." Atreyu scoffs.

  "Do you want me to prove this is armor?"

  Atreyu's face grew red once again, as his eyes widened.

  "N-No...! Fine, I guess I can believe you."

  She chuckled as she stepped over to grab her dual blades. He watched as she sheathed the blades in their holsters directly on her lower back, the holsters were positioned so she could easily and quickly unsheathe and go into battle. He began questioning her more and more.

  "So, why are you still here?" Atreyu asked.

  She shrugged her shoulders.

  "Hm. Well, my name's Atreyu." He announced as he raised his hand her way, for a polite handshake.

  she looked over at his hand, then back at him.

  "Atreyu? That's an odd one." She muttered.

  His face grew red, in anger instead of embarrassment this time, "I... Ugh." He muttered as he turned away from her, looking frustrated.

  "My name's Nova," Nova said as she shot Atreyu a small smile.

  Journal Entry I

  A Soldier’s Regret

  Throughout recent time, it was known according to the short amount of humanity that any machinery was to be destroyed. After discovering the Machina one day, it sort of changed the course of things from then and on. We didn't know exactly what they were, but they seemed to find a way to mimic us. Our looks, our voices, our actions. But there is one thing they cannot copy- and that is our emotions.

  They seemed to be super humans, perhaps. Super strength, bravery no human could have, and the energy of a hundred men. An example; the battle of Purity Lakes. Us humans thought we had an advantage when the Machina arrived on the battlefield and landed straight in the water. But they stood up and had no reaction. We didn't know how to react. It was the first time we truly had any speck of hope of winning. I guess we all just went with our gut and stormed into the waters for battle.

  We fought hard, as hard as we could. We've gone days without any resources. No water, no food, and no rest. I'm pretty sure we were infected with some kind of disease, I think it really began to mess with some of our minds. I remember hearing some of the others in a tent across from mine. They were saying how they didn't want to sleep, how they dreamt about waking up in the middle of the night and slaughtering all of us. How he'd wake up in a sudden fright and think he did slaughter us all. He could even smell the purity of blood.

  What sort of disease was this? The man who was confessing had no physical symptoms. He didn't appear to be sick, he was moving just fine. Maybe he was just feeling down, depressed. I know I was.

  The sounds of the rain hit the ground, as we retreated into a cave. We hid deep inside the cave, afraid of the rain. It had grown more and more hot, the raindrops lately. As if it were made out of acid now. I'd glance outside, and see the trees and bushes outside melt, sometimes catch on fire. I even saw a grizzly bear get drenched in the raindrops. The bear shouted, standing and waving its paws around like it was trying to fight back, but it ultimately failed and burned to death.

  I wonder how that bear must have felt. I gave it some thought as I watched my fellow men sit against the rocky walls, awaiting the acid storm's passing. Maybe we aren't so different, the bear and us. There's something we're trying to fight back as well, we just didn't know what it was. I'm afraid of the end, I'm afraid of what's in my mind.

  I woke up to a horrible dream. I dreamed that I was the bear, and I was overbearing the acid storm. Maybe I was being affected by it, I don't really know. I entered the cave to see all the sleeping soldiers alongside me. I felt anger, I felt sadness, I felt despair. It was too much for me, and I lashed out.

  I tasted blood, it tasted pretty good. I would hear the screams of men echo through my ear. I was so loud, I screamed as well. But it stopped once I saw myself laying on the ground. My eyes formed a frown, and I screamed again, which sounded like a bear's powerful roar.

  "You dumb piece of shit!" I yelled, which sounded echo-y as well. It must've been on my conscience. "You could've been better! You could've been there for your family, but you were drowning your sadness away with booze!"

  I lifted my large paw and felt my claws poke out painfully. And then I watched as the bear I was inside slash my puppet body into pieces. Eating any of my body parts it could extract. After my puppet was nothing more than a pile of rotting meat, the bear roar once again.

  I woke up, I smelt the eerie smell of blood. There was blood everywhere. I rush to the side of my soldier companions, but they were all torn apart. My hands were even stained with the red coloring. Questions kept spiraling in my mind, but the acid storm seemed to have lifted.

  A pond was laying in front of the cave, I struggled to walk myself to the water, I felt so weak. I let my hands gather some water and my face with the cold water sensation. The waves the water showed from my presence covered what I truly was. I saw myself as the waves disappeared. I saw my face stained with the same red coloring, my teeth were as well. I blinked my eyes, they were a different color- the same red coloring.

  It must've been the disease that made me hallucinate if that was it. Or just my weakness. I couldn't feel anything in the body, everything was so numb. I feel regret, but I cannot trust my won mine. I cannot trust my own self. All I can do now is wait. Wait for my time to leave to my Place of Recovery. The only known and reasonable cure for this damn disease we had.

  Verse II

  The Resurrection of Humanity

  Everything was black. Nothing was felt. Nothing was heard.

  Suddenly a dim light appeared far off the distance. There was a voice calling out, but it was barely understandable. A tug on the arms and the sounds of chains were heard close to one's ears. It echoed throughout the darkness, something was wrong.

  Nova felt the splash of water as she opened her eyes immediately and began coughing. There were two men in front of her, laughing. They were Densetsu and Drakkar, with Atreyu behind them not speaking a word.

  "Rise an' shine, trash." Densetsu scoffed as he let the last droplets of water fall out of the bucket he was holding above Nova, dropping the bucket on her head afterward.

  Nova grunted from the pain of the bucket, closing her eyes as she anticipated the pain. She moved her arms again, feeling the chain wristlets restrain her arms from moving from behind her.

  "Where am I?" She asked as she kept her head down, her wet hair was completely covering her face.

  "Why you're in our cozy little village," Drakkar responds as he kneels down in front of her. "You should consider yourself lucky we didn't just off you at that factory hideout of yours."

  Drakkar stood up again. Densetsu had that evil smirk on his face, Atreyu could sense that he got this weird anticipation when it came to killing, torturing or doing any sort of harm. Densetsu faced Atreyu and grabbed his head with force, squeezing as hard as he could with his grip.

  "What about this traitor, aye? Th
is little shit was performing contact with that rusty bot." Densetsu says, with his menacing laugh.

  "Let him go. He was simply letting the girl into a trap." Drakkar answers, staring down at Nova.

  "Yeah, that was fucking awesome. We just came outta nowhere and pounded her. We knocked her the hell out!" Densetsu shouted, shoving Atreyu aside and laughing once again.

  "That's why I've entrusted Atreyu to watch after her. I have high expectations of her."

  Both Densetsu and Atreyu looked surprised at Drakkar's decision. The village ran under Drakkar's orders, but Densetsu was obviously assigned to keep security in check, including the prisoners. Densetsu had this angry look on his face as he heard Drakkar's order, but he eventually grew that smirk on his face once again and punched Atreyu on his shoulder.

  "Don't have too much fun, kiddo." Densetsu laughed as he walked out of the cage, following after Drakkar.

  A few moments have passed, as Atreyu was patrolling around the cells that were laid outside on the grass. The Village wasn't a big one, but it housed the remaining humans of the world. They've been somewhat brainwashed into thinking Drakkar was a true leader who had a fate to help humanity live on. But Atreyu knew it was all bullshit. The village resided just outside the Forgetful Forest. Big stone walls covered the exposure the village and the people had from the outside world, in good and bad ways assumingly. In order for Drakkar to keep an order within the walls, he created a group or a powerful pact sealed by the untold magic of some sorts. It was called, 'The Resurrection of Humanity', or the code name RoH. It brought a lot of hope for people, the organization was even spread across the world; within the forest, the Land of Ruin, the Southern Wallows- there's always those lonesome survivors who just need some hope to survive.

  The village stood on top of a tall hill. On one side of the hill, there was the ocean. It was always so calm, and it was a tradition for people to breed on the beach's sands. The people believed that the water was connected to a myth, a myth about a Savior who blessed the waters with infinite health. It was quite common to see children play around there, as well. The village also had stone built homes, made by the people themselves. But there was a castle that stood in the middle of the village. Drakkar told Atreyu that was the main factor of settling in this area, it was rich with history, and he Drakkar was strangely interested in the lives of humans in the past. The castle stood high, so it housed the main members of the RoH.