Requiem Of A Failed Hero

As it is well known. Raith grew up in a wealthy house. His father was a Duke, his body was a beautiful white-haired lady. Her origins were quite unknown, if there was one thing that Raith could very much recollect it was the fact that she was called a foreigner.

At that time, he was too small to pay attention any more details than this. His mother and his elder brother's mother were different. The duke's first wife had died from an incurable and lately discovered disease. He was heartbroken and soul broken.

However, this maid who was a foreigner paid extra attention to him, walked him through the road of healing and before after a year, the energetic man was already in love again.

What the both of them had was genuine and near perfect. However, after giving birth to her child - Raith. The woman's body slowly began to break. And finally when he was four years old, his mother passed away.

He would never fail to recognize the tenderness in the way he calls her. She had personally given him that name, Raven Raith. When she calls it… it's so different from when others do.

In her voice, his name carried a different tone, a different pronunciation. One that no one could ever mimic. Not even illusions.

Undoubtedly, this was his mother!

'...but how?'

"Mother?" Raith called out again… shakily.

"Raven Raith. My son"

Glowing white hands touched his cheek and white glowing head with glittering gold eyes kissed head.

"My son…" her voice started to shake as she called a second time. Her eyes were tightly shut and she was caressing his cheek.

Raith on the other hand, was overwhelmed with a strange emotion. He didn't exactly know how to feel, clearly this did not look human, it didn't look like his mother. But the touch felt the same, the tone felt the same, even the gesture!

The way she would carress his cheek and kiss his forehead with hers. He felt like he was four again.

This is his mother undoubtedly, so why did she not look like her at all?!

"My son. Our time is short. You have touched the river of light in you. From this moment you will seize to remain the same."

"Mother… is it really you? Please I'm… I'm confused."

As she retreated her head and touched his cheek, her eyes gleamed with a bitter smile.

"Your life is in peril. I have brought you into a dangerous place, and now they all want you for themselves. But I had no choice. You had sacrificed so much for me… I had to give you another chance. I'm sorry. My son. I really am."

With those words, her hands began to fade. Seeing this she hastened the rest of her words:

"Raven Raith, my son. Go to the sanctum of Ireus. My time is short. H..el…p m…"

Her voice faded with her body. A stream of tears rolled down Raith's face. He slowly lifted his hands and warmly touched both his cheek, trying to feel her touch.

Then he curled to his knee with his shoulders trembling.

"It's been so long…" he mumbled roughly, sobbing and sniffing. He was like that for a couple more seconds before his brows furrowed.

Her last breaking words resounded in his ears like echoes. He didn't hear it wrong.

'My mother needs my help'

There are many ways in which this could go wrong, someone might be setting a trap, it might be an illusion that someone dangerous was using on him. But all those speculations seemed very fake to Raith. He was convinced that was his mother.

She didn't look like her… Apart from the looks, everything else was her. Which meant something was gravely wrong. His mother should be dead right? But she asked him to go to some sanctum to help her?

Raith nodded his head, 'Something is definitely wrong'

A large storm suddenly exploded inside of him. Raith shuddered uncontrollably, his whole body was put under an unstoppable drive of tremors. And soon, cracks began to appear on his skin.

This wasn't just happening in the soul plane, his body in reality was also going through the same thing. He was like a vase that was about to be broken apart by some powerful force.

At that point, the pain return, more unbearable then before, it caused Raith to shoot open his eyes and let out an insane cry. He hugged himself tightly, as if he was trying to keep the breaking parts together.

But the pain only grew worse, it was like organs were being forcefully removed from each other. As if his muscles was being stretched out by something insanely powerful. The pain shot through every part of him and he couldn't even contain it anymore.

He fell to the floor, stretching and curling his body with terrible groans. It was sickening and disturbing to the ear. He was in a lot of pain that even the birds looked at him with worry. Greed's expression was now a scowl that seemed too arrogant to show its worries.

Raith clutched his body and cried so hard, everything was falling apart. Whatever this thing was, his body is tearing apart because of it. What… what….what should he do?

'Think Raith think…'

He tried to click on the little bit of sanity he had left. Trying his best to think in a situation like this was an herculean task. His mind was tearing apart, his vision was getting blurry but he just wanted to get away from this pain at all cost. He gritted his teeth and tried so much to think of what he had not done… what he had never done…

What had he missed… what had he never considered…

'Fuck… why does it hurt so much!!!'

A wild savage groan suddenly escape his mouth as the cracks got larger and a bright white shine began to force itself out of the little crack points. But the pain grew intense… until he could no longer bare with it and passed out.

Even in his unconscious state, his body continued to break. Raith's body was lifted up by an invisible force. The white shining light managed to pierce through and covered him from head to toe in white hue.

In a laying position, his body floated higher, bathed in ethereal white glow, not even a single feature from his body or clothes could be seen – even in reality.

It was a spectacle… almost like the rebirth of a powerful god. Slowly his body went down and dropped to the ground. The light faded and his entire body features began to draw out of the light themselves.

Everything was as it is… except for his hair. His skin had also grown pale, not as pale but slightly pale… although the lustrous white hue of his light made it nearly imperceptible.

The birds seeing that he was fine again, slowly walked closer to him, the tilted their head left and right looking at him while Greed hovered above him.

Suddenly one of the perked Raith's hand. But nothing happened. It repeated it two more times, nothing happened. Suddenly the blue bird garnered all its strength, pushed its head backward and landed one powerful peck.

However, it was sent reeling backward. Falling on its head, blue feather fluttering in the hair and gently sitting on the reflecting surface of the water.

Suddenly a slight frown creased Greed's face. It turned around to take in the scenery, having just belatedly noticed the change. The red burning star, the darkness, everything was gone.

Everything had changed.

Instead of a crimson sky what now covered the soul plane was a clear blue sky… in fact, it looked like the sea was in the sky and the watery floor they stood on was the sky. Their reflections were now clearer. But what the ruby eyes of the monster stayed on was the two round stars that sat in the middle of the plane.

One pure white, the other pure black. Them a thin red thread connecting the two.

The obscene mass of darkness stared back at Raith who was now slowly waking up.

Raith held his head as he stood to his butt with a slight groan.

'...crap. I thought I was going to die'

He combed his hand through his hair and noticed. The texture had changed. Normally, his hair used to be so tangled that it'd be very difficult to easily come through the strands. But now it had happened with ease. Not to say the texture.

But Raith quickly dismissed the thoughts. Instead he focused on the letters that Sage was showing him. They were unbelievable!

[Congratulations]

[THE UNDEFEATED COMMANDER KING BODY CONSTITUTION HAS ENTERED PHASE 2]

'Wow.'

Raith had never thought the [undefeated commander body constitution] would ever gain another phase. Because it had never left phase 1.

Funnily, he didn't even think he still had it after the abyss left.

Raith chuckled a bit. So there were things the abyss couldn't take away from him.

The former phase provided him with maximum resistance to all effects, Raith was very curious what the phase 2 would give him. But that curiosity can wait, because he was more curious about this:

[Congratulations]

[You have achieved the unachievable]

[You have merged entities from three different origins]

[A new energy has been created]

[FORCE]

A smile curled up Raith's lips as he looked at it, slowly the smile rose to a giggle, the giggle soared higher and became a loud laugh that filled his soul plane.

"It worked. It actually worked!"