Elterra is a peaceful woodland with rays of light perpetually shining through the tree leaves, casting a diffused glow on the forest floor. It is the one nearest the main sanctuaries and also is the largest forest among the skies, a picture of unmoving calm as the weather in the heavens never changes. But it was far from its peaceful state that afternoon as loud shouts and frantic running disrupted it, that even the frolicking enchanted creatures ran to hide as soon as the disturbance was within earshot.

A dark-haired being clad in a white uniform clutched his bleeding arm as he waded his way through the lush thicket, sending a couple of twigs crackling in his wake. Weakened and severely injured, he ran as fast as he could. And even though flying was an option, the act would only make him more visible to the party that was trailing behind him.

They were his former colleagues, ones he used to undergo training with, that are now adamant upon his capture. He did not deserve to be chased and hunted down like this because he was not even part of the conspiracy that led to the destruction of a huge part of the Crestal Border. But the High Council had appointed him guilty and ordered that his brilliance be taken away from him. His father, right hand of the council leader Lord Fabien, did not even feel any remorse for conniving with the others who were against him. On the day he was convicted of a sin he did not even make, his father denounced him as well.

“Stop this madness. Surrender yourself!” someone shouted from behind him.

Lucis pressed on his wound harder in an attempt to stop the bleeding, and he winced in pain at the efforts. Tears fell despite his stony expression as he ran and his mind raced at the thought that he cannot win against Lord Fabien’s only son, Kin, who might have held a grudge towards him ever since they were young.

His brilliance, efforts at training, and disciplining himself will not go into waste because of this - Lucis would not permit it, even though the realization of how alignment wouldn’t stop a heart from being tainted pained him so. What had happened to his father? What happened at the council meeting had bothered him greatly but there was no way to confront his father now that he was being chased and is due to be drained of brilliance.

Crestal Border was the enclosure that protected the sky tree, Sylcea. It was one of the heavily guarded parts of the entire world as it binds the integrity and balance of everything in place. Lives depended upon it, and anything not fit to be in its presence may cause an imbalance with its upholding. The border can only be accessed by the army that protects it and only a select few in every sacrificial switch are qualified to step inside. It meant the best of the best, and Lucis scoffed at the memory of having been one. He was silent in his achievements and was regarded well even by the high courts. Lucis could not comprehend how the disaligned creatures took hold of such superior positions, and even infiltrate places they should not have been able to reach. Or had there been no disalignment at all, just pure malice tainting the aligned ones?

The tree remained unharmed, no one can pass through its premises unless it is the ordained pureblood and officials on their way to sacrifice. Security tightened around the tree, and with the destruction of the border, all armies available including their fellow Spinelius were required to cover every inch of the lost border as the ancients attempt to patch it up.

When he was young, Lucis was lavished with praises by Lord Fabien as he excelled in training unlike any other Geuldenfein his age. These consistent efforts led to Lucis’ early appointment as one of the commanders of the guardians assigned to protect the sky tree at the age of sixteen – to guard the Crestal Border and uphold the integrity of this holy divide.

Deep down, Lucis felt an inkling that it was Kin who ordered to release the chains from its clasp so that they can place the blame on him. There was no other who can harbor such motive against him other than his very competitor. The feeling of envy that sprouted during their childhood now took everything this far. Kin can easily arrange what had happened, as he and their colleagues used to gang up on Lucis during their trainee days. Most simulations resulted in painful outcomes for Lucis as they made sure to inflict wounds on him as much as they can. Kin had probably viewed Lucis as a threat - one who took what was supposedly his. Being bested in everything by Lucis even though he was not of noble descent was all the more infuriating to Kin. To have this much power in the high court though is a mystery. Power cannot be gained at once, something must have happened that he was not aware of.

The shouts grew faint as Lucis sped through the dense forest, thankful for the cover it provides for the time being. The air was crisp and some of the leaves had dewdrops in them that were shaken off as Lucis rushed by. He had managed to escape before his brilliance was fully drained, and what he had left he used it to force through and trespass the thin veil between their realm and those of the humans.

This action takes a great deal of sacrifice for anyone who attempts to do it and the majority attempted to do so drifted to dissolution, Lucis was spared although he was prepared to lose his life and it had cost the entirety of his brilliance which now made his wings black due to the lack of it. It is rare for Geuldenfeins to leave their realm unless it is within the scope of the descending ritual that normally takes place every thousand years. Lucis would rather have his brilliance dissolved and life lost fighting than to give up and surrender to something that does not make sense to him.

Exhausted and with his body feeling heavier as he went out of the gap, Lucis staggered as he tried to walk further away, his footsteps barely leaving the ground. His black hair drenched with sweat covered his face as he bent, fighting for breath. With his remaining strength, Lucis looked up and it was then that he noticed his sight starting to fail him. Stepping forward without noticing that the ground was uneven, he lost balance and fell to the ground and rolled with a loud grunt, his full weight crushing his wounded arm. Lucis writhed in agony as he let out a howl of pain, his white shirt barely that color anymore with all the blood and dirt that made contact with the cloth. His wings were gone, diminished to ashes as he fell, and he was too injured to notice it. He tried to roll on his back and failed, forcing to keep his eyes open even if it constantly willed itself to close. The sun was starting to set, and with his failing sight, Lucis looked up and thought the colors of the once vivid sky are becoming duller like the pain that bloomed in his chest.