The Six Guns

"It's kind of hard to know where I'm supposed to be going" Siran says, "...when you're supposed to lead the way and I'm supposed to follow you. I can't exactly follow you if you're not in front of me".

"Can't you just locate the beast" the man who first spoke to Siran says, "-er Naris, whatever you called him?".

"What? No..." Siran replies in confusion, "do you think I have a GPS in my brain or something that'll just lead me to him?".

"I mean... kinda" the man replies.

"Unbelievable" Siran says, "look, there's five of you altogether. Why don't one of you lead the way, and the rest watch me? I know you don't exactly trust me, so whatever works".

The group talked amongst each other in secrecy for a short moment, before the same man who was talking earlier walks up to Siran. "I'll lead then. You stick next to me".

They continued walking aimlessly for hours in awkward silence. Eventually, Siran asks the man "What's your name? Or should I just call you 'dude' from here on out?".

"Mason" the man replies.

"Just Mason?" Siran asks.

"Mason Phelloma" Mason replies, "but that'll just be Mason to you".

Siran thinks to himself while loudly saying "Hmmm...." until eventually, he says "alright, Mason. Where are we going from here?".

"No idea" Mason replies.

"... you've gotta be kidding me" Siran says. "I just got here on this planet, I have no idea where Naris was last. Shouldn't you guys know that?".

"Most forms of communication have been shut down" Mason says. "In terms of information, we're in the dark. We only know what we see at this point, with the exception of proximity transponders. We call these Walkie-Talkies".

"... Neat" Siran says sarcastically "So you look like you've seen combat. Have you seen Naris in person?".

"In person?" Mason asks, "no I haven't. I've seen him appear all over the news during the first two days of the attack in America. But shortly after that, all television broadcasts were shut down".

"What makes you so willing to fight back?" Siran asks. "You look well prepared, so where did you get your experience?".

"I was in the military" Mason says. "United States Marine Corps".

"Oh wow!" Siran says, sounding impressed. "By the way, you have rifles... but do bullets even work on Naris?".

"Dunno" Mason says. "Probably not".

"Then you'll need another form of defense" Siran says. "I can teach you magic".

"And if I told you I can teach you even with my hands tied behind my back?" Siran asks.

Mason thinks to himself before asking "Does magic even exist? I mean... I guess it's possible if something as terrible as Naris exists. But even so, you sure you could teach stuff even while being held as a prisoner?".

"Sure" Siran says. "I don't see why not?".

"What are you planning?" Mason asks.

"Just trying to help" Siran replies.

"Why would you help us?" Mason asks.

"Because I want to" Siran replies.

"But why!?" Mason yells.

Siran just thinks for a moment before he says "it's not that I particularly care about... humans. I do, however, like this world. If humanity is the best bet to saving the world, then I'm fine with that".

"Well..." Mason says as he thinks and scratches the back of his head. "You have been strangely cooperative. I guess we'll give it a shot".

Thereafter, Siran spends night after night trying to teach his methods to Mason and the rest. They picked up on magic a lot faster than Siran did, but at the same time it was also easier to access Endoindustria and channel it because of the broken seals. One night, in the middle of a lesson, another group of people found their camp. However, these people were a group of looters. They didn't come to help, they came for their supplies. There were six of them, and before Siran and the rest knew they were approaching, the looters had already pointed their guns at them.

"Don't move!" One of them shouts, "give us everything you have and no one gets hurt".

"You'll get nothing!" Mason says with his hands on top of his head.

"But Mason!" One of the others say, "it's not worth risking our lives".

"We'll risk our lives if we go without supplies" Siran says in agreement with Mason, "don't give them shit".

"You asked for it" The looter says as he loads his gun. Siran squints his eyes in fear and frustration. He thinks hard about ways to protect himself, and then remembers what he learned from Naris about digital magic. He creates a wall behind them of digital magic, the digital shield, and the bullets bounce off of the shield. The looters jump back in surprise. As Siran stands up and turns around, the looters cower in fear due to Siran's black and red glowing eyes. His appearance struck fear into them, and immediately, Siran uses a speed buff spell to lunge at the man who shot the gun. Siran planted his feet firmly in the looter's chest, knocking him onto the ground.

"Don't kill them" Siran says to himself, "they won't trust you if you start killing humans". The rest of the looters run away in fear as the one who was knocked down scrambled to get back up and run away as well. As Siran walks over back to where he was sitting, he thinks to himself "I can't believe I did that. I can't believe I casted a spell without a charm. How'd I do that?".

"That was impressive" Mason says, "if you could do that at any time, then I guess you could've done that to us long ago".

"Think you can trust me now?" Siran asks. "Because my arms are really sore from being tied for so long".

Mason and the rest agree to untie Siran and Siran continues to teach everyone magic. They spend nights together while traveling. Each night spent, they all became a little closer. At first they went from not trusting each other, to moderately uncomfortable with each other. Before they knew it, they were almost like friends. Eventually, they came across a large camp like area that served as a giant shelter for people. They went there to take shelter and found lots of more people from the military there acting as guards. At first, they pointed their weapons at Siran, but Mason showed them his military ID and introduced Siran as a 'reliable asset'. To prove to them that Siran would be useful for humanity, Mason pulls out a small paper charm and uses magic to create a fire in his hand that he could easily control.

"He's here to teach humanity how to wield magic" Mason says, "and this will give us a fighting chance against the beast called Naris".

"Naris?" One of the guards asks.

"Siran says that's the beast's name" Mason adds.

Months pass as Siran rigorously tries to teach everyone what he can about magic. Eventually, all of his teachings are documented and passed around from military base to military base. The bases acted as the only current long distance form of communication, by soldiers personally passing documented information to other bases by riding to new places on helicopter. After another year, the information was shared around the whole world. The network of military bases also tried keeping everyone up to date on all of Naris's recent activities, but no one has reported any sightings of Naris. At least, no one that had seen him lived to tell about it. It is eventually reported that a super volcano had erupted in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and a new land mass had formed there. The new land mass was still hot and smoldering, but a new continent had been born. It was also the first news of anything about Naris, as it was also said that Naris had caused the volcano to erupt during his attempts to reshape the world with his magic. Another few months had passed and it was now March 22nd, 2022. A shipment of people were brought over from Honolulu, Hawaii. There was formerly a military shelter in Honolulu, but it was attacked by Naris and few people survived. One of them was eager to meet the man who brought magic to the world. Her name was Angela Mahina. She held a grudge against Naris and wanted to know all she could learn from Siran in order to take him down. Upon arrival, she pushed her way through a crowd of people demanding the man named Siran. Eventually she had found him, although he isn't exactly hard to spot. When Siran had met her, he did not expect the reaction that he got from her. When she found Siran, she stomped angrily towards him, collapsed at his feet and began crying.

"Please help me" she cried, "that bastard took away my home and my family. Please teach me everything you know about magic so I can pay him back! Please!". She pleaded and pleaded with Siran, although Siran had already decided long ago that he would help.

"Sure" Siran says softly, "I'm sorry about your loss. I'll help however I can".

"I'm sorry to hear what happened to Honolulu" Mason says as he puts a gentle hand on Angela's shoulder. "I lost my family too, so I know how it feels. But we can make it through this, can't we Siran?".

"Absolutely" Siran says.

It seemed to Siran that he had made two close friends from that point on. Mason and Siran became almost like best friends or brothers. They were like brothers in arms now. Although Siran expected him and Angela to be closer, since he was the one teaching Angela magic, Mason and Angela grew extremely close instead. Eventually, Angela and Mason became a couple as Mason was always there to comfort her. As well as Angela couldn't really bring herself to be too close to Siran because of his relationship with Naris. It reminded her of how Naris destroyed her home. However, Siran was never happier. He was proud to be able to talk with at least two humans on a friendly basis. Another year had passed and a miracle happened. The world, in the eyes of civilians, was over. However, Mason and Angela made a miracle of their own. Angela was pregnant and Mason was the father. They were as happy as one could be during the apocalypse. But their miracle was so short lived. Only months later, Naris showed up, once again in Oklahoma. Angela stayed at the base, but an outfit of soldiers deployed by helicopter. With them, Mason and Siran were sent out to fight as well.

It was now July 12th, 2022. Mason and Siran has ridden on a helicopter with several other soldiers. Naris had returned to where he and Siran had met, in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. They arrived just outside of town before the helicopter landed.

"This is as close as I go!" The pilot shouted, "any closer and this bird is going down!".

"Move move move move move!" Another soldier shouts as everyone runs off of the helicopter. "We make the rest of the trip on foot! Put on your dancing shoes, it's time to kick some ass!".

Everyone charges at Naris. When they arrive, Naris looks over and growls at the humans before him. Then sees someone he didn't expect to see.

"My my... do my eyes deceive me?" Naris laughs. "So you're alive after all. I can't believe what I'm seeing".

"It's Siran now, by the way" Siran says.

"Is that what you go by these days?" Naris asks. "I was wondering how the humans were suddenly learning to throw such pitiful stuff at me like fireballs. Too bad none of them new any better. There were no survivors, and there will be none left alive here either".

"That's why I'm here" Siran says, "we're ending this here and now".

"Correct" Naris says, "we are ending this".

The soldiers prepare a volley of different kinds of spells in hopes that one of them will work. But with just a simple glare, Naris throws it all back at them. Siran stops the spells in mid-flight by trying to redirect it. Siran presses against Naris's force and Naris pressed against Siran. Each of them trying to push the spells into each other, as it became a battle of willpower. As Siran struggled, he focused hard on using his Endoindustria as a sheer force against Naris. The spells collided into one and became a bright white light.

"W-What!?" Naris panics. "Is that... reactive Endoindustria? How!?".

Siran manages to push back against Naris as the bright light pierces Naris like a spear. Naris screams in pain as the soldiers almost rejoiced. Finally, a method that can inflict pain on the beast. But in his anger, Naris retaliates with the full force of his power. He screams at the heavens as a purple beam appears through the center of his body, pointing up and piercing the clouds. The beam grew wider and wider, devouring the ground and everything it touched.

"Brace for impact!" A soldier shouts as everyone puts up a digital shield of their own. The beam continued to grow rapidly. The bigger it grew, the faster its growth became. Siran put up his shield too and closed his eyes in fear. As the beam reached their shields, waves of soldiers could be heard grunting and screaming. One by one, the screaming grew more and more quiet. After the beam finished growing, it seemed to almost explode as Siran was sent flying backwards at a high speed. Siran puts on as strong of a stability buff spell that he could muster and went flying through the air. He hit the ground with a hard thud, his back digging into the earth. He tried to get back up, but was dizzy from a concussion he suffered from the impact. When he finally managed to stand, and when his vision finally cleared enough to see straight, he saw a sight he wished he had never seen. All of Broken Arrow, and all of Tulsa as well as the surrounding towns were nothing more than a giant crater in the ground. As for the soldiers, there were none. Including Mason. Siran was the only survivor. Laughter could be heard from Naris as he leaves, triumphantly. Siran collapses to his knees.

"... Mason" Siran cries softly. Then another wave of dizziness overtakes Siran as he loses consciousness.

Siran once again wakes up in the endless white void of Valhalla.

"It's been a while" Gaia says.

"It's not fair" Siran says in a shaky voice.

"Of course it's not" Gaia says, "nothing has ever been fair. Perhaps that's just what makes the universe the most fair. Does this make you want to give up?". Siran thinks to himself silently as Gaia continues. "Why did you start this journey?".

"Because I... I wanted to save the world" Siran says.

"Why?" Gaia asks.

"Because" Siran says, "even if I hated my own life, the world was still beautiful, you know?".

"Ah" Gaia says, "That's perhaps the most correct answer. Just remember the reason you started, and don't let your determination falter. After all, this is your responsibility".

"Screw this responsibility nonsense!" Siran yells. "I'm not doing this because I'm responsible or because it's the good thing to do. It's the right thing to do because it's something I want to do! The world is still dear to me! I don't give a shit about gods, demons, afterlife, the universe or responsibility! I'm not doing this because you asked me to!".

"... Interesting" Gaia says. "And what do you want to do if and when you resolve your issue at hand?".

"Whatever the hell I want" Siran says, "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!".

Gaia laughs a little and says "You are a very interesting human. I doubt many others would have the face to stand up to a god like you have. I like that. The usual blind faith thing always bothered me. I like it when humans think for themselves".

"By the way" Siran says, "while we're on the topic of thinking; I've been thinking. How come I can cast magic without a charm when others can not?".

"Because you were exposed to this realm" Gaia says. "This world leaves an imprint on your mind, body and soul. Even if you don't know it's there, it carries certain types of knowledge that you can access subconsciously".

"Is that also how I was able to turn magic into reactive Endoindustria?" Siran asks.

"No" Gaia says, "you can do that if you find your own way to... ignite the Endoindustria in a matter of speaking. It usually takes a lot of will power and focus, but it's possible that any human can do this".

"My name isn't human" Siran says. "You can call me Siran now".

"You're awfully flippant for a human" Gaia says as she laughs a little. "It's time for you to return. You've already been asleep for a couple days".

"By the way, did you pull me back in here?" Siran asks.

"Not entirely" Gaia says, "I pulled your consciousness in here. You're body is still in your world".

"Is that safe?" Siran asks.

"It should be" Gaia says.

"Wait, should be?" Siran asks.

"Farewell, human" Gaia says as Siran feels as if he's falling. Siran then wakes up in a helicopter.

"You're awake" one of the soldiers onboard says to Siran. "We found you laying on the grass, just outside of this giant crater that appeared out of nowhere. We've been looking for survivors".

"Survivors?" Siran asks. "Have you found any?". Suddenly, Siran sits up really fast and shouts "Have you found Mason!?".

"Hey hey hey!" The soldier says as he forces Siran to lay back down. "Calm down. You were in a coma for a couple days. Try not to be too shocked, but you're the only survivor we found".

"We need more people to search!" Siran demands. "We can't leave them out there!".

"We did have more people search!" The soldier says. "We're the last of the search squad".

Siran laid down in silence for the rest of the trip. He knew that Mason was dead, but he needed time to process it. He didn't want to accept it, but eventually it sank in. Later, they arrived back at the base. It was already reported that the last of the survivors would be arriving via helicopter on the base. However, when they got there, everyone was disappointed to see that Siran was the only survivor. Angela has waited for Mason, and when Siran stepped off of the helicopter, Angela immediately ran up to him in panic.

"Where's Mason!?" She asks.

Siran couldn't say it. He shook his head as both him and Angela began to cry. Angela started pounding her fists on Siran's chest in anger. "You should've protected him!" She cries "he should've came back with you! How could you come back without him!?". The only thing Siran could do was hold onto Angela as she cries on his shoulder. Eventually, Angela starts apologizing, saying "I'm sorry Siran. I know it's not your fault. I just wanted him to see his daughter when she finally came into the world. Now I don't know what to do. What am I supposed to do now that he's gone?".

"I'm sorry" Siran says, "I don't have answer for that. But I promise I'll take Naris down. We've found a way to hurt him, and I promise to take him down".

"That bastard keeps taking everything away from me!" Angela says as she cries.

Angela continued crying onto Siran's shoulder as a General in the military approached Siran. "With the casualties we suffered" the General says, "you better have come up with a solution, otherwise I'll shoot you on the spot!".