Seeking Scarlet

By Iosef 'Sozei' Thenna

A story of love, identity and dreams. Asem's impossible world, our world, has broken her heart. Calamity followed calamity, until the entity we call 'Amazing' breaks into our reality, giving birth to 'Fragments'; people, human and otherwise who draw phenomenal powers from life itself, shunned and hated for their otherness and loved for being the best of us. Humanity becomes aware of the god-like 'Constellations' with whom we share the world and of the Eclipse King, a nightmare which rules the universe. The Romance of the Four Shards ensues, as four Fragment children wage their ideals in a bid to save the world and their kind, as we all stand divided. This is the world which gives birth to the Great Secret Keeper, humanity's worst enemy and Asem, our last, unifying hope and mightiest sorrow. As Petra explores the world and its history for her place in it, her love may be the only thing that can save Asem and by extension, us all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9780244312824

Book preview

Seeking Scarlet

Seeking Scarlet

Saga of Amazing: Volume One

Iosef 'Sozei' Thenna

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Copyright © 2017 by Iosef  'Seizo' Thenna, Hei Stories, Hei Studios

Art by Iosef 'Seizo' Thenna, Anh Pham, Moraya Cortez, Mart Cappe & T-A-T-S-U-K-I

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2017

ISBN 978-0-244-31282-4

Hei Stories, Hei Studios

Secrets

Agni.

Yeah.

What’s in the dark?  She said, scared to let go of the warmth in her palms.

Well, what do you think?

Secrets.  Things.  All sorts.  You’re in the dark Agni, I wish I could see you.  And the warmth rose, but it was heavy, so the shadow boy brought his hands under hers to help her hold the spark as it grew.

Do you know why it’s dark?

Catch light, someone needs to catch light.  And the warmth flickered and rose and breathed and it was orange like the sky.  She could see her hands now, his too just under them, and she could see the outline of his face.

And how do you catch light?

You need wind.  She answered, marvelling at how the flame flickered and fought to light the world.

But what if there’s no wind?  She wondered, watching how the breeze played with the fire to make secrets like her hands, Agni’s shoulders, the dusty ground and the amber air clear.

Then you sprint. He answered.  Do you know how to sprint?

Believe.

That’s right, you believe.

I believe.  She said as the ember grew to a torch.  She smiled as it danced and  warmed her face.  She was sure the fire would wait for the sun, that’s why the night was so full of lights, because torches rose to search the world for the sun, until she woke up again.  She wondered if she’d wake up tonight too.  But what if you can’t believe?

Then have faith.  He said and took his hands back.  For a moment she was frightened she couldn’t hold the torch without him, but even as its dance slowed, it shimmered yellow and turned the curious dust into stars.  She wondered if God was watching, as the black began to dim into deep pink and shadows were cast all about.  Shadows were clues, she was sure, clues to amazing things which danced and hoped they were found, till the sun woke up and made them clear.  But it was scary, she never knew what a shadow belonged to.

But what if you can’t have faith.  She asked him.

Then be brave.  He said and watched as her trembling hands tried to be still.

What if someone’s too scared?  She asked. 

Then catch light.  And all the world aglimmer in deep violet turned and flooded in swaths of sunlight, deep orange water and scarlet wind streaming with emerald stars as the sun stirred the secrets buried deep in amazing shadows.  And Asem sat up from the sacred night and let the daybreak hit her back.  She turned to the window and the warmth hurt her bruised face.  It made her eyes open wide, and she saw the truth in the light.  The sun still woke.  She reached over to the chair where she kept her candle, placed her palm around the flame and took it.  She slid to her feet which pushed dust into the air.  Trembling, she reached for the door and opened with all her might.  And somehow still believing, Asem stepped into the world.     

Last Hope

Chapter One: Asem

War had come as we set prayers alight and paint songs onto the streets, hoping flowers would bloom in scarlet where she ran.  And she runs, she sprints and leaps, hurtles through the air, through the burning saffron of the sky, she falls and catches light on songfire and tumbles forward- crashes down across a building and kicks and pushes and throws herself into the dust- she rises and rises as the sun washes across her in swaths of aureate winds which burn away the cruelty of all things.  And as she catches light and rose sparks flare across her vision she slipstreams and explodes into infinity, the air bursting into flames as she streaks into the blinding saffron.

She came in too fast, she’s unprepared as the prayers and thoughts and feelings hit her at once as she touches down on the grass.  She would come to Koro before the anniversary, she loved it there, it was peaceful, it was merciful, she loved the adan and the bells and the songs and lights and smells.  It was a kind place of colour and life, a place she didn’t feel so alone.  She could never go during the anniversary, the prayers would tear her apart.  She grabs her ears and hurls over to her knees as people’s words and songs fill her heart and mind; she wants to expel bile and acid as the sorrow and hope of strangers force their way into her.  She tries to breathe, she touches the grass and flowers bloom.  Wildflowers bloom and she can breathe again as the pain subsides and she stands, the buds blossom as the copper-bronze young woman with luminous mountain coloured eyes rises to her feet. 

WOW!  A little girl with a camellia in her hair cried out.  Copper-bronze turned, breathing heavily, stunned.  Someone had seen her.  Are you a fragment too?  You made flowers grow!  Just like the guardian!  Copper-bronze said nothing.  What’s wrong?  Sorry did I scare you?  It’s just that I don’t have any fragment friends-  I’m Ashti, what’s your name?  Copper-bronze said nothing.  Ahsti waited for a moment before smiling, taking the camellia and grasping it in her palm.  Here!  She said smiling and opened her palms to reveal a pink bird, roosting in her hands.  Timidly, Copper-bronze held out her hand.  The bird fluttered and jumped into her palm.  It was warm.  She found it hard not smile before the rosebird fluttered and flew off. The scent of camellias behind it.  She followed its trajectory into the clouds.  You see, I’m a fragment too.  Ahsti rushed up to Copper-bronze and as she ran through the wildflowers, they opened more and blossomed into butterflies which beat their wings, scattered and soared in all-colour.  She took Copper-bronze’s hand and blushed at how warm she was.   Would you like to go pray with me and papa?  She asked, pointing to the machine with kind, blue eyes standing not far away, wearing a jalabiya.  Ashti waited for an answer, full of pink joy and amber hope.

I… Copper-bronze wasn’t sure what to say.  I’m sorry, I can’t…  Ashti’s eyes grew wide with sorrow.  Copper-bronze had to look away, only to see something new in the sky.  Ashti and papa turned to follow her gaze.  There in the saffron, was something emerald and sapphire, it shone like the moon, shimmering like a ghost, covered in rain.  Ahsti turned back in shock as heat overwhelmed her hand.  Copper-bronze was gone, only butterflies which were once flowers to prove she had been there.  Heart-broken, she went to pray.

It was the anniversary when the lightcatching wars began.  In the one place it shouldn’t have happened, but that was the point, Iconoclast, Nofaith brought war to Polis Earth because it was inconceivable, because it represented all we aspired to be and all we could hope for, so the Great Secret Keeper sent the Muharej here and it began to rain.  There are Raindancers all over the world, but for all we may do and even though we do not believe, we did not want war, that’s why people came to Polis Earth.  We had all had enough of the fighting, Deepak and Julian fought the last battle for us.  They killed each other for us.  That was supposed to be the end, for Orion, for the Raindance, for everyone.  But then the Great Secret Keeper appeared, stole the Raindance from us and turned it into Muharej, murdering and eating everything alive.  All we had built, all the lights we had lit, all the stories we told.  And from the Muharej, she came, the girl from a world we had abandoned and now she’s declared war on us all.  Iconoclast, Nofaith.  She’s vowed to put out all the lights and silence all our songs.

مهرج , Muharej, you would start seeing it burnt, marked on the side of buildings and graffitied on the temples and holy places of all faiths.  I don’t know what would possess people to do that, maybe they were just losing hope, maybe they’d just given up, maybe they were trying to reach Sem.  What else were people supposed to do, she wasn’t listening to prayers anymore.

The great ghost, the rain moon appeared one day before the anniversary, it was beautiful.  It came with rain and shone silver, a cold incandescence, without lies or mercy in a sky it turned emerald and sapphire.  We’d all heard the stories, I’d even seen it before, aboard the city ships, but we weren’t afraid, because it was the anniversary of Amazing.  And as always, the Deepa Wali led the way, even though Iconoclast attacked the UN and made her declaration of war, they led the way and went to the parks and flew kites and lit lamps at night for them to catch light on, people stayed up late to meet at cafes and play on guitars and ouds and sing songs, people went to the mosques and churches, synagogues and temples, longhouses and mandir and lit candles in their homes and performed secret keeps, prepared dusk honey and autumn leaf tea on star charcoal while their children played football.  Because they were alive and it was the anniversary.  People sprinted after lights and secrets and we were alive.  Even as a creature the likes of which we had never seen before swore to crush everything we held dear and we heard it in every tongue, she was sparing no one, there would be no escape from this rain…

I am Iconoclast of the Raindance.  Your Secretary General has surrendered, he lies at my feet.  Pandef has been disbanded.  All UN Peacekeepers will swear allegiance to me or be condemned to the realm of secrets.  The New World, Middle Kingdom and Rossiya have already tried to rescue you, but as I speak we’re sinking their warships and burning their planes out of the sky.  The nations of power have subjugated the Earth for centuries, but no more. No more lies, no more wars. We are free and we will not be denied.  They will send me their diplomats to speak with me, I will send back their heads.  We have destroyed all gates off of Pangaea and as I’m sure you can see the island is now the eye of a nephilim.  No one is coming to help and there is no escape.  You are ours.  And to the rest of the world, you have until I put out the last torch in the city to recognise the Raindance as the new Administration of the Rain Earth Confederacy.  This is the end of your world, it’s time to come to terms with that humans.  Your guardian has failed you and you have failed your world, so I am taking it.  Raindancers around the Earth, abandon your frail humanity and take back your planet, and to all fragments, I promise you freedom on Rain Earth, I urge you to become Raindancers and rise up, declare your power before our adversaries, you are more than human, use your awesome gifts, seize your destiny, the human way has failed, the Orion Alliance failed.  It is our turn.  Humans I’ve seen what your cultures, your religions, your countries, your stories have done to the world- and I swear on my life to all of you who hang on to your faiths, your traditions, your music, your nations, I swear I’ll kill it all.  There’s no such thing as angels or miracles and your heroes were never real, you conceived of them to coddle your own inequity.  No God will save you, no angels will comfort you, no songs or stories will prove that you were here, no flag will protect you and no one will hear your prayers, there is nothing you can teach your children that will help them now!  There is no amount of love you can show anyone that will save them now!  It’s all too late! So keep clinging and despair, because I’m coming for it all…

People like to believe the Secretary General surrendered because the Muharej threatened the population.  After all the Great Secret Keeper had done in Asia, people were expecting genocide.  Almost immediately after the rain moon appeared, the Pandef Tower was bombed.  Four times in an hour.  But Pandef was known for its fury and resilience, it was designed to fight fragments.  Within hours they regrouped and in a collaborative effort with UN Peacekeepers attempted to take UN Headquarters back from Iconoclast.  They were slaughtered, the rest fled.  It proved what the world had always known, there was no opposing fragments.  If fragments around the world answered Iconoclast’s call to arms, it really was the end.  There were rumours that Pandef’s Super Black themselves stepped forward to stop Muharej but were defeated by Iconoclast herself.  Other rumours said the members of Super Black were called back to their home countries by their governments to prepare for imminent attack, that certain countries knew the Muharej was coming to Polis, but abandoned us.  But Pandef being Pandef, would continue to assault the UN building for days, turning central Polis Earth into a warzone.  And still people flew kites and hoped beyond hope and prayed beyond prayer, that their last hope would answer them.  But she was nowhere to be found.

People held marches by candlelight, just so she would hear them.  Governments around the world sent out broadcasts, appealing for her to help.  Children wrote letters and sent them off in the night, onto lanterns which glide across the star-bursting lakes of Koro de la Galaksio.  And they do what the stories promised made her hear them, they lit candles and they spoke to the flames.  If only they knew what their prayers did to her.  All their hope was met with silence.  She was gone, just like those who came before her, just like Orion.  So there was no one to stop Iconoclast when she sent three fragments and a battalion of fighters to do the unthinkable and capture Koro.  It had been days since the rain moon appeared and so days since the anniversary, but in the face of the crisis, people didn’t stop celebrating, and the anniversary of Amazing continued, Koro continued to be full, not just to celebrate Amazing, but to call the guardian, to hope that she would answer their call.  They had no idea, that the more they called her, the less she was likely to come.  But the Muharej heard them and did what no one in the history of humanity had ever, crossed the line no terrorist, tyrant, fanatic or hate criminal had ever done before.  Iconoclast targeted our faiths, our cultures just she like she swore she would.  All of them. 

She took the Muharej in a new direction, she would wipe out what we held sacred, creating Rain Earth from scratch.  If Polis Earth was the one place on Earth that was supposed to be safe, Koro de la Galaksio was a big part of why.  Because it was sacred.  Polis Earth promised people of all faiths and cultures that they could practise and share and raise their children without persecution or hate, the promise of Koro de la Galaksio, the heart of the galaxy in Esparanto, the language of hope.  Hindus who spoke of a universe that was good and just, Atheists who loved life and the world, Muslims- Sunni, Shiah, Alawaite, Sufi and beyond who spoke of kindness and education and charity, Buddhists- Theravada and Mahayana and beyond who spoke of compassion and believed everyone could grow and give, Christians who spoke of mercy and believed no one was ever alone, Jews who dreamt and loved and celebrated life, Sikhs who valued the sanctity of all things, people of indigenous faiths - Native Americans who spoke of a sacred Earth, Aboriginal Oceanans whose dreams leaked into the waking world, Quakers who spoke of peace and that life was worth living, people of the Baha’i faith who saw love in every waking thing and promised we were all one in our diversity, Shinto practitioners who spoke of a living, waking world, Janists who spoke of humility and strength in goodness and so many more, the Zoroastrianists who believed in the warmth of light and the Yazidis who spoke of a beautiful world, those who followed the Dao or were of Tao, those who brought their spirits from the Pacific and their Asharians from the north, Rastafa in the south and further, as far as the streams go and beyond, beyond terms that could be listed or words that could be gathered.  Together they practised and lived and woke and brought with them more than their theology, they brought their colours and celebrations, they brought their food and words and worlds.  If songfire, if the streams of life began somewhere then it began there, in the soul of Polis, in the heart of the galaxy.  Where colours spun and burned iridescent and infinite, in a thousand million ways to be and think and feel and love .  A thousand million ways which proved life was full of possibility, it was our everything. 

Koro was sacred to everyone, the islands helped create a new a paradigm, that spirituality was exploration and pursuit, it was an entrance into science and advancement.  Research centres and think tanks, foundations, the world’s largest libraries, rivalled only by Alexandria in the First Country were all established whilst machinists installed workshops there to study the life streams.  The University of Frontier Studies was established in the heart of the galaxy, pioneering astronomy, medicine, environmental and cultural studies.  Koro bustled with markets, most notably the Suq Alnujum, the Market by Starlight.  And at the centre of Koro was the Natcattira Temple, named after Deepak, it was a place for all people of all faiths to worship, particularly during the anniversary when a lot of the religious buildings would become too crowded.  But that anniversary, as the wars started, people held on to hope and Natcattira didn’t empty and Koro stayed bustling, bursting at the seams.  Iconoclast was counting on it.

Pandef and the Peacekeepers couldn’t stop her, not when she began the offensive.  The hundreds of people in Koro became hostages and the Muharej made no demands, only that they would begin killing people in three days.  Murdering them there, in their most sacred of places.  She was going to take Koro, the world’s heart from it.  Put out the light  The world rushed to seek some kind of resolution with Iconoclast.  But there was nothing they could say to her, Pandef fought fiercely, but they couldn’t get close, one of the fragments Icon had sent made that impossible. 

The islands of Koro shook and quaked and chimed in awesome symphony as they rose, they rose, exploded from the water and rippled, cascaded into the air, creating pillars of ocean which refracted and reflected the colours of the sun, the stars and the rain moon, creating rainbow bridges into the sky, skyrocketing out of the Great Lakes, suspending them in the empyrean, connecting them by a network of sky rivers which shone with the imprint of twilight like stained glass.  The rush of the rainbow pillars and stained glass roads sirened with the wind and light and echoed like bells.  It was wondrous.  People thought of Deepak.  It was terrifying.  They remembered Julian.  It was the first public display of fragment powers since the Four Shards warred, excluding the works of the guardian.  It was a show of power by the insurgents.

People prayed harder, they called the guardian, they screamed and begged on the street, but the scarlet sprinter, the maiden of revolution did not come.  On the second day, a man set himself on fire.  His children were on Koro when Muharej attacked, his family said he often talked about the guardian, that somehow, he would make her act, she had to save his children, she had to.  Still.  Only silence met their songs and cries.  And came the final hour of the last night, only an hour before midnight.  The rain moon, the great ghost shone infernal.

Someone was playing a rock song by Origa of Chandrama.  It was late, but the people of Polis Earth celebrated life deep into the night.  They were in the middle of war, but the people of the Deepa Wali saw living as their greatest defiance. The copper-bronze young woman who didn’t believe in God  liked being around it all, no matter what it did to her.  But she was tired, she was so tired.  She couldn’t answer any more of their wishes, bear any more of their hearts.  She was just one person, she didn’t want to die, she wanted to live, even if she didn’t have much time left.  She wanted to read comics and eat ice cream, walk ankle-deep in the sea and be left alone.  She was in love now, didn’t that mean she was a person too, that she had the right to live too?  She’d do anything to be left alone, finally be left alone.  Even if it all disappeared, even if Iconoclast destroyed everything, so what, why was it her responsibility, she couldn’t defeat the Muharej anyway, she’d already lost to the Great Secret Keeper, she couldn’t beat him, so what difference would it make if she fought the Raindance.  No more fighting, no more pain.  If she couldn’t block out the noise, if she couldn’t protect her own heart and mind, she didn’t have to give them her body too.  These people who hated and fought and expected her to come to fix their mistakes.  So what if someone set themselves on fire, she felt his pain as he did, wasn’t that enough?  She blamed Deepak and Orion for leaving, for disappearing and forcing her to become the guardian, forcing her to become some hero all alone.  She never asked for this, she never asked to be the guardian, to have all her power, for flowers to stalk her wherever she went.  How she hated those flowers.  How she hated the lights.  Then why, why was she standing there, standing on the iridescent water of the Great Lakes, looking up at the ocean pillars and bridges filled with racing stars which suspended and connected the heart of the galaxy, Koro de la Galaksio.  Why.  Why.  Why was she there.  Because the night air smelt of camellias.

Though Iconoclast insisted they call themselves Raindance, many still bore the mark of the Muharej to show their ultimate loyalty to the Great Secret Keeper, who had taught them to be merciless and compassionless.  A few of their fighters manned the holy sites, but not too many, they didn’t need too many to capture Koro and keep the people under control.  Not with those three there.  Power, fury and terror, that’s how the three of them were known in Icon’s ranks.  Total dominion over coercion, retribution and madness.  Zoa, Revolt and Djinn.   There was no escaping them, the whole world knew that.  They had made their presence known, the Koro islands were hundreds of metres above the water thanks to Zoa.  And it would take any one of them; Zoa, Revolt or Djinn to kill everyone and destroy everything there, but Iconoclast insisted on taking fighters.  They sat atop Natcittira; Revolt taking in the beauty of the night, Zoa revelling in the awesome might of his power which had suspended entire islands in the sky and Djinn, not feeling very much at all.  He more than anyone else in the Raindance uprising had taken Iconoclast’s call to abandon humanity to heart, or maybe he never had any to begin with. 

Zoa was a young man from Antarctica, snow burnt skin and slender build, his physical weakness fuelled his rage and manifested in the the terrible fury of his power as a fragment, driven mad by the conflict in his home country, he couldn’t remember if he was Ur or Mu.  Revolt was a young woman whose body pulsed in black and purple blood which hummed in her like lightening, causing blossoms of shadow all around her.  Furious at the pain the world had caused her city of Incandessa, she had abandoned her humanity and joined Iconoclast’s brand of the Raindance.  She would never say she was of the Muharej.  Djinn was still just a little boy, not even a teenager yet, devoid of expression and hope, his nightmares ran deep and he would punish all the world for them.

It’s midnight. Said Zoa.  Shame they didn’t send Super Black.  I’ve been dying to fight those guys.

They wouldn’t send Super Black, Icon threatened to start killing the population if any country interfered.  Revolt pointed out.  The New World, Middle Kingdom and Rossiya have backed down now too.

That’s awesome, when did that happen?  Zoa asked.  Excitable and violent, he didn’t concern himself with the politics of their cause, all he ever wanted was to be a part of something that would let him run wild and destroy anything he could. 

Earlier today.  Said Djinn, something between sorrow and indifference in every word he said.  If they continued to attack, she was going to send me to the hospital district.

She’s changed.  Revolt said.  Killing innocent people, using Secret Keeper’s soldiers.  Icon hates guns, that’s what she told me…

Oh don’t start.  You’ve wrecked whole towns, killed how many enemies on your own and you still talk like you belong in Orion. Zoa spat.

I’m a Raindancer.  I do not believe.  Revolt said, determined.

Time is up.  Djinn uttered.  These people have to die now.

-Wait.  What’s happening?  Revolt uttered as she noticed the streams, the chords of light - jade and crimson, sapphire and amber as they hummed in the star-burdened sky.  Gun shots.  The three of them turned to the ground as a scarlet blast of light rode across the water bridges connecting the various islands of Koro, burning rainbows into the world, gunfire following and falling silent in waves after it.  Flowers blooming on the water and earth as the scarlet crossed Koro in a furious shimmer of fireworks and iridescence.  She reached them, billowing rose smoke, wildflowers where she stands.  No armour or guns, nothing but a dress the colour of day, skin that was copper-bronze and flowers at her feet.  Her eyes blazing in rings of emerald galaxies.

Well, well.  Zoa laughed.  Looks like you finally made an appearance.

It’s you… Revolt gasped.

Come to die.  Said Djinn.

Is this it?  You’re the guardian?  You’re just some Deepa Wali girl!  Zoa mocked.  You’re probably younger than me!  The guardian said nothing.  Do you know who we are?  What could you possibly do against us?  We know from the Great Secret Keeper that you’re not even awakened yet!  WE ARE!  What’s the point of a fragment if they’re not even awakened, what could you possibly do to us without an awakened form?  Do you know who I am, I am Zoa!  Zone of Avoidance!  The blank part of the universe we aren’t able to map, no stars, no light!  Just a great attractor, the force so powerful it pulls all celestial objects towards it.  I have power over dark energy, the invisible force which propels planets and galaxies through the universe, the same force that Amazing used to get to Earth!  You think you’re strong because you can tap into the life streams, you’re nothing compared to me.  And Revolt, she has the power of the storm giants!  And Djinn, well, I’ll let you figure that out.  So what, you still think you can rescue these people, or are you just gonna hand yourself over?  Zoa grimaced, his eyes blazing a pale blue.

The guardian didn’t move.  She didn’t speak. 

I thought she was supposed to have red hair.  Djinn said.

Do we take her back to Iconoclast? Revolt asked.

No.  Kill her.  Djinn ordered.  Zoa’s eyes grew wide, grinning as he gagged and the street on which the guardian stood warped and bent, as street lights curved and the air itself grew heavy and strained in preparation for some terrible eruption.  And it all erupted, the roads, nearby building, street lights, earth and air exploded in a rush as it all shattered and sped, raced into the sky, hailstorm of comets and air which sped so fast it exploded in waves of burning, incandescent plasma- the guardian hurtled into the sky, catching her balance and sprinting alongside the chaos which burned and cascaded and exploded as the streaks of white heat caught up with it all - Zoa hurtled into the empyrean after her and the sky itself changed direction, the world spun and the stars sped by in streaks of racing scars as the guardian found herself thrown into the infinity which changed direction again, quaking the heavens themselves and striking her down - she plummeted like a comet and crashed vertical into the ocean pillar which suspended the main Natcattira island- she skid across the rainbow bridge, which shone and flared as she raced with it, the world spinning undefinable in colours and noise around her, she clapped her hands together, spun and fired a heavy stream of gleaming star-breeding scarlet at Zoa which he willed to change direction sharply before hitting him - the guardian rode the stream, pacing towards Zoa, who again tilted the sky and threw the guardian up into infinity, where burning in black and violet, Revolt waited - lightning, a torrent of black lightning struck the guardian- but before it could force her to the water, the air raced and quivered and erupted from where Zoa suspended himself in the sky, a skyquake rifle - the guardian twisted and burnt and forced herself in a different direction to avoid it but as the air increased speed and burned again into plasma, it met Revolt’s black lightning, they merged into a beam of pure rage and retribution, shimmering in fantastic violet and quaking in pale blue and white it shattered the sky and burst after the guardian who raced, raced, paced to outfly the cannon- she was hit- what followed was a blinding flash which annihilated the air and created a vacuum, she was pulled through it and smashed against the force of it all, she was falling, parts of her body blown clean off, a stream of crimson bleeding from her, then fire, she caught ablaze and billowed in rose smoke as she fell, and neither Zoa, nor Revolt could believe their eyes as her body healed and she changed trajectory, hurtling towards them- Revolt again fired wave after wave of black lightning but the guardian caught it, shook it and converted it into bolts of scarlet energy which transmitted themselves back to Revolt, where her shadowbloom warped and malfunctioned, causing her to fall into the water below- Zoa responded again by changing the trajectory of the sky - but Sem burst into flames and vanished, bursting into being directly in front of Zoa as they hurtled through the sky, her palm on his chest- the universe rippled and bloomed in flowers, and Zoa was blasted into the water, skidding across it, before burning a path across the roads of Koro and coming to a halt where Sem dives into him - a crater in their wake.

N-nnn-no way…  Zoa manages to utter as the guardian delivers a final, definitive blow to his head.  With Zoa defeated, the islands of Korro de la Galaksio fall, crash into the Great Lakes of Polis Earth, causing the world to hum and waves of rainbow rings to emanate from their fall.  In the silence that follows the downing, the copper-bronze guardian breathes, she falls to her knees.  She grows weaker.  It hurt more than prayer.  People were dying.  She forced herself back to her feet, covered in burns, her dress the colour of day now crimson with her own wounds.  Natcattira temple before her.  She begins to walk in, but each step now takes all her might.  The kid, he was murdering people…  She took another step- and fell- she stood again, again- again- barely- she entered the temple.  Her ankles drenched in blood.  Not a soul was left standing.  No less than a hundred people, lying on the ground.  The feeling of one hundred machetes cutting into her body- she gags, vomits and collapses to her knees and as she does, cold, bitter metal digs itself into her. 

Zoa was awakened, and as far as I know you’re not, but even so… The little boy who named himself Djinn began, pulling the machete out of her.  ...I expected you to win since you took on the Great Secret Keeper.  So if you draw your power from life, then the solution was simple.  I just needed to start killing people.  The boy looked at her with the blankness with which he stared at all things.  "Raindance