Septerra Inframagus: Claim Of the Invictus. [REWRITING]

[26] The Invictus. A Monster?

I had been reflecting and inattentive all morning and afternoon sitting up on the fluffy, delicate, silken bedsheets and having an absence seizure about facing the Invictus.

"Hey. It's time" Julie said, entering the room. I silently got up and followed her as she showed me to the dressing room and handed me my arching clothes. I was attired with a black leather suit that covered the entire length of both my arms and legs. I covered my hands with braces. Leather buckles and clamps covered my chest and on top of it all I wore a black hood after which I buckled my quiver behind me and before I slung my bow across my back, I looked at the soul sapphire. The image had changed. The boy was now kneeling down but his expression was still sad. I, for once, was debonair. Although, I looked confident I did not feel the same way. Inside my heart, I was only a small 15-year-old boy who felt more like he was running towards his own death than he felt like saving the world.

I walked out and Julie gaped at me.

"For the first time in forever, my brother looks cool" Julie said. I raised my eyebrows and her face became apprehensive.

"You're going to do great. It'll all figure itself out. Don't keep thinking about it" she said.

"It's the only thing I've been thinking about for a very long time" I said. "You don't have to be so concerned man. I'm okay" I added, after seeing her face. She nodded and held my hand as we walked out of the room and down the stairs, towards the main chamber of the palace. Two guards were waiting for us there.

"I'll be up there watching you. Good luck" Julie said, leaving me with them and going back upstairs again. The guards escorted me down a long corridor on the left of the throne chamber. We walked for miles down that corridor. The further we went, the darker and colder it got. I imagined this is exactly what it must have felt like when they dragged people to their own long drop. We kept walking and after a while the floor was filling up with water. I had a bad feeling about what was happening.

"Hey why is there so much water on the floor?" I asked one of the guards. They remained silent.

Then, one of them said, "Didn't the queen tell you yesterday? The fight is at the end of the oceans where it sleeps in its lair".

"Yeah" I said, remembering the queen's statement. The water got deeper and we finally stopped in front of a glass case. On the other side, the dark ocean stretched for infinite light years. All the agitation in the world had found me.

"But, I can't breathe underwater. How will I breathe underwater?" I asked as they pushed me towards the glass case. In a frenzy, I resisted their compulsive actions.

"If you can't breathe underwater then there's no way that you are his son" they said as they pushed me in and locked the door. I longingly stared at the palace basement with my hands banging the glass in frustration. I closed my eyes and placed my forehead on the glass. I tried controlling my breath by holding it, letting it out slowly and breathing in only when I needed the air. I remembered something my mother told me a long time ago when I was at my lowest.

"Dying is easy Peter, when you live your life for yourself. Life gets its purpose and meaning when you live for the people around you. Love the people, Do the good, and no matter what, always face the situation without running away" she had said.

A small smile appeared on my face but it was enough to restore my strength. I looked up and saw Aaron, Julie and queen Elana watching me through an observation glass. Below them several other normal citizens had also gathered to watch me. I could see them chanting and shouting but I couldn't hear anything. I turned to face the end of ocean. The glass case was attatched to a rolling belt. I pushed the only button that was there inside and the case moved forward and further away from the palace basement. The Invictus was lying there sleeping inside its lair. It was a magnificent creature that was at least two or three buses put together in size. It was black and had many sharp fins rising from its slithering serpent body. its