Writers and the Muse

“Are you sure this will work?” Aliya fastened the strap just under her left breast, connecting a shoulder pad to her right arm. The pad had the same black silk the cloaks were made of; a long loose black sleeve dangle over her hand. Once she tightened the strap, she jerked her arm around, letting the sleeve dangle around with her arm.

“I hope it will work.” Chessa took a deep breath, “Do you understand what you are doing?”

“Yes, but I really don't want to do it... I've never.”

“I know sweetie,” Chessa raised her hands and gently pressed down on Aliya's shoulders, “It's a scary thought, but right now, we need you.”

Aliya gazed down at her hands, she was just a girl. She was nothing special, she wasn't trained to fight. The only training she had was a book of self-defense she had read, which was what she utilized when Altair tried to fight her. Now Chessa was asking for something more, much more difficult and nerve-racking. “I know you need me, but why me?”

“All in good time Aliya. Come on, we don't have much time.” Chessa watched the wall open up before them before she snuggled against the entry way. She poked her head out of the entry and examined both ways, “Let's go.”

The two girls crept out of the room and clung to the walls; Chessa lead the way while Aliya whispered, “So, is it true?”

“Is what true?”

“What that guy, uh Kazio, what he said? About the who creation thing?”

“Oh, well yes.”

“So... You are like a god?”

“Goddess actually, and that is a word we gave you to label something that isn't real. Every word, religion, ideology, every little detail was created by us.”

“Oh... That must have taken a long time.”
“Thousands of years. We wrote out the people that would live in the fifteen hundreds while the dinosaurs were still walking around.”

“You've been around since then?”

“We've been around since you're supposed 'Big Bang' which by the way we wrote out too.”

“So, why is the world coming to an end? Global Warming, Nuclear War threats, even the oil shortage is hurting humanity.”

“Well, we've been around way longer than this earth and this big bang. And there has been well over millions of histories we have written. Humanity, on this planet, in this time, in this space as you call it, is only one of the millions of stories we have written.”

“Are you serious? So, you're going to kill us off?”

“Actually, that is what I am hoping to stop.”

“You are?”

“I've created millions of lives before. And I didn't hesitate to kill them off. But I don't understand it...”

“Don't understand what?”

“Never mind,” Chessa stopped pacing against the wall and turned to Aliya, “Wait here.” Chessa crept a few more feet before she pushed off the wall and let an opening form. She quickly walked into the opening, “Where's Necoris?”

Aliya could hear Altair's frantic voice through the opening, “Forget him! We have a bigger issue here, look.”

Chessa gasped loudly, “Is that blood? From who?”

Aliya slowly slid up to the opening and listened in, “It's from him, I trashed his face and he bled.”

“That can't be, he's not a human Altair.”

“Check him, his lips drips blood!”

There was a moment of silence before Chessa exhaled, “I'll be damned, he is bleeding. Well Kazio, you've been keeping a lot of secrets haven't you.”

“I am sure he is the one that scribed the girl too. Speaking of which, did you rid of her yet?”

“No, she's just outside actually.” Aliya heard Altair being to snap a word that was quickly muffled.

She quickly slipped inside to find Chessa pinning Altair against the wall. “What are you doing!?”

Chessa barked at Aliya, “Shut up and get Kazio off those chains now!”

Aliya instantly nodded, “Sorry!” She paced over to Kazio and tugged at the chains, “I c-can't get them off.”

Kazio gazed at Aliya, “Hey there beautiful. Looks like Chessa gave you the sleeve. Use it on the chains, just point your arm and shoot. I'll know what to do from there.” Aliya glared at him for a brief moment before she backed away and raised her arm toward the chain. The sleeve came to life and it sprang and animated itself into a blade that sliced the chain in half. She turned to the other chain and cut it too, letting Kazio drop his arms to his side, “Thank you.” He walked causally over to his cloak and slipped it on, “Chessa, take the girl and go find Necoris. I'll hand Altair, I've wanted to do this for a long time.”

“Alright, Aliya, get out of the room now,” Chessa waited for Aliya to leave before she released Altair, “Have fun, we'll be waiting Kazio.” She ran out of the room and made sure it closed up behind her, “Come on, you heard him, we need to find the other one.” Chessa and Aliya continued on down the black hallway.

“So, you're a human?” Altair stood up and fixed his cloak.

“Yes, I am, which means I can kill you.” Kazio's sleeves molded into blades.

Altair smirked with eagerness as his own sleeves shifted into blades “And I can kill you too.”

“I'll like to see you try it.”

***

“Necoris,” Chessa walked through an opened pathway, white marble walls and floor decorated the entry. The two girls walked into a wide open chamber, Chessa leading the path and Aliya nervously inching behind Chessa. “We have a problem.”

Necoris sat at the far end of the room, a great black table rested next to the far wall where he busily scribed away on the black sheets. He shifted when he heard Chessa's call and turned to her as he questioned the problem, “What is it?” His eyes caught sight of the two girls and sighed, “Never mind, I know it.” The calm man rose to his feet and began to walk toward the girls, “This is very disappointing Chessa. Why did you betray us? Were you the one who scribed the girl?”

“I'm not alone in this Necoris, Kazio was with me the entire time.”

“Altair will handle him I suppose.”

“Necoris, I don't want to kill you, but-”

“You CAN'T kill me Chessa...”

“No... But she can, and she's more than able. I don't want it to end this way, but we have to stop what we're doing...”

“Stop what? What we have done our entire existence? Don't be a fool.”

“No, that's not what I'm talking about... Them, humans, I don't want this story to end Necoris.”

“You enjoy them? You want them to live on?”

“Yes I do, I really do... They are so wonderful Necoris, I've seen them outside of our chambers. They are beautiful, they are amazing to see. They are not like we have scribed them. Yes we write every detail of them, but they are different when you actually see them and talk to them and touch them... Look Necoris, just look at this girl.” Chessa reached behind her, gently tugged Aliya forward. She pushed Aliya up, forcing the very nervous girl to take a few steps forward, “Just look at her, she's so beautiful, she's everything we've ever wanted to create, a perfect creature...”

“Chessa, you want us to keep scribing them for the rest of time? Do you think the others will commit to this?”

“We won't have to Necoris... She wasn't scribed by anyone, and look at her...”

“You think she is worth betraying everything we've ever made?”

“I'm not betraying anything, we're the ones that betray every life we create!”

“I will not allow this Chessa,” Necoris dropped his hood, revealing his true self. His hues radiated a color unknown to Aliya, it shimmered a color she had never experienced before in her life. The mere sight of his quickly began to eat away at her vision, causing her to shutter at the pain in her eyes; as if she had glared directly at the sun's full shine. “I am sorry child, but I cannot allow this.”

“Shit, Aliya! Look out!” Aliya heard Chessa's warning yell and used her palm of the sleeveless are to check her threat. She could see black slices of paper harden in midair, then sudden launch toward her like a hail storm of blades.

***

The two blades clang together, sending green and blue sparks dangling into the air. Kazio and Altair pushed against the others' force. Their black cloaks shivering with every push they made; their eyes glimmered bright enough to shine on the others' cheeks. Kazio had a few cuts along his body, most of them oozed fresh blood, trickling off his skin. Altair had gashes too, but his trickled no blood. They both huffed and gasped as they glared into their eyes, giving themselves a few seconds to breath before their blades once again pushed off, more turquoise sparks showering to the floor as they hopped away from each other.

“How could you do this Kazio? We've been allies for so long, then you stab our backs for a girl?”

“I didn't betray anyone, I just grew sick of all the pointless lives we had to run.”

“That is why we exist Kazio, to create and command life.”

“I don't believe that anymore, ever since we scribed humans.”

“What's so great about these things!? We can scribe better life, we HAVE scribed better ones before. Humans were a joke! They weren't supposed to be a serious life form, just look at how flawed we made them! Them, they were meant for our amusement, and once the thrills were over, they would be too.”

“But you don't understand Altair, haven't you ever wondered what it would be like to have your own choices and live a life of your own?”

“I am a god, I already have everything I want! And you were a god once too, but you threw it away, and for what?”

“You're right, you have everything you want, but it's worth nothing when you don't live for it.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means... It means I have a reason to live now, not just to exist. I have a reason to feel joy and depression, to feel love and hate... Back when I was an immortal Scriber, I just went through the motions; create, destroy, create, destroy, create, destroy. I did these things without thinking about it, without enjoying or hating it. But now, I have a reason for the things I do...”

“You've grow weak my old friend. It pains me to do it, but I will end your mislead misery.”

“I am giving you one last chance to truly live Altair... Please, join us, live a real life with us.”

“I have my life Kazio, you had yours too, and you threw it away, that is your fault, not mine. Good bye old friend, I am sorry for this.”

Altair sprang forward, instantly closing the gap between the two men, his arm crossing his chest to pull back his sword. As soon as the gap was cut, Altair swung his arm and sliced through the air with his blade. Kazio swerved under the blade, giving only a small chunk of this cloak to the blade's hunger. Kazio straightened up after dodging Altair's blade, his own blade drawn back, then lunging into Atair's chest. Kazio caught Altair as his body when limp, “I'm sorry too my friend...” Altair's eyes dimmed.

***

The sheets of black paper ripped through the air, each one cutting a path toward the blind and defenseless Aliya. They would have easily cut her to shreds if Chessa hadn't reacted in time. She tugged Aliya back before dropping to her knees and slamming her palm against the while marbled floor. Her sleeve veined into the floor like snakes, countless more sprouted out of the floor within a heartbeat, and pierced each of the oncoming blades; causing them all to freeze in their place. Chessa pulled her palm away from the floor as she straightened up; the spikes from the ground slowly retracting with her elevation, eventually leaving the sheets of paper to dangle to the floor.

“I can't let you kill her Necoris.”

“Chessa, I will offer but one more chance. Step aside, I will end this game and you will be pardoned.”

“I respect the offer, but I refuse to give her up.” Chessa spread her arms wide while she spoke, “She means too much to let you destroy her like everything else.” Her sleeves came to life with those words. The silk around her arms and torso began to shiver and gather in a mass behind Chessa. It gathered into a silky ball over her shoulder blades, until she reached her hand into the ball. It instantly spread out and formed a long black pole reaching seven feet in length; there were two blades, one on each end, that shaped into a scythe's blade. The only silk that remained on Chessa was formed into a fluttering skirt that reached her shins, leaving the skin tight silk only hugging her chest and upper back. She held the duel scythe with one hand behind her back while she gazed back at Aliya, “Get ready.”

Aliya did just that. Once she stumbled to her feet, the girl spread her arm out and let the sleeve break apart and reform into a skin tight plating; a two foot blade erupted from the plating, just over her fist, “I won't let you down.”

“Well then,” Necoris began to pace slowly toward the two girls, “know I take no pleasure in this.” His cloak roared as it tore away from his skin and began to reanimate behind his back. Suddenly, black angelic wings spread from his back; once two pieces of slit wrapped around each wrist before crafting into short blades. The angle began to speed up toward the girls; the tiny orbs that filled the room with light began to hover and swirl around the room.

Chessa took a deep breath, “Just run and don't get killed. Once I give you the signal, you run in and give the final blow. Got it?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“What are you waiting for, get out of the way.”

Aliya nodded and quickly began to run to her right. Chessa exhaled her deep breath and took off in a dash toward the angelic Necoris. His wings flapped and lurched toward Chessa with hundreds of tiny blades. She easily avoided the death by leaping over the wings and over Necoris; as she flew overhead, she swung her scythe and stabbed the right wing's base. Before she could land, the wind almost instantly exploded into hundreds of black sheets. The razor sharp sheet tore through the entire room in all directions. Necoris Easily deflected the shards by enveloping his frame with his left wing. As soon as Chessa dropped to her knees, her skirt burst and formed a shield large enough to retain all the shards what would have stabbed into her. But Aliya had absolutely no defense. She saw the wing shatter into a wave of deadly blades, she saw the two combatants shield themselves, and she saw the blades hurl toward her. There was little she could do but let her body take over with instant reaction as its only defense. She raised both hands to her head, letting her forearms cover her cowering face. Her plating instantly broke away and formed a rounded wall that covered her entire torso from the blades. But her legs were left open, which is where one of the blades flew to. It easily tore into her left outer thigh and another tore through her inner right calf. The blade to her thigh made her jerk as she cringed with pain, but the one that gashed past her calf completely swiped her off her foot. She tumbled to her knee before another blade struck the wall that covered her head; the force sent the wall slamming into her forehead, and the shock knocked her out cold.

When she began to feel her body wake, Aliya snapped up with a sudden burst of energy. Her head was pulsing with every beat of her pacing heart, her ears echoed a loud ringing that muffled every other sound. She felt a cold chill down her forehead on the right side and quickly placed her fingertips on the source; blood trickled down her fingers. She shook off what was left of her daze and staggered up to her feet. She turned around to face the grand room, “Oh god!”

By the time she had woken up, Kazio had found the room, he and Chessa had teamed up against Necoris, and were still fighting as Aliya watched. But she turned to watch at the worst possible moment. She watched Kazio make a leap, toward Necoris, with his blade ready to thrust. At the same time, Chessa dashed toward Necoris from behind, hoping to avoid the left wing.

Necoris easily blocked Kazio's slash when he landed, and mercilessly impaled Kazio in the lower stomach; effortlessly lifting Kazio off the ground with the shear force. Just then, the left wing launched an attack Chessa had no chance of dodging. The wing flapped toward her and easily penetrated her body. A group of blades stabbed into Chessa's stomach, shoulders, and thighs. Necoris lowered his hand with a swift jerk, dropping Kazio to his feet for a second, then slammed his foot into Kazio's chest. A mist of blood followed Kazio as he went hurling into the white marble wall at the far end of the room; his blood even splattered against the white wall when his back slammed into it. Chessa struggled as she screamed in pain. Blood dripped from each blade's tip that held her in the air. It let her dangle in a momentarily pause before flinging her over Necoris and across the room. Her body slammed against the wall right next to Kazio, her blood also splattered against the wall before she dropped down next to the gasping Kazio.

Necoris sighed as he walked over to the two barely breathing bodies, “How could you do this to yourselves? Changing yourselves into humans just because you believed they were great? Look at you now, crippled by the weaknesses of mortality.” He slowly turned to Aliya, “Now you will live long enough to watch this child die.” He slowly began to walk to the now crying girl. While she watched Kazio and Chessa being torn up, the girl had begun to cry and whimper as her body trembled, knowing those two were her only hope of survival. Necoris knew she posed no threat to him so he broke apart his wing, and let all the sheets reform into his cloak while he spoke to the crying girl, “Please do not take this personally. You were never meant to exist, just another chapter in a story that will soon come to an end.”

Suddenly four black snakes coiled around each of his limbs, stopping Necoris in his tracks. He was caught by surprise and could only manage to tug at the snakes that held him steady. Aliya head Chessa's weakened voice from behind Necoris, “Aliya! Do it now!”

Aliya instantly remembered what her only role in the battle was. She sprinted, with all the speed her wounds permit, toward the tangled man. She slammed her palm against the defenseless chest and waited only a second to see the results. Her sleeve burst into shards of paper before digging into Necoris' chest and ripping out of his back with a thick bloody mist. The body immediately went limp, and the snaked released the body, letting it drop lifelessly to the floor.

Aliya unhooked her strap and ran to Kazio and Chessa, “Oh god! I'm so sorry!” She dropped to her knees in front of the two gasping and bleeding Scribers, letting her tears flow, “I didn't mean for any of this to happen! I d-didn't want you to die, I'm so sorry!”

Kazio managed to smile despite all the pain his body ached with, “Please don't cry Aliya...”

Chessa shifted and leaned closer to the wall, “yeah, don't cry... This was exactly what we were hoping for... Humans can live without us now, live their own lives. That is what we wanted for you too..”

As Chessa gasped for air, Kazio continued, “We never scribed you Aliya, you were born into a real life... None of your actions or choices were scribed, but you did everything we hoped you would.”

Chessa and Kazio both pressed a blood hand against the wall and opened a large black pathway with candles leading the way. Aliya saw the passage and slowly rose, “Thank you so much...” She limped toward the entrance of the path and stopped. Something inside her sparked. A feeling she didn't understand fueled her to stop. She slowly turned back to Chessa and Kazio and limped back to them. She dropped to her knees and took them both into her arms, embracing them. Her soft lips murmured into their ears, “I love you... and I'll never forget you two..” With those words, Aliya rose again. She forced a loving smile and slowly walked into the passage. When it sealed behind her, Aliya dropped to her knees and cried louder than she ever had before. She let the tears wipe her smudged face for hours. Over time, she got back to her feet and began to walk. Toward a very faint light at the end of the tunnel. When she reached the end, she could see the library, the shelves with hundreds of books, the mindless people now full of life as they giggled and chanted. She walked out of the passage, perfectly fine then, no cuts or bruises. She glanced back, and that is when she saw it; no tunnel or path. But a book titled, “The Writer and The Muse.” She pulled it out and opened it up...