The Grand Crossover RP - Pathway to Origin [IC/PG-13/Moved to NCM for Finale]

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Nero - Keyblade War Master / The X-Blade's Wielder ~ The Door to Origin -> The Forgotten Forest

 

It seemed everyone's answer had been accounted for...and what followed...

 

Isamy, for lack of a better word, began to become a corrupted being. Was it a corruption that was greater or equal to the corruptness that she clearly had in her display a few moments ago from the rage she vented out from all the answers? This, Nero wasn't sure about. What he was sure about, was that she now began to transform and it wasn't a great sight to behold. What was once a beautiful flower, had now festered and began to decay into such a terrible weed. She had become what was known as a Hollow.

 

As Nero defended against the overall sheer power that Isamy emitted by use of a Reflega, he was one of the first to notice that now she/it wasn't alone. This creature began to call forth souls of warriors and even the golem that reflected memories on them, the same there were in the Pathway to Remembrance.

 

Alright...seems like these shouldn't be a problem. Nero thought, preparing to call his Keyblades to his hands. The golems that I faced in Remembrance were just ending up being Ivero. And I've beat him once...I can do it a-

 

-BGM-

 

"Hello Nero..."

 

The Keyblade Master stopped suddenly as he saw three of the golems immediately appear before him. The projections on them...the souls they showed, they weren't of who he was hoping for. Before him were allies he once had...his friends...his father figure...

 

"Why Nero...you look like you've seen a ghost." the first golem spoke, as it's appearance began to show that of Ryuusaki. The one on his left, showed Master Hao, and the one on the right, showed Oswald.

 

"R-Ryuusaki...M-Master Hao...O-Oswald..." Nero spoke, slowly backing up some.

 

"Still remember us...how touching." Oswald said, calling to his hand his Keyblade. "And here we thought you had forgotten all about us. Ya know, considering you abandoned us!"

 

"Indeed. Given the rank of Master and the task to save the worlds...and look what happens." Master Hao spoke, summoning his Keyblade as well. "Perhaps you were right all those years ago, my dear boy. You clearly weren't ready for this."

 

"N-No!" Nero quickly interjected. "Master...O-Oswald...Ryuusaki! I've come this far...just because of your memories and teachings! You all are the reason I...that I keep going!"

 

Ryuusaki frowned, summoning his own Keyblade in his hand, pointing it at Nero. "Save it, Nero. Your little excuses aren't going to be enough to save you this time. You made a promise...a promise to be there for me. We were to always fight by each other's side...but it appears, you broke that promise."

 

"UNLESS YOU'RE A PLANESWALKER, DO NOT MELEE THESE THINGS!"

 

This caught Nero's attention, as he looked in the direction it came from. Don't engage them? But...

 

M-MASTER!

 

Nero snapped back to the situation he was currently in, hearing Remnant shout at him, and at a perfect time to, as Ryuusaki closed the gap that was between them and immediately tried to slash at him. Nero barely had enough time to dodge it, but he did it nevertheless as he began to clench his fists. Right now...they seemed to have the intent to attack him with everything they had. And with this warning of not striking at them now on the table...Nero seemed in an impossible situation now.

 

So how...how do I fight them? Nero thought, staring down his three allies, watching them as they formed into a triangle formation around him.

[Reinforce]

Chandra

 

She could tell as it happened, Jace casting another spell out to stop her fire, attempting to have the backlash hit her instead. Even so, throughout the attempt, she could use the spell he'd so easily cast at her, and turn it back on Isamy. Casting a Ricochet Trap, she redirected Jace's spell to stop the Cero instead, leaving it to vanish before hitting. It may not be able to drain the life out of Isamy for the effect, but it would at least nullify any damage it would've done to the group, while leaving her flames free to engulf and burn dozens more of the memory golems. Afterwards, she left Neos and Gemini, choosing to summon back one of her Phoenix, and use it to fly into the sky where she'd have a better aim at Jace's position on top of Isamy. Glaring at the other planeswalker, she set loose a burst of invisible flames, the Ghostfire she knew rippling through the air at the chain binding Jace to the abomination. In her mind, the constant stream of curses continued, not having abated in the slightest through all that.

 

Location: F3

 

---

 

Darcy

 

Watching the brief burst of destruction from Satori, Darcy looked over the giant bone amalgamation that used to be Ameliorer. Even in this short period of time, the memories associated with that name were trying to escape, and it was only through her sheer force of will and mental abilities that she was holding them together.

 

“Darcy, I will look for Koishi for the time being. If you need me to do anything, just tell me and I'll get to it, but I will be silent for a while in the meantime if that is fine with you.”

 

Very well, I should be fine for a while so do what you need to do. Meanwhile, I think it's time to start probing this thing's defenses.

 

Raising one hand, a burst of dark flames shot out of her right hand to hit the Hollow's head. As it did, she aimed her left hand lower and let forth a second jet of the dark fire to strike inside the bottom of the hole in the thing's chest.

 

Location: D6

 

---

 

Apep

 

Baleful yellow eyes glared down over the groups that were forming as they challenged Isamy. From her position, she could see a good portion of the field, and identified a target who was already starting to attack. Vanishing into a bolt of lightning, the bolt struck down directly in front of Kazuya, reforming into the demon girl and swiping out at his chest with a single sharpened claw. Hit or miss, she was already vanishing back into another bolt of lightning, appearing behind Neos this time, to stab directly at his heart with a lightning shrouded claw. As the second attack was completed, the lightning bolt jumped once more to land back upon Isamy's shoulder.

 

Location: D4

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Hmph!"
 

The blue-haired boy grunted in pain as the familiar woman struck him in the chest after appearing like a summoned lightning. It was a speed that he didn't expect, but due to his Harmonizer and the blood of Bel inside of him being active, the single stroke wasn't enough to put him down, and he simply casted Diarahan on himself to restore the wound. The woman had disappeared almost immediately however, and it took him a bit to find her again, this time being ready to attack the one that...uh...he couldn't remember who was he. Nevertheless, he's familiar enough to the boy for him to summon Mothman and activated his Devil's Speed to immediately rush towards the demonic woman's direction, and as soon as his speed slowed down he was ready to cast Agidyne on her-

 

But she disappeared once again before he could land a hit.

 

"...Well, there she goes. Are you fine, yellow man?"

 

Without the familiar woman attacking again yet, the boy used Diarahan to the yellow man if he was wounded by the attack, before turning around, preparing himself for whatever would come next.

 

(Kazuya moved to F3, now next to Neos)

 

---

[Tesability Black]

~???'s POV~

The invisible figure in the sky had frowned, both at the warnings being delivered by two known to the being as well as due to one of the two tried to mess with what could be heard and seen from the minds of all.

The first that needed doing was to move further away from the pillar of flames that emerged nearby. Some souls had vanished from view, but their cries hit notes upon their burning that made it impossible to block out, delivering pain in an audial way. While the traces of the Blind Eternities left the shells, they exploded into energy that reached into the tantrum-throwing girl, weakening her a tiny bit for each one destroyed by draining her life force. The energy that had been leeched away went flying towards the illusion, making it far more real to anyone who tried to break it.

Floating high in the air and using the power to glance into the minds of others to see what would otherwise be missed from such a high distance, a most-interesting exchange could be heard, all within what seemed to be one mind. Upon closer examination, however, was it realized that many minds resided within one. Sliding into the mind with care not to alert anyone within it, the figure paid close attention to the conversation out of simple curiosity.

Hearing the conversation as a whole, a dark chuckle became heard throughout the collective mind. If you value your existence, you will not make a meal of anyone among the opposition.

Unless, of course, you wish to be turned inside out in quite the literal and impossible way in addition to various other twisted events that care is being made not to envision.

Maintaining connection to at least hear a response, but not be negatively affected by it, another roar echoed through the air. Turning in the air towards the source, another figure on the ground in white lunged forward towards Isamy and the broken soul on her head, black and white sword in view and ready for use. A flick of the wrist, and a surge of snow underneath the grounded figure rose and enveloped him, stopping the charge for the moment.

If your blade is as alive as you are, do not strike with it or you may lose it as a partner.

The presence of a demon emerging soon became felt. Different than the one that slumbered within Ravnica and from the demon an ally had literally become, words that the newly-emerged demon, Bel, had uttered became heard before he had moved towards another, towards the yellow figure that once stood guard for a previous self.

Unlike with her, much though has been and still is being thought of ways to make such happen, with minimal changes to the existing realities while making such a goal a viable possibility, even going as far as making individual adjustments for specific realities, since a 'one size fits all' approach is never known to work.
~G4, on top of the tower~
Another distortion in the air became felt soon after boots met snow-covered stone as one of the spells that had been cast earlier by a now-pained plane became turned around, used instead against Isamy herself to halt the ray of green light. Tongue clicked in the air as the spell was noted, the familiar Ghostfire was witness and a simple nod was given as no action was made to stop it. Instead, the invisible flame was allowed to meet its mark, revealing that the figure on Isamy's shoulder was but an illusion as it faded from view within the flames...

 

[spoiler=TL,DR]~Moved away from where Lidia was, because she came damned close to roasting his balls literally
~Remarked to all the minds of Butlerok after hearing and peeking into that conversation
~Moved the snow under Kenpachi's feet and buried him underneath a relatively-thin layer (just enough to piss him off) while suggesting that it might not be a good idea to go swinging with the Zanpakto

~Felt Kazuya become Bel and responded to him telepathically
~Allowed Chandra's Ghostfire attack to strike and 'melt away' the illusionary version of him on Isamy's shoulder.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Neos's POV~

Neos had been figuring out what to do about the blubbering figure over his shoulder, that being Gemini, when the strike had been made from behind. The strike missing his spine and lung while ending up forcing his heart to move towards one side in a painful way, Neos had cried out from the suddenness that reminded him of another bolt of lightning that had tried to strike earlier. Gemini flew forward and ended up rag-dolling away from Neos as the false human fell to his knees.

The figure that delivered the strike was gone, but another had approached him as he was down. He could feel the heart made of literal diamond making its way back to its spot, the light of the area making it glimmer to anyone in the right position to see the multi-colored shimmer. The healing light had stopped him from bleeding out, but something stopped it from properly healing the large hole.

"Fu...I've been..." Managing to stand up despite the yellow bleeding through both sides of the hole in his chest, Neos turned to face the...quite-literal demon as he raised a hand over the hole, a blue light emerging from his hand and within his body as he began the use of Recover. "That is the second time within...an hour? 30 minutes? 10? 5?! that I've been stabbed in the Arceus-damned chest. Getting ridiculous now."

Looking over towards Gemini, whom had stilled for the moment, he exhaled before pulling the white Premier Ball off his belt, the same one used for himself when needed. "Carrying him's a pain in the ass, so..." Neos aimed the small circle in the front towards Gemini, pressing the button that began to glow before a light extended from it to hit the dark counterpart.

To his personal surprise, Gemini was recalled into the orb, as if it had been used on himself instead. "Well, that's gonna make things easier."

Ending Point: F3, Gemini's been miraculously recalled

[Phantom Roxas]

Previously…

 

[spoiler=Divided We Fall]

[Remembrance C13] - Chardonnay

 

At the edge of the Lake of Remembrance, the priestess calmly sipped more water from her energy-projected cup. She raised an eyebrow as the Twilight One materialized on the other side, triggering the nearby water to rage, rushing further forward than they normally would, splashing her body. She wasn’t annoyed, but looked at herself, slightly perplexed. She nonetheless distanced herself from the shore a little more.

 

High up in the air, two shadows were beginning to rapidly fall down, the momentum from the gusts of wind running out. She eyed them with a tranquil anticipation, and sipped from her cup once more.

 

“Company, I see.” Chardonnay spoke lightly.

 

The two falling figures crashed into the snow, scattering piles of snow all around them. MirageGaogamon lifted himself up, seeing Arthur lying on the ground nearby. MirageGaogamon begged to himself that Arthur had survived the crash, but he could barely move fast enough to check.

 

“Arthur…” MirageGaogamon’s voice was hoarse, just barely able to utter the name. MirageGaogamon was afraid to move forward himself, looking behind him. That monster that Protheus had summoned dragged Slifer and Ra into some vortex, and MirageGaogamon was afraid of what would happen as soon as that monster appeared returned.

 

“We have to get back.” MirageGaogamon knew he was stating the obvious, but he had something to fill the silence, anything that could elicit a response from Arthur. MirageGaogamon stumbled as he walked, the Burst Mode slowly fading from his body. It had been enough to survive the Solace Dragon, but Protheus was something entirely different. Protheus and Itsu were summoners, and capable of fighting on their own.

 

In a way, it reminded MirageGaogamon of Arthur and himself. Sure, MirageGaogamon needed to rely on Arthur to access the power of Digivolution, but Arthur couldn’t fend for himself. Seeing him now, MirageGaogamon could hardly believe that Arthur even survived so many years in the Digital World. If MirageGaogamon was like the creatures that Protheus or Itsu could summon, then Arthur would be in Protheus and Itsu’s position. And yet, Protheus outclassed Arthur, even while holding back. Even as MirageGaogamon hoped Arthur was still alive, would Arthur even be in any condition to keep fighting?

 

MirageGaogamon dug his hand into the snow, beneath Arthur’s body, slowly lifting his friend up to his foot. Arthur’s heartbeat was faint, and his breathing was slow, but he was still alive. MirageGaogamon looked around them again. The entire lake was behind them, with the others still fighting Protheus on the other side. In front of MirageGaogamon, he could see a large staircase, with a teal crystal sitting on the pedestal at the highest step. This was it - the end of the Pathway.

 

However, someone was standing in their way. A blonde woman whose white dress - it looked more like a Sistermon’s habit - seemed to practically blend in with the snow. Was she with Protheus? She did seem almost human, but Protheus had the power to summon Eria’s friends. For all MirageGaogamon knew, she could be yet another summon. But that wouldn’t explain why she was here, at this very spot.

 

Before MirageGaogamon could consider what the woman had in mind, Arthur began to stir. MirageGaogamon held onto Arthur to make sure he could stand. “Arthur!”

 

Arthur blinked. As soon as he took his first step, he stumbled, MirageGaogamon only barely catching him again, gently pushing Arthur back into standing. Arthur rubbed his head, looking around until he saw the woman. Within seconds, he drew his Keyblade, but MirageGaogamon tugged his shoulder to keep him still. “Out of my way!” Arthur said to the woman, although MirageGaogamon believed Arthur could just as easily have been asking him to let him get into a fight with the woman.

 

“Who are you?” MirageGaogamon kept his calm, but he was nevertheless suspicious. "You’re not part of the Counter Corps. Which probably means you’re one of the Divine, am I right? Another one of Protheus’s pawns?”

 

“One of the Divine…?” She gazed at the Digimon with a cold calmness that, while offputting, showed no signs of malice. “Ah yes, Judgment did bring them along, too. I struggle to see the Divine as a ‘faction’ by now, considering he has made zero effort to lead them, but you’re not strictly wrong.” Her attention moved to Arthur, who had drawn his weapon. She let out a sigh. “Lay down your weapon, boy. I am no pawn of Judgment, but merely an observer to the miracle he seeks. Here as a result of his childlike ego.”

 

The woman - who somehow knew their names - proceeded to project a disc of green energy before her. At first it seemed as though it was some sort of attack, but as it simply hovered above the snowy plain, the truth became obvious that it was merely a makeshift table. “My name is Chardonnay LeBlanc, the Priestess of Yliaster.” She introduced herself, devoid of any interest in the happenings. “You and your friends have done a remarkably fine job in delaying him. Destruction shall not touch this shore for a while longer. Two choices are available to both of you－rejoin your friends in the fight against the Herald of Darkness, or rest and have a cup of tea in this Remembrance.”

 

This was followed by three chairs materializing opposite each other. She sat on the one facing the exit, whereas the other two faced the lake in which the grand battle continued on. Three cups appeared above the surface of that lake, scooping part of the water from it. Each one flew towards the table, upon which they rested. As she finished speaking, she reached out an arm, beckoning towards the opportunity to sit.

 

Arthur looked not towards Chardonnay, but back to the battle against Protheus. “‘Herald of Darkness…’ Protheus called himself that - and ‘Hero Killer’, because why not - but what about that other name you used? ‘Judgment.’ I’m guessing that for as long as he’s been around, he’s given himself a few titles to make himself sound like a big shot?” Arthur had to agree with Chardonnay, Protheus had a childlike ego. However, he knew that if someone were to talk a big game, they had to be ready to back that up, and Protheus certainly could. Even the few snide remarks that Chardonnay had made didn’t ease his concern. “Whatever you call Protheus, we’re here to stop him. Unless your tea can help with that, I’m not interested.”

 

“The man likes his own titles, and indeed he has gathered and made up many over the course of the past few millennia. Even ‘Protheus Maximus’ is a title he earned, rather than a name… Alas, he detests what I call him. ‘Judgment’. That name is a reminder of purpose for a man who’d much rather do as he pleases.”

 

Chardonnay picked up a cup, and started to sip with a deadpan expression, calmly, certainly. Even though it was from the lake, barely visible steam could be seen escaping it, indicating that it had somehow boiled on its own accord. When the water entered past her throat, her eyes narrowed in contentment, relaxing, as if it were some sort of narcotic. “I have no interest in either supporting or stopping the man. However, I do know much about him－when fate has thrust you into this impossible fight, Arthur Ancyl, would you and your friend MirageGaogamon rather continue it as you are?” Was that the hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth? Whatever it was, it was obscured as she took another sip from her cup.

 

Arthur sat in one of the empty chairs. “I know what it’s like to find out that you’re meant for something. To hate being told about some ‘purpose’ you have. So tell me, what purpose does Protheus have? Is he just running away from it because he just isn’t interested, or is it… scary?” It was difficult to imagine Protheus actually being afraid of anything, but Arthur had seen him confused, even angry. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to consider that there could be fear beneath all that posturing.

 

“It’s quite simple, really. He didn’t like his purpose, and now here he is－the Origin War is the result of his crescendo, his desire to change fate in the only manner in which he knows how.” Chardonnay responded, welcoming Arthur’s decision to sit down. “But first, take a drink.”

 

Arthur put his hand on a cup, but refrained from taking a sip. “So that’s why he wants the Door. Until he reaches it and wishes for whatever he wants, there’s still something he’s destined to do. And we’re all caught in this mess because he didn’t-” Arthur stopped himself. Even holding the drink, he could feel a chill from the water inside the cup. Samuel and Baxter were supposed to help Arthur on his quest, and he abandoned them. They were always the first the people he thought of that he had left behind, and it didn’t stop with just them. He found it hard to see how that made him any better than Protheus.

 

Arthur stared into the water in the cup. Either Chardonnay was just teasing him, or she probably wouldn’t tell him anything until he took a drink from the damn cup. Arthur drummed his fingers against the cup, and took a sip. The instant the water met his lips, his brain began to pulse, with memories flooding through his mind all at once. Dancing with Alexandra at homecoming. Running for his life when his parents - no, the people he thought were his parents - were beaten into the ground. MokushEternamon’s demise cursing Arthur with the lingering will of the Demon Lords.

 

Arthur coughed, holding his head steady against the table as the memories seemed to subside. His eyes flared their golden light as he glared at Chardonnay. “I’m here to kill Protheus. Not delay him. Not fight something I can’t win. Kill him. If some higher power has decided that Protheus has some ‘great purpose’, then I want to know what’s so damn important that this entire war is on him trying to avoid that.”

 

“For the majority of this Pathway, it is benign and patient as compared to the others. Memories are a complex feature of life, shaping one’s personality and motivation, after all. But the Lake of Remembrance is a cruel thing to behold. Its waters are a weapon that could make someone falter, forcing them to look back when they need to look forward. Still, the past is a strength to be embraced.” The Priestess of Yliaster simply spoke, staring on at Arthur, who’d just forcefully experienced fragments of his own past. “As difficult as it may seem, killing Judgment is not impossible. He may claim to be immortal, but he is simply a servant of the darkness. He is a feather, gradually drifting to the ground.”

 

Then, she took her own cup - half-empty with the same Waters of Remembrance - and placed it next to his own. Inviting him to drink. “Now, his purpose… is not something I would consider important by any means. It is more of a lament. But perhaps you would like to experience his reaction for yourself?”

 

“Couldn’t you just tell me what it is?” Arthur was already holding the cup that Chardonnay had offered. She spoke in riddles, but it was clear that she knew a lot. In response to his words, she simply shook her head.

 

“We’ve spent more time learning about who he is instead of fighting him,” said MirageGaogamon. “Arthur… there are some things I need to tell you about what I learned when I was within Pure Edge. Chardonnay, you said that even ‘Protheus Maximus’ is more like another title rather than a name? Then would it be more appropriate to say that his original name is Pener?”

 

At the mention of that name, Chardonnay’s eyes widened ever so slightly. The faintest hint of surprise, of something unanticipated and unexpected. “Hm.”

 

Arthur raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Pener?”

 

“Pener was once a young girl, and a Dark Signer like Solasiro or that Nazi. I’m not entirely sure how, but it seemed that Protheus used to somehow be Pener.”

 

Arthur eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and confusion. “I see. Still, I’m a bit concerned about why he’s called ‘Judgment’. If we understand what that’s supposed to mean, then maybe we can make a plan on how we stop him.”

 

“There’s one other thing,” MirageGaogamon added. “Within Pure Edge, there was a library of sorts. The blade was like another Digital World, only compressed into a single point. The keeper of that library served Itsu, and told me about the relationship between Itsu and Protheus. It seems like Itsu had several opportunities to put an end to Protheus long ago, but she didn’t. They were in love.”

 

“Gross,” Arthur added.

 

Chardonnay simply stared at MirageGaogamon, before returning her gaze to Arthur, anticipating his next move.

 

“Indeed. I’m sorry, I’m wasting time. I’ll wait until we can both tell the others. I can only hope that they’re doing alright.”

 

“I hope so, too.” Arthur took the cup with both hands. What exactly did Chardonnay mean by experiencing Protheus’s own reaction? Before he could even think, Arthur drank the water.

 

---

[Remembrance C8] - Eria & Sora vs Protheus

 

Eria fell to her knees. Her body felt as if it had been stabbed by daggers, her connections to Slifer and Ra all but gone. What seemed like a moment of advantage - no, had it really been anything more than a stalemate? - had changed back to what Protheus had shown what he could be capable of. Slifer and Ra had vanished. Arthur and MirageGaogamon were caught up in the storm, and who knew what happened to them? Gagagigo was still unconscious, and no matter how much Eria tried to heal him, he didn’t budge. He was alive, but only barely.

 

Protheus had control over the power of a god. As much as it pained Eria to admit it, could even Slifer and Ra compare to that? In a single motion, Protheus had sent away half of their team. The only ones left facing Protheus Maximus now were Sora, Kairi, Eria, and the Leviathan.

 

The snowy plain surrounding them was no longer even, but rather had an endless array of white dunes of various sizes, scattered and ruined by the Twilight One’s gust. It looked as though a raging ocean had been spontaneously frozen in snow. Throughout this chaos, the dark sorcerer floated in the sky, staring down at his subjects with renewed vigor. His expression triumphant－and all too smug.

 

“So?” Protheus asked.

 

Sora shot another Megaflare at Protheus, while Eria extended her control over the dunes, rising them from the snow and molding them into a series of icicles, although the flames would only melt them into mere drops of water. Grinning, he projected a shield of darkness in front of him, which took on the brunt of the attack. As the Megaflare connected, exploding into flames and smoke, Eria launched the icicles, then followed them with another wave, waiting until there was only smoke so the ice would not melt so quickly. Eria raised her left hand into a fist, and the snow right below Protheus formed a giant fist punching straight up to Protheus. He countered by thrusting his right hand forth and unleashing a wave of blazing flames, melting into the fist. Eria swung her Keyblade left and right, shooting Blizzard spell after Blizzard spell, but the technique was too familiar to him; each spell that came close had its mana overtaken and was redirected elsewhere.

 

With Slifer and Ra away in who knew where, Eria was desperate for something, anything that could hurt Protheus, even as she knew that Protheus could just shrug off practically anything. Each burst of a Blizzard spell was more powerful and forceful than the last, turning into the power of Blizzara, then to Blizzaga. As the spells gradually gained in power, they were taken over less and dodged more, the man casually darting around the sky. Even when bursts of ice and frost finally impacted against Protheus’s right arm, his expression didn’t falter as his arm simply hung by his side, regenerating.

 

“Let’s bring him down!” Sora yelled as he cast a Graviga spell, trying to force Protheus to the ground, with Eria forcing four arcs of snow, each meeting at a single point, pushing down with one collective force down into the fading smoke where Protheus must have been. He raised an eyebrow as the forces collided with his body, thrusting him straight into the ground with a violence to it. A powerful ripple of snow was thrown in all directions upon impact. The move would’ve broken all the bones in a normal human’s body. And indeed, Protheus lay there, partially buried in snow, facing the sky with his arms outstretched, unmoving.

 

But his expression wasn’t that of defeat. Rather, he was quiet, deliberating on what to do next. He seemed to be at a conundrum, the sort of conundrum that a child might have once they’d completed their favourite videogame with a cheat code.

 

“Without the gods… You are all a little boring, aren’t you? The threat is gone, your numbers have dwindled, and now there isn’t much left to do but clean up the mess left behind.” Protheus remarked in a monotone, addressing the various warriors whilst his body gradually repaired the damage inflicted to it.

 

At the back of his mind, he watched an epic battle of divinity, Twilight One against Ra and Slifer, but this paled greatly in comparison. Without the gods, the only things capable of killing him, out of the picture, it was simply a matter of time until his inevitable victory. Arthur/Apollo had been a wild card and MirageGaogamon had moves he could not manipulate, together having taken down his Pure Edge, but they’d presumably drowned in the lake and died or something, considering how they weren’t showing up - he would send a few of his dark servants over to check. Even the lizard was unconscious. Where once an army stood before him, now there was merely two humans. With every turn of the battle, it was becoming duller and duller as the interesting parts about it dwindled. “Hm. Well, I suppose there is one last bit of enjoyment I could squeeze out of you lot.”

 

The snow started to move, being manipulated to form tentacles that picked Protheus up and placed him back onto his feet. His eyes glanced at the transformed Sora, before resting upon Eria. “You and I, young Water Charmer, we aren’t so different. In Ancient Egypt, it was a relatively common belief that one’s Attribute affects their personality. That, whether or not they were actually capable of magic, their affinity for any particular element over others would dictate the sort of individual they are. Those with the affinity of water, for instance, were like the River Nile; going with the flow, rationally-minded, with the capacity for both tranquility and rage. These are traits that I see in you now… Consider this an honour. After all, when I started out as a sorcerer, Water was my original affinity too.”

 

As if to demonstrate this, the snow around him melted wherever he walked. Muttering a few words under his breath, the spells turned them into thin streaks of enchanted water that shot up and freely zoomed around him. Although it was difficult to say for sure, there was something about this - as though he barely had to think at all, while the previous spells had at least taken some effort. The crystal clear water, forming several small streaks, flowed and curved naturally around him. Unrushed, with nothing to suggest it was being controlled. Almost like he was water itself.

 

“Someone with an original affinity for Fire, Earth, Air, or any other may find it difficult to specialize in a wide variety of spells like I did. But users of Water are open to all possibilities. Just as you have gained the power of the Keyblade and summoning, I too have gained my own fair share of powers. We flow, we adapt, and through sufficient attrition, we can even shape worlds.” At the moment, it didn’t seem clear what his point was. “Tell me, Water Charmer. What did your master Doriado teach you about your magic?”

 

Eria focused on the water that Protheus had called forth. “She taught us to embrace the power we had. That our roles as Charmers were to bring us closer to the people we shared our Attributes with. We each chose our Familiars because we saw them as friends. People who would keep close to us. If we had to force our influence over anyone else, it was only to protect himself. Usually we only limited ourselves to animals. None of us could bring ourselves to do the same for humans. You’re neither of those things, Protheus. You look like a human, but you gave up on being one long ago. I understand that much.”

 

The water around Protheus froze, as three rings of ice formed around his body. “Lady Doriado also taught us never to miss opportunities.” Eria waved her hand, and the three rings began to spin rapidly, cutting through Protheus in different directions. “Wynn and Hiita were my friends, no matter what universe! And you made them your slaves! Whatever happened to Aussa, I’ll make sure to pay you back for her, too!” Eria gathered snow, forming it into water around each of Protheus’s hands, then into more sharp rings of ice, slicing off his hands.

 

Protheus could regenerate from any wound she could inflict. Slifer and Ra proved that there was no limit to how much he could regenerate, so trying to exhaust that ability would not work. However, if there was a way to prevent him from regeneration at all, that was something. Eria created more rings, severing his arms at the elbows this time. Then his ankles, followed by his knees, his shoulders, his torso, and even his neck. Every possible point of connection had to be cut, and they were cut, and each limb powerlessly hit the snow.

 

If Lady Doriado and the others could see her now, what would they say? Putting aside how Protheus could regenerate, Eria was simply butchering Protheus. Her grandfather had been a butcher, yes, but this was something entirely different. She wanted Protheus to die, and every time he had revived himself, she would wish for him to die several more times. If they both shared the Water Attribute, then Protheus was tranquility, and Eria was rage. The gap in power between them was growing by the second, with Eria feeling more powerless the longer she cut him down, and Protheus seemed all the more powerful just by staying alive.

 

“Heh. That’s more like it, girl…” Although severed, the head continued to speak to Eria. Even though the condition of his body was certainly annoying, the display before him was more than enough to balance that out. “It is a shame I had to lose all three of my puppets. They were useful cards with which I could amplify my own Fire, Wind, and Earth magicks. But, in the end, they were just cards, designed for a children’s game. This is no different. If their usage and loss truly upsets you, you’re quite the child－are you mad?”

 

Even though he’d been thoroughly decimated at so many different joints, Protheus showed little signs of worry. Before the decimation could continue, a coat of darkness erupted from below the snow, enshrouding the various limbs and protecting them from further damage. When it dissipated, he emerged good as new, his body fully intact and his face delighted.

 

“But then again…”

 

Just as the raging Eria was about to restart her assault, the dark sorcerer flicked his hand as if performing a magic trick.

 

And then, from under his sleeve, a card flew into it.

 

“You’re just a trading card too.”

 

Protheus Maximus held the proof of that statement out, the trading card, for Eria and her friends to witness with their very own eyes. It was identical to the other cards she’d seen thus far, even the ones belonging to Hiita and Wynn. Its presence emitted a vast power that, while not quite matching the prior ascendency of the Twilight One, had its own terrifying nature. A dark aura surrounded it, and the Siphon’s presence could be sensed from within. But most importantly－it had her name on it.

 

“Aren’t you, ‘Eria the Water Charmer’?”

 

“We are not cards in some game!” was all Eria could shout before commanding snow to blast against Protheus. The name on that card was very real. Sora stepped in front of her, trying to blast Protheus with his own mix of spells, but Eria pushed him aside, determined to be the one who would stop Protheus. “Why does everyone keep telling me that?” She threw wave after wave of water, commanding ice, but the attacks were all disorganized, barely even hitting Protheus. He didn’t even need to defend himself. Was it his own Death Aura holding her back, or was Eria herself to blame?

 

Every time someone said it - Dorian, Solasiro, Megiddo, Protheus - it became harder to say that this was all just a lie. So what if she was some character in some card game? “I’m alive! I’m alive, and that’s all that matters!” Eria forced ice to shoot out from the snow, entrenched from the ground. “Sora and Kairi don’t see me as some card! Gagagigo, Wynn, Hiita, Aussa, show all the cards you want, and I’ll just tell you that each and every one of us is alive!”

 

As Eria swung her Keyblade with each spell she cast, the ground beneath Protheus began to quake. The Leviathan didn’t move towards Protheus, instead slithering around the same place, watching Eria. Eria wasn’t even focusing on Protheus himself anymore. She kept her eyes on that damned card. Even when she herself had used the cards for the gods, it was easy to believe. There were summoners in her world, how hard was it to believe that cards could be tools for summoning?

 

But Protheus was claiming something entirely different. That the cards weren’t tools for summoning humans, animals, or gods. All of them, including Eria herself, were those cards. She had to destroy that card. If he didn’t use that card - if another “her” didn’t show up - maybe she could ignore the possibility of being “just a trading card” for a little while longer. It had to only be a possibility right? It couldn’t be reality. It couldn’t.

 

 

“Is that so?” Protheus spoke smugly, seeming to view the Eria before her more as a curiosity than a person. More like a stray, rabid dog. “Well, if you’re willing to tell anyone… Then how about we ask her? Come forth!“

 

At the man’s feet, a summoning ritual formed from various criss-crossing trails of darkness, detailing a pattern that was vaguely reminiscent of the peak of Eria’s old staff. Holding the card outwards, it too was consumed in a pitch-black aura as the contents within were beckoned to exit. In moments, she was about to be summoned…

 

...and then, the summoning ritual disappeared.

 

 

“E͞R̢I̸A̴ THE WATER CHARMER.”

 

 

~ thRilLinG ~

 

The summoning of Protheus’s greatest weapon, the Twilight One, had alone caused immense havoc on the Pathway to Remembrance. However, this summoning was the complete opposite﹣it did not announce itself in a destructive hurricane, but rather was quiet and slow. Darkness overtook the clouded sky ominously, and droplets fell, bit by bit, the falling snow eventually overtook by an array of rain all throughout the area, gradually growing in intensity.

 

At the lake, just beyond where Protheus stood, a black liquid that was much like mud could be seen rising from the crystalline waters. It surfaced calmly, rising higher and higher until it was about the height of a person, at which point it solidified to create a somewhat humanoid shape. With its arms formed, it held them out to feel the pouring rain, and with its legs formed, it took a step onto the snowy shore - each step it took caused a mass of nearby snow to instantly turn from white to black. It walked on, and on, and on, until it passed by its master, unhindered. Slowly but surely, the murkiness of its figure was becoming clearer, that unmistakable blue hair being this dark shadow’s most prominent feature. Clothes materialized around it as its skin grew out, pale as could be, until it could be discerned to be a woman.

 

Something about her composition and energy seemed reminiscent of something else. Even though it had occurred less than a week ago, it truly did feel like forever... The Void Drake. The Void Fox. The Void Daemon. She was so similar to them, even as she was turning from a Void Shadow into more and more of a human. There was a trace of the Shadow Realm on her, of its corruption, of its merciless foulness－she was undoubtedly a void creature.

 

But more importantly, even though her large black hat obscured the appearance of her face, her body was practically identical to a certain other woman. Her hair may have been more ruffled, her skin paler, her body having a sense of malnutrition, her robes dark and gold, her hands wielding an ancient staff with insurmountable power, and her aura so much darker, staining the snow wherever she went, but there was no mistake about it. Those sapphire hair and eyes alone were enough of an indicator. Who else could she be?

 

Eria the Water Charmer’s eyes met those of Eria the Water Charmer.

 

A silence had fallen upon the land, the only audible sound being that of the rain pounding the snow below. To the sides of both girls, Sora and Protheus stayed completely quiet, knowing for their own reasons not to interfere, anticipating either to speak first, not knowing what could happen. They were waiting for either of the two girls to make a move. Neither did, at first.

 

The twins who had met for the first time faced the other, staring at the other. Waiting for the other to break the silence? Judging one another? Or were they simply looking at themselves in the mirror, wondering how they had reached this godforsaken lake so far from the land they once called home?

 

Eventually, the newly-summoned creature took the first word.

 

“Alive?”

 

The voice of Void Eria was distinctly more distorted, softer and sicker with a high-pitched undertone. And yet, it was still undeniably the very same Eria. At her feet, the corruption on the snow had spread so much that everything within a ten-meter radius was a deep black, stopping just before the other’s feet.

 

…

 

“Are you really alive…?”

 

---

[Remembrance C1]

 

 

… … … …

 

 

… … … …

 

 

 

… … … …

 

 

 

 

… … … …

 

 

 

 

 

… … hm…? Ugh… … how long have I been out…?

 

… he should’ve come through here by now… unless he already did… in which case… … …

 

 

… … … oh, funk me sideways, I slept through the whole thing…?!

 

 

♫”Awakening From Extended Standby”♫ (“The House” - What Remains of Edith Finch)

 

The snow pile shifted away as the figure lying beneath it groggily emerged from it with an irritated huff. His eyes blinked as they scanned the forest clearing within the dense, snow-covered forest for any signs of recent activity. Finding none, the figure heaved a frustrated sigh, the pocket watch within his exposed chest cavity curiously sounding just as miffed with its ticking. “I swear, this’ll be the last time I decide to go into Standby Mode…,” the figure mused to himself as he furiously shook the snow off of his head and ears, his tail likewise flicking off a clump of snow that had been stuck to its tuft. Giving the forest clearing one more once-over, the figure rubbed one hand along the side of his ribcage--where it felt like someone had kicked it--before tapping the other hand to his Pocket Watch Heart. “Scanner, determine progress of Alister Azimuth on this Pathway,” the figure commanded as the cover of his Pocket Watch Heart opened, emitting a hologram projection of the Pathway of Remembrance before him.

 

“Alister Azimuth Progress: Completed approximately 2.5 hours ago,” a synthetic voice coming from his PW-Heart confirmed shortly after the scan began.

 

The figure gave off a growled sigh as he slammed an open palm to his face. “funk, that means I missed him… … then again,” he added as he frustration subsided a bit to make way for some slight relief, “if that’s the case, then he must’ve made it out okay, and I had no need to intervene.... I’d better check with the others, though, just to be sure.” The hologram before him shifted to become a Control Panel, which the figure began to tap at as he input a short command prompt. “This is Alpha-Romeo to Alpha-Tango, requesting a Progress Report,” the figure declared as the Control Panel gave a distinctive ringing, attempting to connect with his intended recipient. The figure--”Alpha-Romeo”--was growing impatient as the dial tone continued on for a good thirty seconds or so, until…

 

*Bee-BEE-BEEP! We’re sorry, you have reach a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this recording in error, please check the number and try your call again.*

 

“... dafuq?” Alpha-Romeo blinked in confusion after hearing that recording. “Why the--ugh, screw it, I’ll just call the other one.” He tapped at the Panel again to attempt another call: “Alpha-Delta, this is Alpha-Romeo, I need you to respond IMMEDIATELY.” Again the Panel rang, trying to connect the call, and again, after 34 seconds--during which Alpha-Romeo grew more frustrated and concerned--he received the same Error Recording as before. “What the--DAMMIT, I don’t have time for you two to be pulling this bullshi--huh?” Alpha-Romeo cut himself off upon noticing the Mail icon (with a small “2” beside it) flashing in the upper-righthand corner of the Panel. Somehow, the sight of it filled him with a sense of impending dread, enough to make him hesitate for a second or two before tapping the icon, opening up a new window on the Control Panel.

 

In this new window--the Mailbox--flashed two new messages: one titled “To Those It May Concern” and the other, in bold capital letters, titled “URGENT. READ ASAP.”. Both were listed as audio files. His feeling of dread intensifying, Alpha-Romeo opted to open the former of the two messages, which began to play automatically:

 

“This message is from Alpha-Delta, calling out to Alpha-Romeo and/or Alpha-Tango. If either of you receive this, it means that one or both of you still exist… which is more than I can say for myself.

 

 

♫”Final Archive”♫ (The End (Extended) - What Remains of Edith Finch)

 

“The current Alister Azimuth has made his way through the Pathway of Death, more specifically through the dark corridor in which I had integrated myself into the “Trial” he was to undertake--I had adjusted the form of my mecha to play on his then most recent… dilemma… I kinda regret having to take it that far… and yet I had to take it even further when it became apparent that his “past selves” were starting to have a negative influence on him, their own grief, anger and frustration compounding with his own. I had to set them all straight, keep them all under control, for his benefit. And, for the most part, it worked; he was able to go through my Trial with a clearer head and come out of it a somewhat better person. Just hope the lessons stick this time around….

 

“Anyway… (audible, weary sigh) … I did all I could for him. At the time he had finished my Trial, he had no idea that Ratchet and Red were still alive, and together. I had to keep that fact a secret for the time being--actually felt it would make for a good surprise, and another possible lesson. He’s… making good progress, and… well, all I can do is wish him the best of luck, and you two as well, if you're still around. I’m afraid this marks my end in this story, so I’m putting my trust in the two of you, in the hopes that Alister can reach the end as his best possible self--the Timelines, and the Multiverse, depend on it after all.

 

“Good luck… and goodbye….”

 

 

… despite being a synthetic being, Alpha-Romeo could not help but feel a bit emotional, a knot in his throat as his eyes started to water, saddened by what was clearly Alpha-Delta’s final farewell. He held it together, however, as he proceeded to open the remaining audio file, which had an ominously grainy quality to it for some reason:

 

“This is Alpha-Tango, calling out to Alpha-Romeo. I… I had received Alpha-Delta’s message some time ago, and while his existence coming to an end was… a shock… I was satisfied to know that he at least succeeded in his assignment before then. As for myself, I… I had hoped that there would have been no need for me to intervene, and yet… my hand was forced:

 

“A dark entity that existed inside of Red’s heart--a representation of a being known as Adrastos--had somehow wormed its way into Alister’s Soul Room, and caused a mighty fine mess during its brief “visit”; it had corrupted many of the recordings residing within the pocket watch, most of all the one known as “Moony”, and had proceeded to hijack his intended Trial within the Pathway of Truth’s “Mirror World”. There was a real possibility that Adrastos would have killed Alister, or even corrupted him, too, had I not intervened… I had no other choice but to isolate and Rewind Adrastos’ influence out of the Soul Room, to minimize the overall damage that had been done. It… it took all I had to do so, so I’m afraid I, too, will no longer be… … but it was worth it, to allow Alister to proceed onward, and with a better understanding of himself….

 

“……that being said, I had realized that you may still be active, or at least existent--I’m guessing something happened that kept you from interacting with him… … … lazy funk." Alpha-Romeo couldn’t hold back an embarrassed chuckle at this. "…but if you’re active now, and still in the Pathway of Remembrance… then both you and it don’t have much time left.”

 

♫”Impending Collapse”♫ (“Just Monika”/Doki Doki Literature Club OST)

 

Alpha-Romeo’s eyes went wide with shock at this revelation. “The Pathways have begun to collapse--a result of Isamy’s attempt to hasten the progress of those traversing them,” Alpha-Tango’s recording continued, a bit more urgency in his tone. “It seems that the Pathways are being dismantled in “reverse chronological order”, meaning that the future (Death) would collapse first, followed by the present (Truth), and finally, your Pathway, Remembrance, representing the past. Hopefully by the time you receive this message there is still time; we Replicas may be fixtures installed into our respective Pathways, meaning that we’re unable to physically leave them, but that doesn’t mean that we (or rather, you, at this point) can’t help anyone still roaming through them--”

 

Alpha-Romeo hastily paused the recording, swearing that he could’ve heard what sounded like a murmur coming from the distance. Focusing a bit more, his ears also picked up on a faint ticking… it couldn’t’ve been the ticking coming from his Pocket Watch Heart, he mentally noted. Still on edge, Alpha-Romeo pressed PLAY on the Panel to continue the recording: “If you happen to come across anyone still travelling along the Pathway of Remembrance, escort them along to the exit before the Pathway collapses, and use whatever means necessary if you have to. Also, be aware that there may be those who may attack you and/or those you are escorting; feel free to dispose of them. As I said, you won’t have much time left, so there’s no need to worry about holding anything back--”

 

The fur on the back of Alpha-Romeo’s neck stood up as the sounds from before--the murmuring and the ticking--were starting to grow louder. Not even bothering to pause the recording this time, Alpha-Romeo sharply turned on his heel to glance behind himself, and what he saw nearly made his eyes bug out of his head: a black void was gradually encroaching upon him, the trees vanishing with barely a sound as they were swallowed by the nothingness. This must be it--the collapse of the Pathway. And though Alpha-Romeo was a synthetic construct, a single, primal thought flashed through his mind:

 

RUN.

 

Wasting no further time, Alpha-Romeo engaged his hoverboots as he made his frantic escape, weaving through the trees as he desperately tried to put as much distance between himself and the all-consuming void. All the while, Alpha-Tango’s message continued playing on in his ear:

 

“... our goal may be to ensure that Alister reaches the end and sets things right this time, but it will mean nothing if anyone is left behind. They all deserve to reach the end…

 

… to be able to remember everything that happened…

 

… to understand the truth…

 

… and to be able forge the futures that they, and all those after them, deserve….

 

… or this will all truly be for nothing….”

 

---

 

To Be Continued…

[Merci]

---

The Forgotten Forest 

---

 

WE RECALL THE AWAKENING OF HOLLOW ISAMY.

 

From the center of the lake, her figure towered over everything in sight, while her three Heralds of Order executed her will. In this snowing environment that was as hostile as it was cold, the many characters were up against impossible odds.

 

Some couldn't help but wonder, ‘will we live?’

 

Some couldn't help but wonder, ‘is victory even possible?’

 

Some couldn't help but wonder, ‘did we come all this way for nothing?’

 

However,

all this time,

each and every one of them had been waiting for something.

Each and every one came all this way, after all this time, and now it was finally, truly within their grasp.

Somewhere,

deep within their hearts,

a song plays.

 

---

 

[spoiler=Forgotten Forest Map]

 

 

[Dad]

Shallow

 

A flame ignited in the combatant's hearts as Hollow Isamy unleashed her attack.  They repelled the blast by redirecting it into itself, causing the lime green beam to cancel with itself and vanish.  The ensemble of Dorian, Butlerok, and Rhadmanthys summoned a powerful holy and spiritual flame which tore across the frozen lake and charged towards Isamy.  But the attack was blocked as one of Hollow Isamy's Heralds of Order made themselves known.  Having accepted Isamy's condition, the mighty "mage", Jace, became consumed by Isamy's power.  Now a servant of her will, he fought at her side and repelled Team Dorian's attack.  However, Team Dorian were not the only ones in possession of a great flame attack.

 

All around Hollow Isamy, a fire began to spread, even in the very lake itself.  The spirits of the dead which emerged at Hollow Isamy's call began to burn.  The witch, Lydia, became enraged at the sight of her loved ones being used against her.  Their spirits erupted into fire as the witch's power encircled her and destroyed those living memories which moved around her.  She reduced everything to ash and stood angrily in the midst of her own destruction. 

 

Darcy too possessed great firepower, firing a burst of dark flames out of both of her hands at Hollow Isamy.  A chained Byakuya whipped forward and intercepted the first ring of fire which targeted Hollow Isamy's head.  With a swipe of the Soul Reaper's blade, the ring of dark flames vanished into nothingness as if it had never appeared.  The second ring of flames found their mark, as they singed against the middle torso of Hollow Isamy.  The very bottom of the ring which made a whole in Isamy's chest was scorched with fire.  The monster shrieked in agony, raising its monstrous hands to the sky as it cried out.  It's wails stopped for but a brief moment as Byakuya retreated back atop Hollow Isamy's head.

 

Hollow Isamy bellowed over her enemies, outraged.  "Pity!  Pain!  Fear!" moaned Byakuya  "Do not fear!" the broken Soul Reaper exclaimed.  Hollow Isamy lowered its hands and brought them to its chest once more just as the King of Demons--formerly Kazuya--attempted to sabotage everything.  The lake around Hollow Isamy began to turn into burning lava, creeping from the outer surface of the lake's ice slowly towards the center.  Hollow Isamy cupped its hands and turned them toward the lake as lime green light once again appeared on its chest.  A deep humming rang out and Hollow Isamy fired the green laser in an arc down at the frozen lake in a sweeping formation.

 

The resulting impact caused the lake to rise as it was turned to lava and encroached upon Hollow Isamy.  The lava plume burst upwards but was not heavy enough to fall toward Hollow Isamy after its attack.  The momentum and force of the monster's attack pushed Bel's attack backward, causing a wave of fire and magma to swim towards Bel, engulfing everything beneath it from D1 to E3.

 

This however made Hollow Isamy turn her back.  And as she did so, the nameless girl pierced Isamy's flesh with six spirit empowered holy spears.  Being the large monster that she was, Hollow Isamy could not avoid the attack.  The spears exploded in the Hollow's back, its body twisting open in a sickening fashion as a new hole emerged in its flesh.  Hollow Isamy stumbled but stood still.  It turned to face that girl, raising but one hand this time as its chest glowed again.  This time the color red grew from its chest, and a higher pitched humming warned the Nameless Girl.  A much thinner, much faster red beam penetrated the Nameless Girl and stunned her where she stood.  While the girl's flesh was unharmed, her mind had become invaded by memories that she once thought to be buried in her subconscious.

 

Forced to now relive the things which haunted her mind, the Nameless Girl could only struggle as Hollow Isamy fed on her worst memories.  As Hollow Isamy did so, the seared and destroyed flesh over its body began to stitch itself in a slow, creeping web-like fashion.  

 

---

 

Apep returned to Isamy, having attempted to assassinate Hollow Isamy's enemies.  The bound Byakuya pointed its blade down at the paralyzed Nameless Girl and commanded Apep forward.  "Free!  Free!  Be free!  Save them from pain!" Byakuya moaned.

 

The girl's memories filled Hollow Isamy's mind, allowing the darkest, and worst parts of Nanashi's mind to be replicated inside of her own head.  She did not fear death.  Thus, a quick, painless end to her existence would be satisfactory.  Apep's speed was most suited for this assignment.  For just another hanging moment, the Nameless Girl would remain paralyzed and vulnerable to death.  

[Kingdom Xathers]

“... “Warms your heart to see us together”?” Bayonetta calmly scoffed after hearing Isamy’s personalized appeal made to her. “Did I hear that correctly? Because if that were the case, then you would not have separated the two of us to begin with. But I suppose you feel that that incident should be all water under the bridge now that Jeanne and I have been reunited, right~? Even though said incident resulted in our world getting leveled by a raging Goddess of Paradiso, and had Jeanne risk her life--and LOSE it, even if momentarily--in the hopes of getting me back--

 

“--and I would do it again many times over,” Jeanne declared with a fierce stomp of her heel as she stepped forward, “even if my body were to perish completely, for I know that Cereza would do the same for me. That is how far we are willing to go to preserve what we cherish the most in our lives. But to use something like the Door to achieve the same thing and more without sacrifice? That’s an insult if you ask me; never would I allow myself to take the easy way out of any dilemma.”

 

“The same goes for myself--the only “surefire solution” I will take is one that I myself can bring about. And yet you’re willing to do the same thing that Ba--er, that Aesir attempted to do with Jubileus and the Eyes of the World,” Bayonetta continued, stumbling upon a certain name before verbally backspacing, “attempting to reshaping the Multiverse to fit your desires using a power that a little girl like yourself does not fully understand, nor has any busy toying with. Not to mention, you were willing to tear people away from their loved ones to accomplish that goal, as well.”

 

“So, for you to ask me, or anyone else for that matter, not to blame you for what we’ve been put through,” Jeanne added with a furious sneer, “I’d say you either have a lot of nerve or little-to-no goddamned sense. Flattering and appealing to us in a way you think will coerce us to your side will only worsen the beating you so rightfully deserve!”

 

“In summary, Jeanne and I refuse your offer,” Bayonetta concluded with some finality.

 

“And if you’re not down with that,” Jeanne chimed in, “I’ve got three words for you:

 

“KISS!”

 

“MY!!”

 

“LIPS!!!”

 

Bayonetta and the rest of Team Lombax recoiled in shock at the rather vulgar gesture Jeanne had made in Isamy’s direction with her pelvis. A gesture that was not unlike one made popular by a certain wrestling duo.

 

“... Degeneration X would’ve been proud of that one, Jeanne,” Gabriel lightly chuckled once he and the others had recovered from the shock. “... Isamy, you and I may share a common background,” Gabriel spoke up, brushing the mane of his Lion Mask aside so as to better show his focused, determined stare directed towards Isamy, “but I’m afraid you and I have chosen much different paths; You may think yourself a “hero” for wanting to help the Multiverse, and yet you made yourself the villain the moment your search for the Key to the Door of Origin caused the unraveling and subsequent destruction of all the worlds you stole from. You stole many artifacts, and kidnapped many living beings--myself and Cereza included--all for the sake of finding something--ANYTHING--to use as the Key. Your intentions may seem pure, and for all we know your heart may be in the right place, but given your overall actions--which were by no means “heroic”--I can’t say the same for your head. Such a mentality should never be allowed to decide the fates of all who exist in the Multiverse! I dare say that you’re as much of a threat to the Multiverse as the Leviathan, because you have no way of knowing that accomplishing your goal won’t have dire consequences for the Multiverse! Suffice to say, I’d rather that NEITHER of you cause any more problems for my world, or any other world for that matter, regardless of your motives or intentions. I was born--created--to oppose threats such as you, who would disrupt the balance of my world, and the Multiverse as well, and though I may not possess all my power yet, I will put my all into helping stop the machinations of both the Leviathan AND you.”

 

Gabriel recoiled as a deep, menacing chuckle echoed throughout the chamber, the source being the shadowy silhouette of the Leviathan’s skull hovering above everyone else. “How precious, Rubedo, that you believe you’ve enough power to even attempt such a feat against one of us. You could not succeed eons ago, and you will not succeed now, so cease pursuing such a lofty ideal, child. Speaking of, it is quite childish of you, Isamy, to believe that I’ve any interest in something as trivial and ephemeral as “happiness”. The only thing I seek in the Multiverse is its absolute destruction, and that of all life within it. And childish, still, for you to believe that I can be coerced to anyone’s side; the only side I choose, that I will EVER choose, is MINE--!

 

“How’s about you keep your damned mouth shut, you funker?!” Atsuko cut in, visibly annoyed by the Leviathan’s theatrics (did it get them from “Sayer”, or was it the other way around, perhaps…?) “Is that too much to ask?” To everyone’s shock and/or amusement, the Leviathan actually did shut its damned mouth (the funker!!), even if for the moment. “No? Good. Now shut your face.” With that, Atsuko turned her attention--and frustrations--to Isamy. “I honestly cannot believe you tried to compare the two of us as “sisters”--I swear I almost threw up a bit in my mouth. You and I are the furthest things possible from being anything remotely resembling “family”. I mean, yeah, it’s not like I’ve got the best or the most close-knit family in existence, I’ll admit, but nonetheless I love my mothers and sisters no matter what, and I can tell you for certain that you’re wrong about my mother Itsu. Yeah, she may have failed me by not being able to prevent Archetype Earth from giving me her “gift”, but I would not have gotten this far in this life without her guidance, and that of the Neighborhood Watch. It is for them that I, too, will put my all into stopping you, Isamy,” Atsuko affirmed, her mutated arm placed over her chest. “My mother may not be physically here to finish this fight, but… she’s right here, still, in my heart, and here is where she will be as I finish this, for her sake and all those who have ever known her, as either their family, their goddess, or their friend. And the same goes for you, Leviathan, but also for another reason; you and your precious Archetype Earth ruined the world that Gabriel and I call “home”, and I’ll see to it that you pay dearly for it, even if I have to use this “gift” bestowed upon me by Archetype Earth to do so.”

 

“Y’know, Isamy,” began Ratchet, “you wouldn’t be the first to propose a “good deal” to me, and you won’t be the first, OR last, that I’ll reject; even when the chance to reunite with the rest of my species was presented to me--TWICE--I turned it down knowing that accepting it would’ve brought more harm to my universe than any personal good it would have done for me. And yet you wanna offer all of us a chance to have a “happy ending”, when you’re the one who caused this mess to begin with?! You screwing around with our worlds resulted in them getting screwed to high heaven! And that’s not the only thing, either--it gave people like Sayer an excuse to further toy with the many lives residing in those worlds. Because of you AND him, Talwyn… she and everyone else that was left behind are GONE now! I don’t care how much of a “HERO” you claim to be in this whole funked-up story you orchestrated! I--” Ratchet suddenly paused, taking a brief moment to glance in Alister’s direction. He chose his next words as carefully as his frustration would allow: “I’d rather not be given a free pass, Isamy. I’d rather that myself and my friends work towards creating a better future for our world, and for my species if possible. No shortcuts, and no deals. So no thanks, Isamy.”

 

Alexander looked as if he was going to join in next, but something else caught his attention--namely, Alister’s deathly silence and thousand-yard stare. The general looked as if he had his world view shattered, but why and how…? “... someone cover for me, ‘k?” Alexander asked the others as he strode over to check on Alister.

 

“We gotcha, Alex,” Umbris nodded to his friend before turning his attention toward Isamy. “Seeing as I’ll be speaking on Alexander’s behalf, lemme just start by saying: You are one STUPID funking jabroni! (“His words, not mine!” Alexander interjected off-screen.) You say you wish to rid our realities of the injustices, tragedies and hardships that have plagued all of our lives, yet you’ve ended up causing MUCH worse! Don’t you see that your pursuit of “everyone’s “Happily Ever After”” came at the cost of causing misery and suffering for those that are still even ALIVE after your stunt?! Clearly you don’t, ‘cuz otherwise you’d be working towards fixing the mess you caused, but NOPE, that’s what we’re all here for, isn’t it?--to clean it up for you!” Umbris heaved a sigh, taking a moment’s pause to ease his frustration. “Honestly, this is almost the same thing we went through with Arturia and her attempt to destroy the Key--you both were trying to do what you felt was “best” for the Multiverse… but you’re wrong. You’re still ultimately looking to take away our choice--and free will--to decide our own futures, our own histories even! We ourselves deserve to write our own stories, not have them be written for us by someone else--” Umbris suddenly stopped as he spent the next three seconds clearing his throat, almost as if he were in the middle of hacking up a furball. “S-sorry about that,” Umbris apologized to no one in particular for his sudden, unexplained coughing fit. “Fact is, Alexander has already made up his mind; he doesn’t want his past or future tampered with, or anyone else’s for that matter. We are fine with leaving alone the tragedies and other bad moments we’ve experienced, for they were what made us who we are today, not just the good. They taught us how to keep moving forward, through all the pain and suffering, especially of what we’ve had to experience here. In fact, I think it’s only fair to actually thank you for ultimately causing us to be here, for we’ve all grown a lot more from this experience, myself and Alexander included. That said, that’s all the thanks you’re getting from either of us. You’re right about one thing; I, and the rest of the Duel Monsters with him, will follow Alexander on this path he’s on, as we have done before and will do long after this. And right now, that path is leading towards your defeat!”

 

Red considered his next words before taking his turn, drumming his fingers on his staff as he looked down at the ground. “A happily ever after sounds tempting, truly tempting. A far more fitting end than what my world would have suffered if not for your meddling. But I cannot accept an end like that, not like this. I wanted to save my world less for saving it, and more for trying to prove that I was a “good guy”, just like what you’re doing Isamy. You believe, as I had, that some ends justify the means of doing so, but what kind of cost is it to damn countless worlds just to prove a point? Where does it end girl?! Will you be satisfied once all of reality has its “happily ever after”? Or will that not be enough once everything unravels? Happiness cannot last, it is truly impossible. You may create a quick fix, but in the end everything will end up the same once misery, despair, and all the other negatives reappear once more as entropy and decay are inevitable. And then will you do it all again? Make all of reality have its happily ever after again? Can’t you see it’s just an endless wheel? Your fate would be always turning, but never moving forward. You’d be just as trapped as you always were in your fanciful ideas because they aren’t feasible. You can’t make everything work out for the best, believe me I know that far more than I care to admit. So why not try and put your trust in everyone to make their own happily ever after? Some may not get it, but that’s just how things are. Throwing a tantrum and trying to force it to happen won’t make anything better; since as of right now it’s made everything far worse than it had ever been. You’ve wrought incalculable damages in your selfish quest girl, although my world would have ended up the same no matter what happened. I cannot carry the same anger as the others because of that, so I can at least thank you for this journey I’ve taken with you that has allowed me to see the light on how I was behaving, and how wrong my thoughts were and how selfish my actions had been. It has also allowed me to make some true friends from across the world….” The dragon paused as he glanced over at Alister. “And perhaps so much more…. I thank you for allowing me the chance to experience true companionship again, but I simply cannot accept your offer out of principle.”

 

… … …

 

… … …

 

“... Alex, is Alister okay…?” a concerned Red asked, somewhat put off by the lack of the General’s voice, much less his input.

 

The rest of the group turned towards Alexander, who had his hands gently cupped around Alister’s face. “... something’s wrong. Very wrong,” Alexander quietly uttered, a terrified look on his face as he continued to focus on Alister’s, whose eyes were wide and trembling violently. Eyes that would have looked absolutely horrified if not for the relative lack of any emotion. “He hasn’t responded in any way since Isamy spoke to all of us. Whatever happened… whatever she told him… but I can’t reach him to find out what…!”

 

“Did you try reading him?” Umbris suggested as he rushed over to the lombaxes’ side, placing a hand upon Alister’s forehead as he attempted to delve into Alister’s thoughts. He almost immediately regretted doing so as he sharply recoiled with a loud yelp, his mind briefly overwhelmed by a cacophonic disturbance rattling within Alister’s head. “What the fu--?!”

 

“That’s why I couldn’t reach him,” Alexander explained fearfully. “Whatever happened, it’s also thrown the Altisters into despair, too!”

 

“What…?” Red uttered just as fearfully as he, too, approached Alister, craning his neck down to study the general’s Thousand-Yard Stare. His look of concern soon snapped into a furious scowl as he whipped his head around to glare at Isamy. “What did you do to him, you WITCH?!”

 

“Er-hem…!” Bayonetta and Jeanne coughed off-screen.

 

“What! Oh, fine, sorry,” Red conceded to the Umbra Witches before correcting himself: “What did you do to him, you jabroni?!”

 

Team Lombax didn’t get to receive the answer to Red’s demand, however, as a black “substance” suddenly erupted from Isamy’s deteriorating form, threatening to swallow everyone in the vicinity with its rapidly expanding mass. Acting on the first thought to come to him, Umbris extended his cape to latch onto and drag Ratchet and Clank over towards the small huddle of himself, Alex, Red and the still-comatose Alister, whilst Bayonetta and Jeanne did their best to stay together with Gabriel and Atsuko as the Origin engulfed the area….

 

---

 

… … … …

 

… … … …

 

… … … …

 

As soon as they could all see clearly again, Team Lombax found themselves within a snow-covered forest--

 

“Oh, funk me, are we back in Remembrance Path AGAIN?!” Gabriel blurted out before the writer could finish the paragraph describing the area they were now in.

 

“Calm thy nips, Gabe,” Jeanne chided Gabriel with a firm slap to the back of his head. “I’ve a feeling that this is far different from Remembrance Path--Atsuko and I had already been through it just moments ago, remember?”

 

“Yeah, this does feel very different, actually,” Atsuko agreed as she, Gabriel, Jeanne and Bayonetta glanced around them, taking note of the lake in the center, as well as a few towers scattered about. In the skies above, they could also see what had become of Isamy and the few that had accepted her offer. “... we should locate a better vantage point, one that’ll let us better formulate a plan.”

 

“Clever girl,” Bayonetta chimed as she nodded in agreement. “I’m sure it’ll also help us figure out what’s happened to Alister… where are he and the others, anyway?”

 

A sharp whistle directed their attention to the tower nearest to their location (in E2); waving at them from the bottom-most window were Ratchet and Clank. “Seems they got a head start on us.” Gabriel mused aloud, before noting various “zombies” shambling about. “I dunno about you guys, but I think this is an even greater incentive to hide.”

 

"UNLESS YOU'RE A PLANESWALKER, DO NOT MELEE THESE THINGS!"

 

Although she and Bayonetta were prepared to disregard Gabriel’s suggestion and fend off these creatures, Jeanne let out a muffled, frustrated growl as she began to have second thoughts. “Perhaps that would be wise for now,” Bayonetta replied, having come to the same conclusion. “Gather ourselves and plan first, then attack.”

 

With that, Gabriel and the Umbra Witches hurried towards the tower, with Atsuko and her wheelchair being carried in the palm of Madama Butterfly’s hand.

 

---

Tower Hideout - E2

---

 

They were greeted inside by the rest of their group, sans Alister who was currently laid out on a tarp in the middle of the floor, his widened eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. “Have you guys figured anything out, yet?” Gabriel inquired in regards to Alister.

 

“Not yet,” Red replied as he hopped into view onto Ratchet’s shoulder, having shrunk himself down in order to fit inside the tower. “We’ve tried a number of methods to rouse him from his stupor, but… he’s really trapped in his own mind… there is one other option that I’m aware of, but as far as I know, it’ll take some time.”

 

“Y’mean travel into his Soul Room, right?” Gabriel acknowledge.

 

“That’s right,” Alexander replied solemnly, using the power of his cards to try and fortify the tower from any external threats. “It could be VERY difficult, given his apparent mental state, and as such it could take quite a while to even bring him out of it. But… there’s very little choice at this point,” he added as he glanced out one of the tower’s windows, seeing Isamy’s current form residing in the skies above. “While we’re inside Alister’s Soul Room, someone has to make sure that our physical selves don’t get attacked or hurt in any way.”

 

“Wait, “our”?” Gabriel blurted. “How many of you--?”

 

“Alexander and I, of course,” Red declared. “I mean, Alister did it for the both of us, so really we owe him one. Myself, especially….”

 

“... I’m coming, too,” Ratchet declared, having Alex and Red taken somewhat aback. “I know I don’t exactly have experience in what you guys are about to do, but… I can’t just do nothing for Alister.”

 

Alex and Red glanced at each other, unsure how best to respond to this. “We can’t exactly say “no” to him, can we?” Alexander spoke first, uncertainty evident in his voice.

 

“I say we let him,” Red urged. “Ratchet has the right to help out one whom he considers family, and right now Alister desperately needs all the help he can get. Besides, Ratchet’s got at least you to show him how this “Fantastic Journey” thing goes--I’m still relatively new to this myself.”

 

Alexander sighed wearily. “Well, I’ve no reason to object to this. Still,” he continued as he glanced at the rest of the group, “we’re gonna need at least one or two of you to stand guard and/or reinforce the tower.”

 

“Well, you’re using your cards to do so right now, right?” Gabriel spoke up. “Then perhaps Atsuko and I could hold the fort here while--”

 

“I-I don’t think me staying here would be the best idea, Gabe,” Atsuko stammered, her normal hand held to her forehead. “I can sense that You-Know-Who is on the move… and he’s partly active.”

 

“Wait, you can sense--?!” Gabriel gasped, stopping himself short as a realization dawned on him. “... you’re saying that… the Leviathan might try and seek you out, too.”

 

Atsuko nodded solemnly. “It won’t do Alex and the others any good if he tries to seek me out, so I think it’d be best if I go with Jeanne and Bayonetta.” She glanced over at the Umbra Witches, who nodded to her in understanding.

 

“Then I’ll stay here with Gabe,” Umbris suggested. “The two of us can split the responsibility of reinforcing the tower.”

 

“Mr. Zurkon will assist, as well,” a synthetic voice broke in, followed by the Z-Wrench morphing into Zurkon Mode. “What? Have you all forgotten about Mr. Zurkon already? That is insulting to Mr. Zurkon.”

 

“No, we didn’t forget, Zurkon,” Alexander defended, though quickly snuck a nasty glance at the writer as he did. “But that’s great, you can patrol the perimeter of the Tower, give Umbris and Gabriel another set of eyes to work with. But just be cautious--those “zombies” out there will react to any act of aggression directed towards them, so don’t go guns blazing unless you absolutely have to, Zurkon. Please promise me that, for Alister’s sake.”

 

Mr. Zurkon made what would best be described as a pouty growl. “... fine, Mr. Zurkon will show restraint for the time being, for General Fuzzy’s sake.” With that, Mr. Zurkon flew out the window without another word, going straight to his patrolling duty.

 

“We may not be familiar with what you’re about to do, Alex,” Bayonetta said as she and Jeanne prepared to take Atsuko back out with them, “but I’ve a feeling that whatever’s responsible for Alister’s current state may give you a hell of a time. So, do be careful.”

 

“We’ll be sure to, Cereza, thank you,” Alexander nodded appreciatively. “You be careful out there, too, all of you.”

 

As soon as Atsuko and the Umbra Witches had left the tower, and Umbris and Gabriel took over reinforcing the tower, Alexander, Red, Ratchet and Clank began preparing for their rescue of Alister. The four of them positioned themselves by the General’s side, with their hands interlocked with one another--Red and Clank each holding one of Ratchet’s hands, while Clank’s other hand held Alexander’s--as they began to focus their minds. As soon as their focus grew strong enough, Alexander reached his free hand for Alister’s….

[The Warden]

The cold was nothing to Hapshiel; if anything it was naught but another blessing, making his nipples especially hard. Even more wonderful was that Hapshiel's blessed lovelies were present here, albeit post-mortem. They were nothing but puppets to the ugly construct, but, the angel couldn't help but feel relieved to see them, even like this. They lurched closer, seemingly desperate to tear him limb from limb. "I forgive you, my wonderful friends" Hapshiel said calmly, his wings extending outwards.

 

Spreading his arms, the angel unleashed his love and his peace in a glowing pink aura, halting the Souls of the Eldrazi in the zone of Love & Peace, their rage diminished into calmness, a zone of sanctuary spreading out into a 50 x 50 foot radius of F3, protecting all from the shambling zombies.

 

---

 

~~I chose this path~~

 

"I hate this."

 

Lydia stood, in the circle of incineration she had created, born from the chorus of her rage. But now, as memories were torn from her brain, all she could feel was a hollowness in her heart. "I hate this."

 

Falling to her knees, tears dripped from the jaws of her helmet; she shed them for her loved ones that she mercilessly incinerated. She burnt them, so she wouldn't have to look at them. She wouldn't have to face their death. She knew it, she just didn't want to face it. She had been keeping it together since Death, but this was too much.

 

 

Lydia's grip on Hopeless Black faltered, the blade falling to her side. And upon its hilt manifested the Soul Gem she had cherished, and slowly the teal was turning black. Do you see my point? Hope was always an illusion. You cannot get back what you've lost.

 

The Sorceress groaned as pain gripped her brain, pressure building in her mind, forcing her onto her hands and knees. You've lost everything. And soon you will lose your mind.

 

Whatever that voice was, it wasn't Avalon. In fact, that dragon's voice had been silenced for some time now; she couldn't even hear his snark. She could only hear the low moans as more shambling monstrosities resembling her loved ones were reborn from the souls the one called Jace still possessed. But now she couldn't even rekindle the rage. All she could feel was the ice and cold of the land around her. How could she have even thought of beating Isamy? It seemed possible, but now.... You've lost girl. Your hope is gone. Do you feel despair now? Do you feel angry? Do you want her to pay?

 

The Soul Gem engraving was halfway black now, and steadily rising to the top. Everything she had fought for felt like nothing now. Everyone was dead. There wasn't any coming back for them. And it was Isamy's fault. She was shoving the fact in her face. And in that hollow feeling... rage began to build again. If you desire revenge...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then why not take her hope away?

[Reinforce]

Apep

Location: C4

 

The demon looked down upon the girl she'd been directed to attack, decision made as the hilt by her right side fell out of it's sheath, a dragon of black flames forming out of it. On her other side, shadows condensed together to create another such dragon, this one comprised of darkness and shadow instead of icy cold fire. Vanishing from her position on top of Isamy in a bolt of lightning, she reappeared directly behind the girl, lightning-wreathed claws striking into her back to strike at the back of the neck and slip through the ribs to strike the heart simultaneously. Following her down, the two dragons charged for the girl from the front, shadows aiming for the head while the black fire went directly for the legs.

 

---

 

Darcy

Location: D6

 

Now glaring up at Byakuya, even as she noticed the flames had done something to Ameliorer, Darcy rose further up into the sky, until she could look down over most of the battlefield at once. Noticing the lava being thrown around and melting the frozen water, a somewhat nasty thought came to mind, and with a wave of one hand she caused the plume of lava to reverse directions and twist back at the bone amalgamation once more. With her other hand, she gestured upwards and caused the few dark flames still burning at the bottom of the hole to shoot up as a pillar of fire, burning towards the top of the hole and burn further up Ameliorer's body. With a cruel grin, seven copies of her appeared, splitting off from her even as she flew further around behind the monster's back, settling into position as one of the now eight images of her, each equal distances apart surrounding Amy. Sensing the mind connecting and picking information up from everyone's minds, Darcy locked her thoughts behind her mental shields, before projecting words to the front of her mind, outside the shield for the being she guessed was probably Jace to read.

 

I wasn't expecting one of Isamy's minions to have any sanity left, let alone be sane enough to read the minds of their opponents without simply trying to crush them instead. So why bother helping her anyway, you have to realize by now that it's not going to end well for you. Heck, it's already not gone well for you, if the surge of energy I felt when the landscape first changed had anything to do with it.

 

Ending Location: E5

 

---

 

Chandra

Location: F3

 

Still glaring up at the bone amalgamation, Chandra summoned three more of her Phoenixes with a wave of her hand, directing them to swoop around the top of the hollow, and try to locate the illusionist hiding somewhere around there. From her position, she pointed both hands towards Isamy's head, blasting a pure torrent of flames at the head and those on it, trying to burn away at the main enemy and flush out Jace in the same move.

 

"Show yourself Jace, fight me properly instead of staying hidden behind those illusions of yours, or are you going to run away from yet another fight."

 

[spoiler=tldr]~Apep strikes at Nameless Girl, aiming lightning wreathed claws to strike at the heart and the top of the spine, while the twin black dragons have appeared with her and are charging forward to attack Nanashi's head (Shadows) and her legs (Ice Flames).

~Darcy reversed the direction of the lava plume and used the remaining flames she'd gotten onto the boss before they could finish burning out to burst further into life and burn her more. She then threw up seven illusory copies of herself and blocked Jace out of her mind while sending him a telepathic message.

~Chandra summoned more phoenixes and sent them at Isamy's head, before following it up with a burst of fire and a taunt to try and flush Jace out of hiding.

 

[Tesability Black]

~???'s POV~

 

Resting upon the top from the flight, the figure narrowed eyes at another in the distance, the shimmer of metal evident in the light present in addition to the lack of a noticeable mind.

Whatever that was, it would be able to fight without recoil, a figure that did not settle well.

"That must---!" Whispered words cut off from under invisibility, eyes completely covered in light-blue light widened upon the sight of the lake itself turning more and more into lava, knowing that Isamy had no means to yet escape. Gripping the stone leaned forward against in both gloved and ungloved hand, resolve was made to deal with that issue first.

I wasn't expecting one of Isamy's minions to have any sanity left, let alone be sane enough to read the minds of their opponents without simply trying to crush them instead.

That stopped the flow of mana around the hands, dissipating them for a moment as the words were processed, due to their suddenness. The figure knew that the pyromancer had known about this, but for others...?
~No change in location~
So why bother helping her anyway, you have to realize by now that it's not going to end well for you. Heck, it's already not gone well for you, if the surge of energy I felt when the landscape first changed had anything to do with it.

Eyes closed and head leaned forward, focus was cast inward as vision was placed on the futures to come from this moment on, care taken to project none of them by mistake. While no one would be able tell which one would be the correct path, there was one detail that was clear.

Despite this setback, Isamy is still far more likely to emerge victorious. Those whom have become one with her will have the chance to directly influence how her goal will be achieved. She wishes not to erase the trials of life, but make life worth living in the end. Care will be taken when Origin is finally employed, despite the general belie---

"...I will join you, but I will not become a god. I do not trust myself with that kind of power."

"Even those who have shown to care naught but themselves will also be granted this "happy ending", though they clearly do not deserve it."

The projection of the last lines could not be stopped in time as they came to the forefront of the mind, eyes wincing further closed as a headache started to brew as ungloved hand was raised to carefully meet forehead, mind forcefully shut to reign them in and resulting in a loud 'bang' to echo in Darcy's head for a moment. But why?

What was happening? When were those lines uttered? Who uttered them?

Why do they even...matter...?

 

"Show yourself Jace, fight me properly instead of staying hidden behind those illusions of yours, or are you going to run away from yet another fight?" The familiar voice caused the glowing eyes open and look towards the source, towards the pyromancer in the nearby forest.

One question echoed in his mind, and the urge to ask could not be helped.

What is 'Jace'? Why put effort into seeking such?

There was no emotion in the projection, no mirth, no taunting or toying, only curiosity, like a child asking an innocent question. For the moment, the rest of the fight had been forgotten, curiosity now taking hold.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

Well now...

 

Before the blue-haired boy could actually start some conversation with the yellow man, it seemed that the monstrosity had used the lava that he was attempting to trap it in as weapon against him. Some of it were deflected by what seemingly looking a witch, but there were still a lot that were coming right towards him and his nearby area. Gritting his teeth, he summoned King Frost and in sync with the Tyrant demon, both of them activated Mabufudyne at once towards the advancing wall of lava. With the blood of Bel boosting his magic, he was able to at least handle the ones aimed at his area, cooling the magma wall into stone in almost a flash.

 

Without skipping a beat, the blue-haired boy jumped towards the top of the magma wall, and with the hollow monstrosity being in a clearer view, the boy fired up his COMP and summoned Ishtar once again. The black-haired goddess took a moment to look at him the moment she was summoned. Though she was seemingly at first elated about something, her expression soon turned neutral, acknowledging the boy's current situation from his single-mindedly determined expression.

 

Without being ordered, she compressed the energy from Venus once more and loaded it into her giant bow before firing her Anti-Mountain Noble Phantasm towards the hollow monstrosity. Her usual chatty and unserious self was nowhere to be seen as she did that. Was it because she realized what was at stake here? Or was it because of whatever happened with the boy? In silence, as the magnetite composing her body once again failing to maintain it after the Noble Phantasm, Ishtar disappeared without looking at the nameless boy again.

 

The boy himself didn't seem to mind it at all, and summoned Garuda again to lift him up towards the sky. Getting himself into a better position this way would do him a lot of good, wouldn't it?

 

---

 

"I can't find her at all...did she close off her third eye again?"

 

Searching for Koishi in the midst of the utter chaos that was the current battlefield felt like an impossibility, and Satori was even able to find any traces of her thought. Although, as she listened to Darcy, she relaxed somewhat, although not enough to get her mind off the thought of her sister's safety. It would make sense that Koishi would close her heart before Isamy could explore her insides, and the myriads of souls here might be too intimidating for her too.

 

Protected by the mental shield as Darcy projected her thought towards the Isamy servant that used to be Jace, Satori went to talk to the witch again.

 

"Do you think it would even work, communicating with one of this Isamy's minion? Although...hm...I will see how this develop. I might have an idea on what to do if this end up going south, Darcy.

It's just, it's not exactly going to be pleasant."

 

---

 

"Alright, a direct hit! Now I can continue my assault at that point and-"

 

It was at that moment that the nameless girl realized about her carelessness. As she drew her scarlet sword out of her body in preparation to jack into Isamy's pool, the hollow entity struck her with a red beam that was faster than what she was expecting from the entity's previous attack.

 

And at that moment, her mind went blank.

 

---

 

Lying alone in the middle of a field of nothingness, the nameless girl opened her eyes. The illusion she experienced from the Madara was still fresh on her thought, and while she had quite a few questions about it, it seemed that she wouldn't be able to reach any answers for it. However, at the exact moment that she fully regained her consciousness, one thought overran everything else in her mind. The whereabouts of her friend.

 

Forcing herself to get up no matter how sore her body was, the nameless girl went to search her friend. She wasn't on her mind anymore, so she must've gained a new body, wouldn't she? The naive, short-haired girl...the short time that she had been with her was truly pleasant. Even as a newborn entity, the nameless girl understood the joy of friendship all that well. After minutes of searching and not finding anything, she grew more and more panicked however. The thought of her friend perishing from Madara's final action filled her mind, but she refused to entertain the thought for long as she continued to search.

 

"Where are you?" She whispered, too drained after the long fight she had just went through. Her voice became more distressed for each minutes passing, a sense of desperation could be sensed from her barely audible voice.

 

"Where are you, Tenco?"

 

---

 

Frozen in mid-air as her mind was locked from the red beam earlier, the nameless girl were unable to react as Apep approached her. Without exerting much effort, the servant of Ameliorer managed to reappear behind the girl, and stabbed right near her spine, going straight for her heart. Blood trickled from the wound as the claw managed to hit the intended target. The dragons that Apep summoned then went on to munch on her head and legs, and the sound of bone cracking and a softer sound as her brain was being crushed could be heard for a moment.

 

Sorry for being late. Right now, guess "us" had decided that we'll follow your lead or something.

 

Lemme borrow your screentime for a bit, 'kay? It's for your own good, Nanashi. Well not like you can answer now anyway. But hey, I can claim that I asked first later!

 

Well, it's showtime.

 

It was then, as if a parasite had made its nest on her chest, Nanashi's chest opened, being pushed by a pair of hands. Without wasting any time, a female figure emerged from the corpse like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. In a blink, she twisted her body behind to grab a hold of Apep while her claw was still stuck on Nanashi's ribs, and with an unprecendented strength, the figure went on to attempt to slam the Isamy herald into the ground from the heights above.

 

Whether or not the figure managed to grab Apep all the way down, once the dust settled, she grabbed the Sword of Hisou from Nanashi's motionless body and used it to stab and absorb the body into the blade. She nodded a bit in acknowledgement to where the body used to be. Nanashi was the sword and the sword was her, after all. As long as either was alive, then she would be around. While she's stuck on her nightmare, the sword wouldn't be of much use though. The short-haired girl shook her head and let out a heavy sigh before her confident smirk returned as the ground around her broke apart.

 

BGM: ~ As Seen Through a Child's Mind -tomoya ver.-

 

 

"Damn, been ages since I feel like I'm doin' anything or stuff. Y'know, I might not be as strong as that other bluehead, but this fight sounds too fun for me to skip.

 

And hey! Bang, zoom! Whether you're a messiah or a goddess, I don't care a bit! If you want to renovate this multiverse thingy, then I'll renovate your ass first! 'Cuz I'm Tenshi, the top idol of all heavens, and the doomiest doom to ever doom you!"
 

The ground around her settled at that moment but soon the land would shake in a seemingly straight like before several large (5 meters or so) spikes emerged right underneath Hollow Isamy's position as short-hair Tenshi used her PK Ground. While she did realize her own weakness compared to Nanashi's, Tenshi didn't care. She's here because she wanted to help saving the world or something, and not even the threat of Isamy would stop her from also trying to have a good time along the way.

 

---

 

(Kazuya is in the skies of E3 now, Satori is still with Darcy, and this nth random bluehead should crash land somewhere in C3 and C4)

 

---

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Final Round:

Everything was getting pretty lively as all of the combatants started to take swings at the massive Hollow. Butlerok was seemingly making his way to the creature seemingly ignored which was good because he would like to save his energy for the important fights to come. However it seemed that inside his mental conversation of souls someone was being a tad nosey. 
 

If you value your existence, you will not make a meal of anyone among the opposition.

 

Unless, of course, you wish to be turned inside out in quite the literal and impossible way in addition to various other twisted events that care is being made not to envision.

 

The collective glare was felt throughout all of the being that was Butlerok. 

We kill him first! Ragnarok uttered as the other three souls nodded. 

Butler chuckled as he could not be so easily distracted by such insolence and baiting. 

It looks like we do not have to worry about that. Butler noticed as there was another fire user and the witch of the Divine already confronting the Herald. 

Besides I think we have arrived within striking distance of our target. 

High above the air Butlerok waved his zanpaktou and let loose a large wave of flames down onto the shoulder of the massive Hollow that Byakuya was on. Halflar Infla Garl!! He shouted as the wave of flames turned into missiles of massive size aimed at the corrupted shinigami and his master. 

Butlerok: D5 (Firing missles Down on Byakuya and Isamy)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

it seemed like there were other people already focusing on Dorian's target, but that was good. It was the witch of the Divine and it was another fire user. This could work. Dorian thought as he flew directly into the fray. 

Dorian immediately triggered the Seventh Sense allowing him to see things on the atomic level. This way he would not be susceptible to any more illusions. Luckily it seemed that the Herald was distracted by the the other two to not take proper notice of Dorian. He concentrated his cosmos and molded it to a flaming bow. He readied his arrow and fired straight at the true Jace. Blaze, blaze, and you know what? Blaze again! The arrow split into multiple arrows and then those arrows split into more arrows and then once more. A barrage of fire power was coming towards the Herald of Order.

 

Dorian: E5

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

While lazily flying around Rhadamanthys was prepared to engage with the massive Hollow of Isamy herself but he noticed something interesting happening close by. It seemed that one of her Heralds had ventured away from its master and engaged someone in combat. As the little blue haired combatant went plummeting to the ground the God of Death was not going to take notice of it till the spirited little one started shouting from the ground. 

 

"Damn, been ages since I feel like I'm doin' anything or stuff. Y'know, I might not be as strong as that other bluehead, but this fight sounds too fun for me to skip.

 

And hey! Bang, zoom! Whether you're a messiah or a goddess, I don't care a bit! If you want to renovate this multiverse thingy, then I'll renovate your ass first! 'Cuz I'm Tenshi, the top idol of all heavens, and the doomiest doom to ever doom you!"

 

Rhadamanthys couldn't help but chuckle and shrug. It was at that moment he seemingly speed blitzed over to above Apep and simply looked down at the Herald. 

So creature... this is what happens when you take her side. I'm not impressed. Do you retain thought? Can you speak? Do you even have a will? Hmph. Do you bleed? 

Rhadamanthys pointed his finger down towards the enemy and casually fired a cityscaping blast of energy straight at it. 

Rhadamanthys: C4

[Tesability Black]

~Neos's POV~

 

After the devil boy charged off, Neos sighed before looking up towards the sky, muttering "Arceus, help me" under his breath before turning towards the Planeswalker that arrived near his general direction while trying to burn the funk out of Isamy and whomever was near her.

 

"Show yourself Jace, fight me properly instead of staying hidden behind those illusions of yours, or are you going to run away from yet another fight."

 

"One: Remind me never to piss you off in a form weak to those blazes.
Two: You're telling a telepath that can communicate with someone on the other side of the plane to show himself," he stated in a deadpanned manner. "I'm not the bloke and even I know that's not happening." Still, sighing to himself, he raised a hand to his eyes, covering them for a moment before letting them down and allowing the blue glow to shine through his eyes. "I can see if that yellow-aura---wait, if he's over there, then what is that dude over there aiming at?" Eyes were focused, trained on a very different tower than another being fired one, gaze raised towards the top. As he stated this, Neos pointed towards one of the supposed allies in the fight, firing away some form of arrows at...nothing.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

~???'s POV~

~C6, flying low~

The figure growled as invisible eyes met with the faint blue glow through neon-green ones. A swift motion with the gloved hand was soon followed by the shapeshifter falling to his knees, a splitting headache building suddenly before lifting into the air and making haste to move elsewhere, using the gift of illusions to silence resulting movements.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Nero - Keyblade War Master / The X-Blade's Wielder ~ The Forgotten Forest

 

The triangle of the Nero's friends stared down the Keyblade Master, as he tried his best to figure out how to handle the situation. At the moment, he couldn't just go forth and attack these individuals. If melee was out of the question...then how?

 

"Your head in the clouds, Nero?" Master Hao's words cut through Nero's thoughts as he glanced back at his left. "This is truly sad. I thought I taught you to always be mindful of the battlefield and to never let-"

 

"Your mind wander." Nero finished his master's words, clenching his fists tightly. "It isn't wandering...just trying to formulate a plan."

 

"Well you better hurry up with one." Ryuusaki said, stepping forward towards Nero again. "Because, we're not waiting any longer."

 

Nero glanced at the situation surrounding him, seeing that they were all slightly starting to shift their bodies and even Keyblades in their hands. They were preparing to fight...and to strike with intents to kill. He began to grit his teeth as he was at a loss of what to do. How could he fight those he called his friends? Nero closed his eyes to think of something, hearing all three finally mobilizing. He squandered his chance...and he was going to be hit.

 

REFLEGA!!!

 

This voice... Nero's eyes shot open and saw that a Reflega barrier was performed and that Divine Remnant was summoned in his right hand. R-Remnant? he thought, only to hear the voice again.

 

Master, I know these three have been a part of our life for such a long time, but look at them. Remnant spoke, directing his attention to Ryuusaki, Oswald, and Hao. They...they have a look of bloodlust in their eyes. They may have the look of our allies...but they mean you harm. So please!

 

H-Heh...thanks Remnant. Nero thought, before summoning the X-Blade to his left hand and then having the Reflega shatter, pushing the three back. There was a fierce determination in his eyes now, as he saw them returning to their triangle formation. "Aeroga 2x..." he said, casting two sets of Aeroga on him to raise his defenses up.

 

"Huh, looks like he's finally ready to fight." Oswald said, hopping from side to side, smirking some. Without warning, the Lucky Rabbit hopped forward and tried to strike down at Nero. However, what he hit was just air before realizing Nero was gone. "W-What?!"

 

"Thundaga!" Nero shouted, having backed out away from the triangle formation, watching the thunder strike down on top of Oswald. "If melee won't work...then let's give it the ranged treatment." he smirked, before running away from the trio. They were both his allies and at the same time, they weren't. So he needed to make sure his fight with them didn't interfere with the one against Isamy. However, before he ran too far... "KRATOS! REVY!" Nero shouted, before casting Aeroga on them. "That'll help on defense!"

 

"Are you ignoring me?!" Ryuusaki shouted, following after Nero, trying his best to slash at the Keyblade Master who swiftly dodged.

 

"Wouldn't think of it, Ryuusaki." Nero flashed a smirk, before stopping a bit away from the Isamy fight. "Just thought this would be a better spot to continue." Right now, he had three of these golems to face. He needed to do this and face this trial before getting back to the battlefield and end this.

[Dad]

Fire and Fury

 

The enemy was enormous, making them an easy target.  Kratos was used to fighting enemies hundreds of times his size.  Having taken down Titans, gods, and all of their pets and their servants, Kratos did not fear Hollow Isamy.  As the lake erupted into flames around the Isamy, Kratos stared into the fire.  The glow sent him into reminiscence and he recalled his battle with Atlas.  Fire and molten rock had raged around him and Kratos still managed to not only face Atlas but to defeat him.  Kratos was the sole cause for Atlas being chained to the bottom of the world.  Isamy was just another giant with no purpose.

 

"Ready?" Revy asked from behind Kratos.  

 

Kratos held out a hand as if to keep Revy back.  She said nothing and only watched as Kratos raised his right fist.  His fist glowed and Kratos could feel the spirits of the dead around him drawing nearer.  As they got close Kratos ignited himself with a blazing blue fire.  He pushed the flames outward from his body like he was expelling a curse.  These flames rushed outward from his location and passed through the many spirits, causing them to stop and shudder.  Then Kratos called out to his brethren to summon them forth once more.

 

"Spartans!" as per his signature cry.  These spirits that only moments ago sought to kill Kratos with a touch, changed and reshaped themselves.  Taking the form of undead Spartan Warriors baring shields, bows, spears, and swords, three hundred undead marched to Kratos' side.  

 

Kratos summoned Apollo's bow in his right hand, the legendary magic artifact ignited with magical fire.  He drew back its empty string and each of his three hundred Spartan brothers did the same.  Kratos took aim and arched his bow to the air and aimed for Isamy and Byakuya.  As he loosened his hand from the bow, an arrow magically appeared at its end and launched itself far into the air, whistling as it soared through the air.  Three hundred more magically ignited arrows followed suit.

 

Revy scoffed, annoyed that she couldn't take part.  "Show off.  Watch this."

 

Revy focused her mind on a long range, high powered weapon.  A sniper rifle that she was familiar with.  Her formed pistol twisted and jerked before it began to stretch outward and narrow itself.  The stock bulked up just slightly, and the chamber was pushed back as a scope formed on the weapon.  "Barret .50 cal," Revy said as she lowered herself into the snow.  Kratos stared down at Revy, unfamiliar with her choice of weapon or its functions.  "Envision the bullet," Revy said aloud to herself.  She inhaled deeply as she heard a thunk in the barrel of her weapon.  As Revy took aim, she exhaled and pulled the trigger at the same time.

 

The bullet exploded from her chamber and changed shape mid-flight, into a metal beam.  The beam held its momentum and was headed straight for Isamy's head.

 

---

 

Madmen

 

Kenpachi's assault was negated and he fell back to the ground.  His aura melted the snow around him, but all Kenpachi could focus on was the annoying gnat in his head.  Something about losing his partner?

 

"Coward."

 

Was that a threat against Yachiru?

"Coward."

 

They wouldn't dare.

 

"Coward!" Kenpachi roared as he got to his feet.  "Don't make thinly veiled threats!  Fight me or stay out of my way!  Do you hear me!?" Kenpachi yelled to no one in particular.  "Face me!  If you'll pick on the girl but you won't fight me, you're a coward!  Face me so I can chop off your ugly funking head!" he demanded.  

 

Kenpachi's head turned back toward the lake when he saw Byakuya move out of the corner of his eye.  Kenpachi lowered his weapon just slightly as his eyes hovered over Byakuya.  Having now completely forgotten about a half-assed threat, Kenpachi's mind focused on his comrade.  A traitor in his own midst.  "What happened to your pride, Kuchiki?" Kenpachi wondered aloud.  He clenched his grip around his weapon as his reiatsu melted the snow around him.  "I'll free you from your binds so I can drag your soul to punishment."  

 

The monster that Byakuya was chained to found agony in fire attacks, but Kenpachi was not equipped to do that kind of damage.  He would have to get up close if he wanted to succeed.  Or would he?

 

Kenpachi marched to the end of the lake and gripped Nozarashi with two hands.  He held his Zanpaktou out in front of him at arm's length, just up to his chest.  Kenpachi focused his strength into his reiatsu and funneled the core of his strength into his upper body.  Raising Nozarashi above his head, Kenpachi slashed forward with a grunt.

 

An explosion of reiatsu echoed across the lake as a golden wave began to build and build, arching upward to Isamy's torso.  From Kenpachi's current place on the map, he had divided the lake in half with his swing, causing the water to burst outward and reveal its floor below.

 

---

 

Ending Locations

 

Kratos and Revy - D6

Kenpachi - D 5.5

Yachiru - D 7

[Phantom Roxas]

Previously…

 

[spoiler=Deciphering the Prophecy]

The Black Plains of Methuselah

 

There was a desolate wasteland of a world, lost so far in space that it ought to be impossible for anyone to ever reach. Astronomers who had observed it from over twelve-thousand light years away had estimated it to be thirteen billion years old －making it quite potentially the oldest, very first planet to form in the universe. They named it the ‘Genesis Planet’. However, even if anyone were to reach this place, what would be the point? There was no air, the ground would rupture spontaneously, acid droplets were raining from the sky due to the corrosive, inhospitable atmosphere, and the two stars it orbited made temperatures impossible to bear. And yet, positioned amidst this unholy chaos, this barrenness that welcomed no life, was a mountainous white temple, perfect in its supermassive design.

 

“Obviously Yliaster would keep her here. Obviously.” A man with silver hair muttered in annoyance. Protheus Maximus.

 

Four girls followed close behind him, Charmers capable of manipulating the four elements, struggling yet managing to maintain his body under these extremely ridiculous conditions. Each one appeared similar, yet with different-coloured hair; green, red, brown, and blue. The one with green hair had formed a sort of bubble around them all, a miniature whirlwind that acted as both a shield for Protheus and an oxygen source for the girls. The one with red hair deheated the temperatures and kept any existing lava away. The one with brown hair, who may have been less familiar than the others, suppressed all nearby ruptures, keeping the ground as still as possible. The last one was diverting the acid rain away. Could she be-

 

With a sigh, Protheus started climbing tall steps that vastly dwarfed those of the Crimson Tower. The end was far away.

 

The next few events went by in a blur, in a dream of a man lost in thought. When one has lived long enough, hours may feel like seconds, if not even less. It must have several hours at least, a week at most, but eventually Protheus reached the top, now standing on a platform suspended in a corrosive black sky, lit only by the stars further away.

 

“Man of Judgment.” A white-robed blonde woman, the Priestess of Yliaster, bowed her head towards him, the elements seeming to ignore her despite the destructiveness of this environment.

 

“Chardonnay.” He responded coldly. Behind him, the four girls were utterly exhausted, but they had no choice but to carry on maintaining his defenses. “This better be worth my time coming all this way. Get it over with.”

 

The priestess understood, knowing exactly what kind of man he was, and proceeded without further prompt. Her mouth moved, and the words that came out were far too powerful to have belonged to that feeble form of hers.

 

Within the theatre of living nigh

Raindrops pour to feel their sky

 

Nature extends to a superior strange

From distrust, despair, slumber, never change

 

The seconds stop at a broken heart

For a hero to find the will to restart

 

With one apology, Judgment may be no more

And in either wonder or home shall Death be drawn

 

Just as Protheus thought she had finished, Chardonnay continued. There was more?

 

When all the cards have fallen---

At that moment, the priestess found herself being cut off as a cold hand wrapped itself around her neck out nowhere, stopping her from proceeding. Despite the sheer importance of these words, none of it made any sense at first glance, and the man certainly couldn’t care less about something so vague. Rather, he felt insulted.

 

Holding her in place, he used his strength to lock her in her current position, with a disquiet frown. Blood started to drip from her skin, but the priestess herself seemed unbothered by this. Protheus pulled her closer towards him, getting a good look at the feeble body that had personally requested he come here. Was this the only reason he had gone through the trouble to enter this desolate land? “I thought it was something of paramount importance, and came all this way only to hear some drivel. What is this? Are you just wasting my time, hag?”

 

Chardonnay attempted to respond, but only a wheeze came out. Once he lightened his vice grip, she could answer at last; she placed a single hand on her neck, remedying the bruise.

 

“My apologies,” she calmly stated. “It was my assumption you would be familiar with the concept of prophecies.”

 

Protheus’s displeased attitude only grew at that. “Watch your tone. I tolerate you only due to the role you played against Nox - whether or not you’re Yliaster’s precious treasure, your life means nothing to me. Don’t think Itsu and her little program with the multiverse’s very own version of the Minutemen have changed that. Who would notice if you were to suddenly disappear?”

 

“A vigorous response, as expected from the Herald of Darkness. It is difficult to believe that you were once a young, innocent Egyptian girl, wishing only to be useful to others…” Regardless, the priestess remained bored and uncaring. “Oh how time wears away at a soul, and how dull it must be to be as ancient as you are. Now, you’re nothing but a sad man. Nothing but ‘Judgment’.”

 

Truly, this woman wasn’t hesitating to push his buttons. He got more annoyed with each word, to the point that he was just about ready to tear her head off, but hesitated as soon as he heard that last word. She said, Judgment. Although he hadn’t particularly been paying attention, wasn’t that a word that appeared in the prophecy? What was it?

 

“Judgment.” He muttered. “Judgment may be no more.”

 

“Yes. Do you finally get it?” Chardonnay sighed, crossing her arms at the sight of him.

 

“This prophecy...involves me somehow.” The Herald of Darkness realized. “This prophecy...foretells my Death. My end. That’s why you called me here, is it not, Chardonnay?!”

 

“I am afraid so.”

 

The Herald of Darkness lowered his pompous tone, taking a step back from her. However he was reacting, it wasn’t showing on the outside - it was impossible to tell how he was taking such news. Was there an ocean of inner turmoil within, boiling paranoia and rushing through every possible solution to survive? Or was he taking it coolly, as though this were something he’d been waiting for his entire existence, and decided he would calmly overcome it as he had everything else. Either way, he was clearly taking in this particular realization seriously.

 

“Hmmm… An amusing claim to make, Chardonnay. And a difficult one to believe, if what you’re implying is true. It’s so vague it could be applied to practically any remotely relevant situation in the future. I would almost think that you were making a death threat yourself, were it not for the fact that I know you.” Indeed, it was due to his prior experiences with her that he bothered to come all the way here, figuring that whatever she had to say may actually be important.

 

There was a time when he ended up possessed by an ancient shadow demon, and the one who freed him was none other than the priestess herself… with some help, that is. Back then, she proceeded to drag him into a conflict involving Itsu and their insane daughter Pandora as they faced the possibility of total oblivion. Saving him aside, she’d been an enigma for the entirety of that narrative - but never wrong. Never having a single selfish motive. Even by his standards, she creeped him out.

 

“I have told you two prophecies in the past, Judgment. Despite your blatant disregard at the time, both came true. I honestly don’t see why you still doubt me.”

 

“They could have been coincidences.” Protheus shrugged off, but the seer wouldn’t have it.

 

“When we landed on the surface on the Ringworld, do you remember what I told you then? I foretold that you would need to make a choice, between your ambition and your beloved Fool-” The man started to groan. “-and you know too well what happened. You brought your lab’s greatest creation, the Anti-Life Virus, in an attempt to eliminate your enemies. The Fool involved herself, and was infected. When she lay dying in your arms… rather than choose to keep the virus, you wiped it from existence to save her life.”

 

“Please. It wasn’t much of a sacrifice.” He attempted to retort. “The threat of the Anti-Life Virus was what kept the neighbouring defense organizations from interfering in my work. It’s true that getting rid of it put me under a bit of threat and pressure, but I am more than a force to be reckoned without it. Keeping that bloody Itsu alive was, quite frankly, the more beneficial choice.”

 

The seer narrowed her eyes. Knowing that wasn’t the truth. “When we entered Gakuen Academy, do you remember what I told you then? I foretold that you would need to work together with the Fool, and become ‘The World’-” There was nothing he could say to that. “Pandora absorbed the four gods and assumed ultimate power. She turned into something that threatened the very multiverse. To stop her, you and the Fool fused - and indeed became the World.”

 

“Hmph. It was a cheap excuse to become an all-powerful god. I merely wished to add her power onto mine and become the strongest there ever was. I admit, however, that I did not anticipate… the intimacy that was required to form Protsu. The impact it had on our consciousnesses. That was just embarrassing.”

 

Chardonnay wondered how long he could keep such a silly stance up, but didn’t pursue it. “Very well, if you say so. But regardless, both of my predictions came true. Did they not?”

 

Protheus Maximus had little to say to that. “...Fine, I’ll submit. You are somewhat credible, and if the Overlord Handbook has taught me anything...”

 

Then, he clicked his fingers. The Charmers behind him dematerialized, but by then they weren’t needed - his Terror Aura was blazing at full force to protect him from the elements. “In that case, assuming we take this prophecy seriously. Let us move onto the next issue. How do I survive?”

 

“...”

 

“Chardonnay.”

 

“...I cannot answer that. I’m only a relayer of information. I haven’t the faintest idea myself how.”

 

Protheus tilted his head, as if not having heard her. Shooting a glare at her, he was giving her an opportunity to provide a different, more satisfactory answer. “Come again?”

 

“I really have no idea how. All I can say is that this prophecy is set in stone - that it shall certainly happen within the future, and that it certainly involves you in some form. Your fate is sealed, Man of Judgment. It’s not a matter of why, but when.”

 

Protheus took a step back.

 

He let his emotions settle.

 

Silently, he deliberated on the meaning of current events, and on the meaning of her words, whilst reflecting on the past.

 

“Many millennia ago, the One Master brought me back to life. The idiot god had assigned me an impossible mission: destroying the entire multiverse. Needless to say, I was never very fond of it under his service. When the Paradox Wars came along and the whole multiverse was under threat by a madman, I saw my opportunity. I found DATEA and enlisted their help to kill the One Master, promising two things. First, to offer my utmost cooperation with their goals should they succeed, and second, to let them use its body as they please.”

 

He paused, reminiscing for a moment; “...that was the first time I saw the Key of Origin. One member, Alpha, was carrying it as I led several of them into hiS domain within the Shadow Realm. We stormed the Castle of Necrophades during hiS slumber, fended off an endless array of void creatures who knew exactly what we were going to do, and ultimately dropped the Key directly onto hiS very existence. For all the dark god’s power, He Who Sleeps In Shadows was no match for the key, which overwrote hiS being. The Battle of the Shadow Realm ended in our victory. For the Dreamers, it was a successful experiment. For me, it was FREEDOM at long last.”

 

The man took a deep breath, but cut it halfway. “Or so I thought. I always believed I had eliminated any purpose I might've had with that idiot's demise…”

 

Chardonnay tilted her head. “But now, it turns out you were not the one chosen to carry out hiS will.”

 

“What a disgusting thought.” His fists clenched.

 

“To the One Master, you were nothing more than entertainment. Judgment meant only one thing - that you would be the one to decide the true Herald. The one who would destroy everything. The prophecy speaks of the End of Darkness, and it seems that hiS demise has changed nothing…”

 

The priestess bowed her head.

 

“To select the Herald, and to fall so that they may rise… This may very well be your only purpose.”

 

Protheus Maximus, the so-called Herald of Darkness, stared up at the clouded sky.

 

Quite frankly, he hated any sort of association with the One Master. It was such a cliché to be serving a mysterious, greater power, and for so much of his life he had grown to despise the very idea of following another. And yet, he couldn't help but admit that some sense of pride came from being the one chosen. From being THE Herald of Darkness. Out of the billions and quadrillions of lives out there in the multiverse, it was he who was delegated with this ridiculously enormous duty of omnicide. And hence, he could only be shocked. And outraged. His massive ego simply struggled to comprehend him being anything other than the main event. No, rather, to think that his Death might've been set in stone from the very beginning to prepare for this ridiculous prophecy?

 

Protheus had lived so long that he couldn't comprehend it. He couldn't begin to comprehend it, coming to an end after having existed for so long. To end? To stop existing? What did that even mean? He had ended so many lives that he had happened to take his own for granted.

 

And yet. His Death…was inevitable?

 

No.

 

NO.

 

Absolutely NOT. There were ways around even this. Just like how he defied all the odds and changed his fate by murdering the One Master, he shall defy all the odds and change his fate by stopping this prophecy. There was no longer any reason to believe it wasn't true. It could even be inevitable. But that didn't matter… As It happened, there was a way around even that. He thought back to his past, to his time with the Dreamers as Omega - even though they'd ended, the groundwork they left behind for their grand goal was still there. The Pathway to Origin had always been a scary prospect, even for him, since to enter meant never to leave. Yet, if death was inevitable, then there was nothing else to say about it. He had multiple options to gain access to it; in fact, if the future was so inevitable, then he may be able to interfere if he played his cards right.

 

If this new Herald would inherit his own belongings, then he would keep Viligance close at his side and establish loyalty, so that when the time came, he could Void Include himself onto the knight and infiltrate future events. Ophelia would be programmed to strictly obey his directives, regardless of whatever she went through in the interval between now and then; if he could count on anyone, it would be her. It would take a little time to locate the Desert Seth, but it could most certainly be done. A plan was truly, truly, TRULY forming together, and his despair of death was gradually making way for hope. And the desperation to survive. Everything he'd gone through with Itsu, and with the Neighborhood Watch, meant nothing now. Nothing compared to the terror of death. Cycling through all of his options, before he even realized it, Protheus Maximus ultimately resolved to change his fate the only way he knew how.

 

By opening the Door of Origin, and rewriting reality with his own two hands.

 

“Chardonnay LeBlanc, Priestess of Yliaster… I invite you to come along with me.”

 

“Oh?”

 

Protheus Maximus smiled.

 

It appeared that the time had come, at long last, to show this forsaken multiverse just how terrifying he could be.

 

“Your prophecies have served me well, they truly have, and I have no doubt of your ability to see into the future. However, you ought to remember who you’re speaking to, when you tell me of this cryptic cliche. I am Protheus Maximus, the Herald of Darkness, who bends futures and fates at my whim－and I shall show you exactly how an Omni survives Death.”

 

 

***

[Remembrance C13] - Arthur & MirageGaogamon | Chardonnay

Arthur slammed the cup on the table. His body shook, preparing for the sensation of glass striking against glass, but it was still the same green energy constructs that Chardonnay had created. For as long as the memories had been, barely any time seemed to have passed from when Arthur had first sat down in his seat. He was still trying to process the scene, and distinguish the Chardonnay sitting across from him, and the Chardonnay that had spoken to Protheus.

 

Four girls had followed Protheus. Two of them he had just seen die, and another had already died before he already reached the Pathway to Remembrance. The fourth, though, was both the most familiar and alien. Eria. Certainly, this Origin War was all about people from alternate universes meeting each other, but usually it ranged from meeting someone from a foreign country to meeting someone from another planet. There were rarely “doubles” of the same person. The idea that there could be a second Eria, and one under Protheus's control… it was terrifying, and yet, that was only the beginning.

 

Arthur had asked what Protheus's purpose was. Chardonnay had answered with the same answer that she offered Protheus: a prophecy. “You called yourself a ‘Priestess’,” Arthur said at last. “But it sounds like you’re closer to an oracle. My father… he speaks through oracles.” Among the many, many talents that his father had dominion over - apparently his father couldn’t settle for just one, like sunlight or poetry - he was also considered a god of prophecies. “Wherever my dad is, he’s probably laughing at me right now.” And yet, Protheus's shock and anger at the prophecy was very much real. It was a longshot, but Arthur wanted to believe that there was a glimmer of hope in it. “Protheus seemed to trust you. He actually believes the prophecy might come true. So… is it true? Does that mean he’ll die? And I mean, forever. I know I doesn’t known much about everything he’s done, but that prophecy seemed like it was saying that this would be it. ‘Game Over’ and all that. You said he wasn’t immortal. Not really. Please, tell me.”

 

Chardonnay listened patiently to the boy, before ultimately nodding to provide confirmation. “Protheus Maximus is a man who fears his own end. He is immortal only in the sense that his soul has been frozen in time; this does not and never has made him impervious to the elements of the multiverse. As the prophecy says, ‘Judgment may be no more’.” She spoke. “An oracle is not a bad description of me. Your father, Apollo, opened possibilities for oracles to serve out a greater purpose in the mortal realm. Out there exists an organization called Yliaster, made up of such oracles. Once, they wished to understand how the multiverse would end. I was artificially honed into becoming the perfect ‘oracle’, a conduit who could see what others could not. I was made to foresee all events that affect the multiverse, and record them as they unfold. I cannot speak to the validity of my prophecies, but they have consistently come true in the past. The End of Darkness, the byproduct of the One Master, is only one such event.”

 

The End of Darkness. The end of the multiverse itself. While Isamy and Protheus had already put the multiverse at risk - and Arturia practically letting them get away with it - it was still hard to imagine that there was so much more out there that Arthur couldn’t hope to understand, and yet all of it was about to end. MirageGaogamon turned to Chardonnay. “So all this has been predetermined by others? This is more than just us getting caught in what Protheus has done. This ‘One Master’ you speak of, is he the one responsible for everything?”

 

The Priestess of Yliaster fixed a long, timely look at MirageGaogamon’s question. She wasn’t thinking - merely watching the duo as they attempted to absorb the information they’d been given, and make sense of it. Her answer was, “Yes… and no.”

 

Chardonnay put down her cup, and as soon as it rested on the table, it transformed into glowing lines. These lines shot all across the surface, connecting to the edges as well as one another, gradually drawing together a shape - until at last, the image of a draconic ‘creature’ with various heads stretching outwards had been formed. Reminiscent of LERNA at first, until the drawn image coloured itself with a pale white. The table surface was now adorned by a complete picture. A white multi-headed monster, teal lines running all over it, with its every eye pointed at Arthur and MirageGaogamon. Arthur stood up from his seat, stepping back from the image. Was this supposed to represent the One Master?

 

“The One Master… it is hE who desired everything. It is hE who encouraged it, and gave hiS vessel the power to do it. All the Herald did was listen. With great power at her fingertips, she was responsible for making her own decisions from beginning to end. Now here we are, brought by those decisions to the End of Darkness.”

 

“‘She?’” asked Arthur. “You don’t mean Protheus-”

 

“Or Pener,” MirageGaogamon corrected. “Chardonnay, would you please hurry to the point? I’ve already learned enough within Pure Edge, but so much of it seems disconnected. We have our own journey, and we are so close to the end. Only Protheus stands in our way. What we want to know is what we can do to defeat him, once and for all. For the sake of our universe, and every universe that he’s made suffer.”

 

At that insistence, at the display of impatience and frustration, Chardonnay let out a sigh. It was not that she didn’t have emotion, but rather, there was an impression that she was simply far too exhausted deep down to care. Hence, she felt little urgency as she responded.

“So simple. But I humour you, in that I cannot see the exact events surrounding the prophecy of the End of Darkness. Perhaps, it is you and your friends who shall bring about the vengeance those universes so desire? Or perhaps your little group shall fall to him, like all others before you. I cannot say. Frankly, I cannot find it in me to care either. If killing Judgment is what you wish, then I’ll say this much… Protheus can be killed.”

 

Arthur returned to his seat. MirageGaogamon had a point. He had taken a while in Pure Edge, and the longer they talked with Chardonnay, the longer the others would have to wait. Assuming that they could last that long. He didn’t want to consider any alternative. That if he took his time getting back to the others, Protheus would kill them. “Then how about this? If you don’t know all the details about your prophecy, then we’ll figure them out. It’s like a puzzle, really. A riddle. We’ll take apart the prophecy, line by line, and then we’ll find out exactly what it means. If this prophecy is the ‘End of Darkness’, then I think solving it is our best chance at killing Protheus. How does that sound?”

 

MirageGaogamon huffed. “I suppose brute force alone won’t be enough to defeat Protheus. If this prophecy could grant us even a hope of a chance, then we’d best consider all our options. But we are asking for your help, Chardonnay. Protheus does trust you, so either I’m asking you to betray that trust, or you could just be leading us down the wrong path. What you’ve told us so far does sound… plausible, considering everything else that has happened. But this is still a leap of faith. This had better be worth it.”

 

Chardonnay listened. As the symbol of the One Master disappeared from the energy table, she responded rather simply, “If a discussion is what you want, I have no reason to complain. I cannot promise much contribution on my part, but I shall do what I can. As for Protheus, I care not either way… I am neutral in this Origin War, and I very much intend on remaining that way. All I shall provide is foresight; your conflict is your own.”

 

Arthur and MirageGaogamon exchanged a look. “That may be the most we can ask for, then.” MirageGaogamon sighed. “I suppose you have my trust as well. It’s better than trying to argue with you. Protheus is the real threat here.”

 

Arthur nodded slowly. “Then we’re all on the same page. Alright, Chardonnay. Do you mind repeating the first line of that prophecy? And I mean, just the first line.”

 

She shrugged, with a hint of boredom, and her eyes glowed in tandem with the movements of her mouth, foretelling of the prophecy’s beginning, “Within the theatre of living nigh…”

 

Arthur steepled his fingers. His eyes assumed their usual glow, and yet it was not quite as bright as anyone would be used to. It was almost a reaction to Chardonnay’s own eyes, as if prophecies offered some sense of kinship between Arthur and Chardonnay. Arthur took a moment to consider how his father would approach prophecies, but he really had no idea where to even begin. Arthur and MirageGaogamon were on their own. “I’d say it could be the Pathway to Death, where the end of someone’s life might be approaching, but that’s where we first saw Protheus. It probably would’ve been the most fitting place for where Protheus could die, but it’s a little late for that, so it must be something else.”

 

Behind Chardonnay was the staircase leading to the crystal that marked the end of the Pathway. This was the final Pathway for all of them, including Protheus. If Protheus got past that, he would have a clear path to the Door. They couldn’t let him get that far. “I’m not sure about a ‘theatre’, but I’m going to assume that you’re talking about where the prophecy will be fulfilled. Is it possible that that line could talk about this Pathway?”

 

“Within the theatre of living nigh… What sort of theatre would it be that one lives an incomplete life? I know not the answer one way or another. However, the Pathways do serve the purpose of completing ourselves. Not only that, Protheus’s past is the greatest weight he has had to shoulder throughout his lifetime. As his last Pathway, Remembrance would not be a bad guess. But, as I said, I know not the answer one way or another.” Chardonnay did not turn towards the staircase, but she was definitely thinking of it as she spoke. For her, for them, for everyone here right now, this was the last obstacle before the end.

 

“Or maybe, exactly because this is his last Pathway, it means that he’s almost at the end. Almost at the Door. Like Icarus flying too close to the sun, only for his wings to burn up.” Even after all these years, it was still weird to think that, in his world, Icarus was actually real. A part of him felt bad for Icarus, but he understood that Icarus was punished for his hubris. That was the way karma worked. “I guess that wouldn’t be so bad. I’ll go with ‘Within Remembrance’ for now. What’s next?”

 

Her eyes glowed again, her pupils rolling up as they did so, “Raindrops pour to feel their sky…”

 

Arthur pursed his lips. That line seemed difficult at first glance, but the image of Protheus falling like a boy reaching for the sun seemed far too appropriate. “What was it you said earlier? That Protheus is ‘a feather, gradually drifting to the ground’? He really is like Icarus, then. Though I’m not sure if that’s all that the prophecy had in mind.”

 

Chardonnay glanced up at the clouded sky, thicker and darker than ever before due to the Twilight One’s appearance. Was it going to rain soon? Was that even possible on the Pathway to Remembrance?

 

Nonetheless, she offered her thoughts. “Being immortal is impossible. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. To me, and to Judgment, lives are much like raindrops… We are made, and we fall, one amongst millions, insignificant until the point we hit the ground. Be it in a second, a decade, or even a century, sooner or later, everyone will eventually reach the ground. A feather merely takes longer. In the end, the only thing we can do is pour... To feel our skies. But what do I know about how relevant that is?”

 

Arthur couldn’t help but be impressed. It was a longshot, and yet Chardonnay had found a way to make it work. No wonder Protheus seemed to trust her so much. “It’s relevant enough for me to work with. Death is inevitable, even for someone who’s lived as long as Protheus.” It was morbid, but that was a fact of life. And death, really. Still, at least Chardonnay continued to make it clear exactly what Arthur was hoping for. Protheus could die. And yet, no matter how many times he told himself that, he still wasn’t sure if it was possible. “How about we go with ‘We drift through life?’”

 

“Hm. That sounds logical to me. Shall we move on?” Chardonnay said. Appearing to show minimal interest, she left her chair in a dreamlike state, and it was hard to tell where her mind actually was. Projecting another cup in her hand, she knelt against the edge of the lake - which was starting to quiet down - and scooped more water out of it. Her hand turned red as she returned to her seat, concentrating energy within it to boil the Remembrance water.

 

When she took a seat again, she took a sip, and proceeded to continue for the duo to hear, “Nature extends to a superior strange…”

 

“Here we go,” Arthur said. “We’ve talked about Protheus’s purpose, and while the first couple of lines were more about where he might die, or if he even can die, I doubt that’s the end of it. I know Protheus is called the ‘Herald of Darkness’, but you told him that his purpose as Judgment… well, it’s in the name. He’s suppose to ‘judge’ who will be the real Herald of Darkness.” Arthur’s hand crawled into a fist. “Which means it doesn’t end with Protheus, does it? There’s someone else.”

 

“You mean, a Herald of Darkness that surpasses even Protheus?” MirageGaogamon raised an eyebrow, but he was afraid of who such a person could be. “Wait. No, you can’t mean-”

 

“Isamy.” Arthur said the name to Chardonnay expectantly, daring her to prove him wrong, but she simply stared back. “Isamy wasn’t killed in the Sphere Forest. Protheus did something. From what Arturia told us, it’s more like he replaced her, and his existence ‘overwrote’ hers somehow. So even if we kill Protheus, there’s no guarantee that Isamy won’t come back and take his place again. ‘Protheus leads to Isamy.’ That’s what this prophecy is about, isn’t it?”

 

“So it’s not just Protheus we have to worry about, but Isamy as well.” MirageGaogamon stomped into the snow. “And here I thought we were rid of her.”

 

Chardonnay started to drink from her cup, taking her time with answering this particular piece of speculation. “Isamy Maximus is an entity beyond my sight. I would not know either way. Still, she does have his name… Perhaps, to some extent, that is so?”

 

“If this does lead to Isamy, then that brings her back. Whatever she does then, that’s on us. If we’re going to stop Protheus, then Isamy can’t come back. I’m not going to risk that. We left the Divine for a reason, because we… I made a mistake joining them.”

 

“You can’t keep blaming yourself for what you did,” said MirageGaogamon. “If there is a possibility of Isamy returning, then we’ll stop her. If we can defeat Protheus, then we can defeat Isamy as well.”

 

“But I don’t know if we can defeat Protheus! We still don’t know about this prophecy. And if Isamy is beyond Chardonnay’s sight, I doubt we’ll find a prophecy that conveniently gives us a walkthrough on how to get rid of Isamy forever. Not unless there’s a another oracle out there who can help us with that.”

 

As if she was being called upon, all Chardonnay could do was shrug at that last remark. “Uh. Sorry?”

 

Arthur spoke plainly. “We’re already trying to focus on one guy who’s made a mess of the multiverse. You’ll have to forgive me if I’m not exactly in the best mood after finding out that killing him might only be trading one psychopath for another.”

 

The priestess had nothing to say to that, nor was it her place to. All she could do was continue, using that same ominous voice to do so, “From distrust, despair, slumber, never change…”

 

Unlike the previous lines, this one seemed more like a random string of words without much meaning. Then there was that word again. Despair. Lydia overcame LERNA’s obsession with that miserable idea, winning with sheer hope. And yet, Lydia wasn’t with them. Not now. It was almost funny to Arthur. Lydia deserved to be a Counter Guardian. Just when Emiya died, Lydia was the one who saved them all.

 

Arthur didn’t want to be a Counter Guardian. That much he realized on the Pathway to Truth. And really, even if he wanted to be one, had he really earned it? He had started with the Divine, the very people that Counter Guardians like Emiya and Arturia were meant to fight. Even if he made up for that by joining the Counter Corps, would the Throne of Heroes be willing to overlook that? He may have killed the Madara, but he still couldn’t obtain the Key. As soon as Protheus got the Key, this war was as good as over. Was Arthur fighting to win, or just to stop Protheus from winning? And even if they did stop Protheus, who else could use the Key?

 

The words repeated in Arthur’s mind on loop. Distrust. Despair. Slumber. Never change. The more he thought about them, the less he thought about Protheus. Arthur thought about himself. He had given the Counter Corps every reason not to trust him, and yet, Eria and Sora both trusted him. The battle with LERNA had changed everything, with hope crushing despair. The closest Arthur ever felt to slumber was the Infinite Tsukuyomi, when the Madara tried to make them all simply leave in a dream world made of their own ideals. Arthur would have never grown if he had settled for what the Madara offered. Arthur defeated the Madara because he believed he could change his life with his own hands.

 

“Trust,” Arthur answered. His voice cracked, the word only barely audible. “I survived the Shadow Realm because MirageGaogamon trusted me. I’ve kept fighting because the Counter Corps trusts me. But I joined the Divine because I was a coward who wanted the easy way out. Even if that means doing things the hard way, being a hero and fighting back against the people trying to control everyone’s destinies has given me the most hope I’ve had in years. It means I don’t have to run away anymore. That I’m not going to lie down and let reality do what it wants with me. As long as I can fight, I’m going to fight. I can at least change the way my life is going. In a way, I guess Protheus is trying to do the same thing. Change his fate because some prophecy says he’s going to die. The prophecy is saying to ‘Take fate into your own hands.’”

 

Chardonnay could only nod at that, having listened to it to its entirety. “That seems like a logical, wholesome guess, and it certainly seems to symbolize the struggles that you have gone through. I have nothing to add to that, Son of Apollo.”

 

Arthur put his hand to his chest. His heart was suddenly beating more and more rapidly. Sora had told him about the Heartless. After laying out all his feelings like out, Arthur still felt empty in some way. Incomplete. There was a part of him still missing, and not having that was why he had lost the Key. For all of Arthur’s struggles, it couldn’t be for nothing. He’d made it nearly halfway through Chardonnay’s prophecy, but there was still more to go. “What’s next?”

 

The priestess continued on, with the third couplet of the prophecy, “The seconds stop at a broken heart-”

 

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

 

Near the end of the Pathway to Death, within the Hallway, a nursery rhyme echoed, with no apparent source of the voice. Someone - or something - was counting down. “You’ve been on the Pathways. Did you hear that weird ticking a while ago?”

 

“It was much louder before, but even now, I hear it. Can you not?” Chardonnay asked back.

 

Indeed, it was faint - exponentially so - but by blocking everything else out, concentrating on that one sound, focusing on it, confirming to themselves that it wasn’t their imagination, one could just barely make it out. The ticking. The tocking. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. A inconstant countdown, continuing onwards. As a matter of fact, it was continuing even after a certain other had their long-awaited Reunion. One could only wonder what it was for.

 

As though prompted by the noise, she ominously continued on, “For a hero to find the will to restart…”

 

“Let me guess. Isamy is the ‘hero’?” It was why he joined the Divine in the first place. Because he believed that he could be a hero as well. That erasing the gods from his world was actually a good thing. “I’m finding it a little difficult to tell the difference between Protheus, Isamy, and myself. Guess it made sense I started as a Divine.”

 

“Don’t tell yourself that!” MirageGaogamon kneeled down, trying to meet Arthur as close to eye level as he could. “You’re not like them. I think we’ve figured out by now that Protheus and Isamy never cared about any of the people who worked for them.”

 

“Neither does Arturia,” Arthur added. “Relying on either of the leaders hasn’t been good for any of us. And the more we go over this prophecy, it just seems like this entire war is doomed to repeat itself. ‘Isamy will be reborn.’ I’m still not quite sure what to make of those clock noises, but that’s what the other half of this prophecy sounds like. I think I know where this will go, but keep going.”

 

Obeying, Chardonnay spoke the next line; what may very well be a key line to them.

 

“With one apology…

 

Judgment may be no more.”

 

Was that it? This had to be the biggest hint for how to defeat Protheus. On the surface, the meaning was pretty clear. Protheus is Judgment, so Protheus would be no more. But was it really that simple? It couldn’t be that simple. “When you said it to Protheus, I thought you were just saying that he was going to die. I mean, I’m sure it’ll happen anyway, but that line isn’t what actually spells it out. It never says Protheus will die, does it? It sounds more like the entire reason he’s Judgment in the first place is what’ll end. He’ll succeed in his role as Judgment, and pass on his other role as the Herald. ‘With one apology, the Herald will be chosen.’”

 

Chardonnay downed yet another cup of the Remembrance waters. “In any case, apologies are a funny thing. They aren’t necessary for people to do, yet people find them so necessary. The idea that Judgment would ever apologize for anything is amusing…” Her eyes turned murky and distant as her cup disappeared, and though it looked innocuous at first, she’d actually appeared to get high on every sip. “I need another drink. If possible, I would like never to leave this place.”

 

Once again, Chardonnay stood up, projected a new cup, and started to walk towards the Lake of Remembrance once more. She was beginning to look a bit less like a royal priestess, and a bit more like a random woman who was way too high to understand her own words. Nonetheless, considering her vast knowledge on the man they’d been fighting, she could only be legit.

 

The Priestess of Yliaster approached the shoreline, which had grown darker for some reason. Whilst curiously eyeing it, she said, “And in either wonder or home shall Death be drawn...”

 

Arthur sat back slightly in his chair. Was he really going to second-guess - or overthink - everything Chardonnay was saying. “Sounds like those are two options there. Like you said, I can’t exactly imagine Protheus apologizing to anyone.” Then, Arthur noticed something was off about that line. “…Wait a minute. Most of this prophecy so far has been in rhyming couplets. That really doesn’t rhyme with ‘Judgment may be no more.’” Arthur gestured quotation marks with his fingers to emphasize his point.

 

Chardonnay turned away from the lake for a moment, narrowing her eyes. “My apologies. I knew you were Apollo’s son, but I did not take you for a critic of prophecy construction.”

 

“Hey, I at least took some literature classes and learned about poetry. Not really something I need a degree in to find unusual.”

 

“I’m sure your father is very proud of that, Arthur Ancyl.” She responded, and then shrugged. “Alas, I only interpret what I see into words that make some sense, and thus, I cannot discern whatever meaning that may hold. Still, perhaps the ending may shed light on that.”

 

She turned back towards the lake, cup in hand. The dark shadow had grown much larger. “When all the cards have fallen…”

 

Arthur reached out his hand, and his Keyblade appeared, pointing directly towards Chardonnay. “Hold on. Before you finish, let me make something clear. Eria has heard enough about everyone calling her a card. So when you say ‘cards’, you better not be referring to Eria. I’m not going to let anyone else compare her to a card. I’m staking my life on this. When I go back to the others, it’s on me to tell everyone what you mean with this prophecy. But if that prophecy means Eria’s life is at stake, too? Not good enough. We’re going to defeat Protheus, and Eria and I will walk up that staircase, together. If you interpret what you see, then I want to know if Eria is danger. I don’t want to hear that some things are beyond your sight. I highly doubt you’d have earned Protheus’s trust if you insist on being vague. So tell me what you mean by ‘cards’. If there’s anything more to the prophecy, then finish it. But I’m not going to let Eria get dragged down with Protheus.”

 

MirageGaogamon raised a hand between Arthur and Chardonnay, gently lowering Arthur’s Keyblade against the table. “Arthur, don’t antagonize her. You don’t know if it refers to Eria, or anyone else. Just hear her out, alright?”

 

Arthur kept his grip firm on the Keyblade. “I know, MirageGaogamon. Just tell me the last of the prophecy.”

 

“I don’t care either way. It’s quite fine. Now,” Chardonnay knelt downwards, and started to move. Planning to scoop her cup into the waters- “Embrace the fate...”

 

However, she stopped, and frowned. Beyond the unusual darkness of the lake, was that two lights flickering beneath? “Hm.” Or to be more specific, two headlights? This Pathway truly was a curiosity.

 

From below the Lake of Remembrance, the waving surface rippled gently, and rumbled steadily, and then ultimately ruptured in all directions as a GIANT. MOTHERFUCKING. MECHA. launching out of the waters. An actual, heavy mecha, dark-plated all over with jets and weaponry of all sorts attached to its body. This was to the sound of its boosters firing, propelling the astounding machine straight out of the surface, the resulting torrent thrusting her right off her feet, burying her in snow. Whoever was piloting it clearly didn’t know much about safety procedures. That, or they didn’t care. Whatever the case… This was none other than the Mech that had served the Divine during the Desert Seth and the Sphere Forest. The Jaws of Hell. Covered in snow, Chardonnay stared at the approaching monstrosity before her in a daze, as if this were an event happening far away.

 

As a matter of fact, she looked more annoyed about her next drink being interrupted than anything. This massive, destructive machine, that was in such contrast to everything surrounding it, was crashing towards the ground with reckless abandon.

 

Ironic for one who could tell the future,

 

she realized too late

 

that it was directly above her.

 

The Jaws of Hell landed to an immense shockwave, crushing everything beneath it, sending snow flying in every direction. The projected furniture that MirageGaogamon and Arthur had been using vanished. Quite the telling sign of what may have happened.

 

 

~ Final Fantasy X ~

 

“DESIGNATED TARGETS, DIGIMON ‘MIRAGEGAOGAMON’ AND GOD ‘APOLLO’, ARE CONFIRMED TO HAVE SURVIVED.” A voice announced over the robot’s intercom, vaguely feminine in nature, as well as distorted.

 

The large metal platings covering its chest opened up, revealing two humanoid figures inside… Two former members of the Divine, in fact.

 

Azumi Tsuchito. The pilot who had joined the Divine during the Desert Seth. She was sitting in the cockpit with her hands on the surrounding controls, manipulating it with unnatural, spider-esque movements. The cockpit appeared to be partially damaged, as though something immensely powerful had torn its way inside to wreck the contents within. Her body itself was sprayed with blood in places, although the source of that blood was impossible to tell. Could it be her own? On her chest, a card was attached. It read ‘Dark One Alpha’.

 

She continued to speak, her voice blaring through the Jaw of Hell’s installed speakers. Although, the sound quality was oddly distorted. The robot definitely wasn’t in the most optimum condition. “SHALL WE NOTIFY LORD PROTHEUS?”

 

And Jecht. That muscular body, that giant blade, and yet, that cold, blank stare on his face was such a difference from the arrogant, confident man they had known. His body was covered in much more scars than they last remembered, traces of heavy wounds left by a blade visible all over his body - but most telling was his neck, which had turned completely black, as if he’d been decapitated and then attached back together. On his chest, a card was attached. It read ‘Dark One Omega’.

 

His body spoke a word, sounding much like himself, only completely absent of the emotion the original Jecht may have had regarding, well, just about anything. “NO.” He was empty. A moving corpse, possessed by a Dark One. Jecht, if it could be considered to be him at all, leaped out of the cockpit. He landed right in front of MirageGaogamon with immense force, wielding his blade menacingly.

 

What had happened? What had happened to have these two appear at this very moment, during the conflict with Protheus, acting in such a manner? Demonstrating such unquestionable malice towards the duo, without even bothering to make conversation as opponents usually do? No… That wasn’t the question. That was never the question. They couldn’t possibly have been the first to engage the Herald of Darkness in combat, especially when one considered that this was his final trial. On the Pathway to Origin, others must have come before them. And THIS was the result. THIS was what happened when they lost, as was inevitable for anyone who came against Protheus. They had become fallen foes, converted into convenient Shadow Drones to serve out the will of their sworn nemesis.

 

Omega-Jecht smiled. But it wasn’t a familiar smile. Jecht stabbed his blade into the snow, and his body began to shimmer. Flames and shadows formed around him, and his skin because to change its texture, with scales and armor forming over his flesh. Jecht roared, and a pillar of fire erupted where he stood, as his body began to grow to a gargantuan size. Where the man once known as Jecht stood, now there was only a hulking monstrosity, fueled by one of the mightiest of the Dark Ones of Protheus Maximus.

 

 

 

 

 

“LET’S JUST KILL THEM.”

 

 

Buried in snow right by the Jaws of Hell, unable to see a thing, Chardonnay LeBlanc judged for herself what her current circumstances were. Apart from her head, her entire body had been crushed by an unexpected event. Apparently, the one who had brought her here was a complete idiot, with servants who were even more idiotic. If he was going to bother bringing her this far to this godforsaken land, he could’ve at least ensured her safety. But whatever. She never had high expectations to begin with, and considering his attitude, this had been bound to happen sooner or later. The circuits within her skull sparked here and there, having sustained minor damages, but otherwise, she was perfectly alive. Having just scraped past death, the priestess frowned in annoyance.

 

Arthur stood between Chardonnay and the Jaws of Hell, his Keyblade drawn. “We still have a lot to talk about,” Arthur told her. “About that prophecy. I’m figuring out what it means, but… there’s still a lot about it I also don’t understand. Protheus doesn’t want the prophecy to come true, but it’s up to me to see that it will. These two are just standing in our way.”

 

Arthur raised his Keyblade, and a bolt of Thunder struck the Jaws of Hell, although with such a colossal machine standing before him, the spell had only struck one of its feet. Seeing the annoyance below, Alpha-Azumi commanded the Jaws of Hell to raise that foot above Arthur.

 

“IT WOULD BE UNNECESSARY TO USE EXCESSIVE FORCE AGAINST YOU.” Was the machine talking, or was it Azumi herself? Her voice was truly mechanical, a mindless slave to Protheus.

 

“Luna Hook Slasher!”

 

As Azumi prepared to squash Arthur like a bug, a golden sickle hooked into the mecha’s foot. The foot moved further forward, slightly away from Arthur, who was running as far as he could, even as the shadow of the foot began to grow bigger and closer to him.

 

MirageGaogamon was holding his chain, tugging on the sickle to pull the Jaws of Hell towards him, while Jecht was lunging his sword, though MirageGaogamon blocked it with the flail. The chain connecting his two weapons hung before him as his body was being pulled in two different directions. The Jaws of Hell pulled its foot back, trying to take MirageGaogamon with it, but as MirageGaogamon tried to push back against Jecht with his flail, the sickle pulled the Jaws of Hell forward again.

 

However, even MirageGaogamon was still small compared to either one of them. In a cold rage, Azumi issued a command. “ACTIVATE COUNTERMEASURE: BOOSTER KICK.” Rockets from the Jaws’s feet opened up, sending a burst of fire onto the sickle, melting its shape and freeing the mecha from its grip. As the mecha shot forward a few feet into the air - really, it was no more than a skip for a machine as gigantic as this - Jecht pressed forward with his sword. Between the push from Jecht and losing momentum without the sickle, MirageGaogamon fell back.

 

Preparing his stance, Jecht gripped his sword with both hands, his entire body wrapping itself in fire. He swung his sword, the blade aimed for MirageGaogamon’s neck.

 

“Full Moon Blaster!” MirageGaogamon fired a beam of light against Jecht. Although it wasn’t enough to knock him back, Jecht stopped his swing, giving MirageGaogamon enough time to get back to his feet. “Jecht… to think that Protheus would take you, too. You were one of the few in Divine who knew what honor was! Without you, I would have never-” Jecht smacked MirageGaogamon, but MirageGaogamon stood his ground. “I had followed Arthur without question before. I had my own concerns about the Divine, but I couldn’t find the strength to lead Arthur away from them. At first, you hated me for betraying the Divine, but then you joined the Counter Corps.”

 

“You are speaking to someone who can no longer hear you.” Jecht slashed at MirageGaogamon, but MirageGaogamon still had his flail, blocking the swing. Each of them used both of their hands to put more force into their attacks, but they were both at a stalemate. Even as Jecht lurched forward, asserting just how small MirageGaogamon was, MirageGaogamon kept pushing forward, looking up into Jecht’s eyes.

 

“Even when we changed sides, I still considered a friend.” MirageGaogamon didn’t care for the Dark One, even as he saw the card that had attached itself to Jecht. “Everyone in this war has played their part. You told me how you had killed everyone in your world. You wanted to give everyone in your world a chance to get their revenge! I realize now that it was too late for you, but it wasn’t too late for Arthur or myself! So stand aside, and let us finish what Protheus started!”

 

Jecht stared blankly at MirageGaogamon. He wasn’t ignoring his words. It was more that MirageGaogamon’s words didn’t even register to Jecht at all.

 

 

Arthur was keeping the Jaws of Hell at bay with as many Thunder spells as he could manage. In a way, MirageGaogamon was reminding Arthur of his own guilt, but Arthur couldn’t help but smile. Leaving the Divine for the Counter Corps, Arthur was afraid that he had been begging for some atonement that he had just gone out of his way not to earn. So much had happened to the both of them over the past few days that he had to wondered if more time had really passed than he thought.

 

Looking at Azumi, Arthur felt… nothing. He didn’t know this girl. Not really. And yet, she and Jecht had made the same decision as Arthur and MirageGaogamon, to leave the Divine. “I guess there’s no chance we can save you guys like this. But I promise, when we reach the Door… even if Arturia let all the other worlds die, at least we won’t forget about you. I hope you can wait a little longer for that.”

 

Arthur’s Keyblade split open, folding out into a bow. Looking over the various parts of the Jaws of Hell, he singled out every joint, from its ankles to its knees, hips, and eyes. Pulling his fingers along the string of light connecting the two ends of his Keyblade, Arthur shot a single arrow, which split off into several more, all composed of pure light. The struck the Jaws of Hell all over, and the mecha finally stopped in place. Azumi snarled from her cockpit, but it was clear that she wasn’t finished yet.

 

 

MirageGaogamon and Jecht finally broke from their stalemate, both of them stepping away from each other. Jecht raised his free hand, and eight white spheres gather around it, each followed by a red trail. The spheres all launched high above Jecht, crashing together and exploding into darkness. From that darkness came molten rock, revealing a meteor that began to fall with sudden speed.

 

MirageGaogamon swung began to swing the flail in one hand, and ran over to Arthur. “I’ve got you covered!” The chain was swinging faster and faster, and the flail began to glow with an even more brilliant golden glow. “METEOR SHACKLE!” MirageGaogamon threw the flail upwards with such force that the spiked ball at the end collided with Jecht’s meteor, destroying both. As stone met metal and light, a roar echoed around as molten rock scattered around. Jecht sneered as his attack had failed as quickly as it had appeared, though MirageGaogamon seemed to growing more and more exhausted from the attack.

 

“UPDATING ANALYSIS.” Azumi eye’s glazed over Arthur and MirageGaogamon. “EXCESSIVE FORCE PERMITTED. EXECUTE LIMIT BREAK: NOVA FLARE!!”

 

The Jaws of Hell was a machine filled to the brim with flamethrowers and rocket boosters, all of which began to flare. As snow turned to steam around the mecha, Azumi pushed the levers at her hands as far as possible, and the engines and turbines within the Jaws of Hell practically screamed. As soon as MirageGaogamon turned to face the mecha, it was already barrelling towards him, its speed alone shattering the sound barrier and creating a sonic boom. Despite Jecht’s size, he avoided the path of the Jaws of Hell, which grabbed MirageGaogamon and forced him into the staircase at the end of the Pathway. As MirageGaogamon was held in place, the flamethrowers on the Jaws of Hell continued burning, through his armor, and into his body.

 

MirageGaogamon howled in pain, the inferno threatening to turn him to ash. Even the Chaos that Jeriii had used to create her Agents, and what Apocrypha had used against him, couldn’t hope to compare to what the Jaws of Hell was inflicting. The machine truly lived up to its name. While MirageGaogamon had only heard of Hell, or any kind of Underworld, from the way Arthur described it, MirageGaogamon doubted that Digimon were capable of being sent to such a place. Until now.

 

MirageGaogamon wanted to call for Arthur, and his partner was already running forward, but what could Arthur do? MirageGaogamon considered his options, but the Jaws of Hell had him trapped. Even if he could defeat it now, he would still have to deal with Jecht. And to say nothing about how, just as with that library within Pure Edge, there were so many obstacles standing in his way. How long would it be before he could truly fight Protheus if more and more opponents would keep appearing?

 

Arthur and Chardonnay had discussed the prophecy. The End of Darkness. With that… could it be enough to defeat Protheus? If Arthur could just return to the others, and find out how that prophecy could help, MirageGaogamon could at least do that much to help.

 

AncientGarurumon had told MirageGaogamon to go beyond the Burst Mode. MirageGaogamon had hoped to wait until the end of this war to test the limits of his power, but he couldn’t wait any longer. If it meant clearing a path for Arthur, then that is what he would do.

 

“Final…” MirageGaogamon pushed back against the Nova Flare, but the fire still raged against him. The Jaws of Hell continued forcing MirageGaogamon into the melting snow, as more of the stairs to the exit crumbled around them.

 

“Mirage…” His entire body began to glow a pure white, and the same glow began to spread to the Jaws of Hell as well. Although Jecht was keeping his distance, waiting for the Jaws of Hell to finish off MirageGaogamon, a pillar of white light surrounded Jecht. Eventually, light began to surround everyone on the end of the Pathway to Remembrance: MirageGaogamon, The Jaws of Hell, Jecht, Chardonnay, and Arthur.

 

With a smile, MirageGaogamon declared his ultimate attack.

 

 

 

 

“FULL BURST!”

 

The light consumed them all, too bright for even Arthur to see. Even he shielded his eyes, long after the light finally began to subside. His feet were soaked in water, melted from snow and seeping into the lake. Arthur’s hands were forced him his face as images flashed through his mind. Of MirageGaogamon activating Burst Mode just days ago on the Sphere Forest of the Periphery. Of Arthur stabbing himself with his own Keyblade, and another person who looked just like him appeared - the Agent of the D-Reaper, the last remnant of the Seven Demon Lords. Apocrypha. Lydia shattered the demon’s mask, leaving only pieces in a burning forest.

 

When Arthur could finally see clearly again, no one else was standing before him. A small blue creature, looking like a small wolf cub with boxing gloves, was sitting in the wreckage of the staircase.

 

“Gaomon!” Arthur rushed over to his partner. Gaomon’s evolutions were completely exhausted, but he was still there. Gaomon wasn’t dead. Not yet. Arthur slowly picked up Gaomon, and walked away from the staircase.

 

Gaomon’s eyes slowly began to open. “Arthur…?”

 

“You did it, buddy.” Arthur choked back tears. “I thought you’d nearly killed yourself to stop them, but you did it.”

 

Gaomon turned in Arthur’s hand. “Then… Jecht. And Azumi…”

 

“Yeah…” Arthur couldn’t say much more. His eyes drifted to the ground, where he saw two small objects lying in the snow. Looking back, Arthur found Chardonnay. Slowly, Arthur approached the priestess and knelt down, laying Gaomon in front of her. “I’m trusting you to keep him safe.” He stared at her for a while longer. Chardonnay did not need to be an oracle to hear the implied “Or else” in that statement, and simply raised her eyebrow.

 

Arthur approached the objects: The two cards that had controlled Azumi and Jecht. ‘Dark One Alpha’. ‘Dark One Omega’. Arthur reached down to touch them pulled both, but after what he had seen, he didn’t want to risk the possibility that either card could possess him as well. With his Keyblade in hand, he uttered one spell to the cards. “Fire.”

 

A brilliant flame was unleashed on them, upon which the cards reacted violently. They shook with violent dark energy, as though attempting to resist, to transform into their ultimate forms Alpha Thanatos and Omega Akribis, and emerge even stronger than before. In fact, these happened to be the dark sorcerer’s trump cards, second only to the Twilight One itself. However, with the unthinkable losses of hosts Jecht and Azumi, there were no nearby souls for them to rejuvenate themselves with. Their master’s attention was on something completely different. As his most loyal servants burned, he must have sensed it; he simply didn’t care enough to provide support. As for their opponents, they couldn’t be absorbed what with their alien, incompatible souls - one being digital, the other being strange, broken, incomplete in a sense.

 

As Dark One Alpha burned, the card whispered as it wringed and raged in agony “YOUR EFFORTS ARE FUTILE, HEROES. AS HE IS, THE IMMORTAL CANNOT BE KILLED.” And with that, when the fire finally died away, all that was left were two Duel Monster cards. Blank, and greyed out, as though having turned dormant.

 

...for the faintest moment, two figures could be seen standing above them. The Jaw’s Pilot and the Warrior of Sin. Jecht gave Gaomon a silent nod, before the dead both turned their backs, and faded away.

 

With the battle having come to a temporary close, Chardonnay’s eyes glowed emerald. From there, a body composed of energy was projected underneath her, propelling her upwards and granting her the freedom of movement again - although, being made of a green exoskeleton certainly made her look a bit odder than before. “So, that was eventful. I see the two of you are alive. Congratulations.” She noted, glancing between the devolved Digimon and the god’s son.

 

“Barely,” Arthur muttered. He wasn’t looking to Chardonnay just yet. He watched the lake, waiting in case yet another figure was waiting to strike. He didn’t know who had made it past the Pathways, and who could have fallen. When nothing appeared, Arthur turned to face Chardonnay, though he was startled for a moment by how she had reformed herself. “We didn’t finish our conversation earlier. I know this might be asking a lot, especially after those two just showed up, but look at what he did! He killed them, and then used their bodies like puppets. I can’t just let someone like that run around, not when I have a chance to stop him. Please. I know you said you don’t care, and you think staying neutral is the probably the logical thing to do, but I can’t sit back. We need to stop him.”

 

Chardonnay listened, and proceeded her attention to the lake as well. Now unhindered, a new energy mug protruded out of her hand as she made her way over, scooped some of its water, and drank without anyone or anything to stop her. Upon swallowing, she let out a relaxed sigh - water could be seen pouring into her translucent, false body. “Believe it or not, there was a time when the words of Itsu Fudo got to him, when he tried to seek the redemption he believed he did not deserve, contributing his many experiments to the goals of Neighborhood Watch. However… Now, that’s no more than a pipe dream. I suppose you have a point. In his relapse, his fear of death－Judgment has gone truly mad.”

 

The Priestess of Yliaster’s body was beginning to turn more physical, the emerald energy taking on a metallic hue, as if gradually growing cybernetics out of it. “I won’t involve myself in the battle. My inability to see the future on this Pathway cripples what I normally do, and I’m afraid I’m not nearly as mad as the rest of you are. However, I’ll divulge any information that may be beneficial to your goal, Arthur Ancyl and MirageGao…just Gaomon.”

 

Remaking the table and chairs from earlier, she took a seat and invited them to sit again as well. “As it happens, perhaps the knowledge of the future itself could be used to our advantage... I am no stranger to self-fulfilling prophecies, nor am I to time paradoxes, and it would be beautifully ironic if Judgment’s downfall were the result of one. First of all, does the prophecy give you any ideas? Apart from what I have witnessed thus far, I know little about your capabilities. Is there anything you two, or the rest of the team, are capable of that may bring about any of the described events?”

 

Gaomon shrugged. “With the way I am now, I’m not so sure. I was hoping the prophecy would sort of.. Tell us what to do, and everything else would just fall into place.”

 

Arthur shook his head. “I don’t think it’s like that. Sure, we can figure out what parts of the prophecy mean, but we still have to fill in the blanks.”

 

“Well, what do we know about this prophecy so far?” asked Gaomon.

 

Arthur tapped a finger on the table. “We know that we can stop Protheus here. His death isn’t just possible, it’s fate that it’ll happen. But once it does, Isamy might come back. Protheus wants to change his fate, but we’re going to make sure it comes true. Really, this whole thing sounds like everyone is trying to take fate into their own hands. But there’s still a few things I don’t understand. The seconds and the broken heart. Whatever Protheus is supposed to apologize for. Wonder, home, one of those is apparently going to be what kills him. The cards.”

 

“‘A broken heart…’” Gaomon repeated the words. “Chardonnay, you said that Itsu was once able to get through to him. Judging by what I saw while I was in Pure Edge’s library, I can believe that. What if Itsu is the one with a broken heart?”

 

“And that’s who he has to apologize to!” Arthur snapped his fingers, but but his lips turned from a smile to a frown. “No, I’m not sure. ‘With one apology, Judgment may be no more.’ I don’t know, it sounds like the apology somehow fulfills his purpose. And the entire point of him being Judgment is for him to decide that Isamy is the ‘true’ Herald, like the apology somehow does that.”

 

“But that doesn’t make any sense. Isamy called herself the ‘Herald of Chaos and Entropy’. That sounds a lot more different.”

 

“Good point,” said Arthur. “Even if all of those titles are just them bragging about how evil they are, I doubt that this comes down to semantics.”

 

“So is there a difference?” Gaomon asked Chardonnay. “What sets apart a Herald of Chaos and Entropy from a Herald of Darkness?”

 

“I’m afraid I can’t offer much insight on that… Isamy Maximus is a mystery to Yliaster. We only learned of her existence the same way everyone else did, through the distortions she left everywhere.” Chardonnay responded. “Perhaps that’s exactly it. Judgment, ‘Protheus’, is the Herald of Darkness. Per the definition of a Herald, he brings the darkness. On the other hand, Isamy, is the Herald of Chaos and Entropy. She has brought chaos and entropy to all our homes, has she not? While Judgment was passively hanging over reality, Isamy has actively sowed discord into reality. But… I’m not certain if this is the right idea. I admit I do not know if Isamy always called herself by that title, or if she’s even his true successor at all.”

 

A white robe materialized over the blonde woman as she contemplated, and she was quick to wrap it around herself. While she swirled her cup around, it was clear that she didn’t know much more about the so-called Herald of Chaos and Entropy than them.

 

“All I can say for sure is that the One Master, He Who Sleeps In Shadows, never intended Judgment to be his endgame. The man is selfish by nature… He will torture and kill at a whim, but he will never risk his own life. Especially not by destroying all of reality.”

 

“I’m really curious how reliable your friends at Yliaster are if they know so little about Isamy. I don’t believe Isamy is meant to be Protheus’s successor, or that Protheus was all that this One Master had in mind. If anything, it sounds like Protheus is the middleman. A delivery boy sent by the One Master to find someone, and Isamy is that someone. I don’t think a ‘Herald’ in this case is someone who brings about a thing, like darkness, or chaos, or entropy, or whatever evil thing you can think up. They’re more for a person. The Herald of Darkness is the Herald of the One Master. Isamy being the ‘Herald of Chaos and Entropy’ is just her being stuck on the training wheels, and Protheus runs around as ‘Judgment’ until Isamy is ready.”

 

“Presumably, the way I understand it… If, or when Judgment - I suppose I ought to refer to him by his name, Protheus - dies, Isamy is born. Assuming she is the successor, she inherits his powers and advances his timestream in the same position. As a matter of fact, two of them - two ‘Omnis’ - cannot exist in the same place at the same time. After all, to reality, they would be considered the very same individual.”

 

Chardonnay set down her cup.

 

“I distinctly recall Protheus’s plan to infiltrate the Origin War, if you are interested… As you might already know, he was originally disguised as Viligance; he overwrote the soul of Isamy’s original servant, at the cost of being permanently locked to Viligance’s insignificant powers. Ophelia was the servant he sent to delay Isamy Maximus from obtaining the Key of Origin, until he could enter the fray in full form. To him, even though he was technically aware of the Origin War, it was a timelocked event that he could not enter due to her presence. Therefore, he infiltrated the reality marble of your very own Counter Guardian while the rest of you were battling in the Sphere Forest - under normal circumstances, because it is a future event, it would take priority over the past. However, the authority of a Counter Guardian overrides that, and with that, he overwrote Isamy’s soul with his own.”

 

She glanced at the two listeners, realizing that they may have some trouble keeping up with this explanation. “In other words… To survive the prophecy, he forced himself into events far beyond his own future. He forced reality to consider him Isamy Maximus, and forced his way into the Origin War to get the Key. ”

 

Arthur scratched his head. “So… technically, Isamy hasn’t actually been born yet? Or created?”

 

“Exactly. Assuming she is the true Herald, anyway.”

 

“And this is all some stable time loop. If we do this, if we manage to kill Protheus… that’s more than just bringing her back from the dead. It’d be our fault she even exists in the first place. Because from her perspective, in a way, none of this has actually happened yet. Except, in a way, it already has. Somehow, somewhere, this has all happened. We’re just playing out the same steps that have already been written.”

 

“That is true… Unless Protheus Maximus, Judgment, reaches the Door of Origin unstopped and rewrites such a fate. Whatever that may be. I cannot say for sure whether any of these events are part of the future reality intended for him, whether the prophecy still applies to him while he wantonly breaks the rules of time. Now, if it does still apply… Might we agree that this is one convoluted prophecy?”

 

“No wonder my dad usually gets other people to handle these prophecies for him.” Arthur looked back across the lake. “‘With one apology, Judgment may be no more’... It keeps coming back to that line for me. You asked if any of us are capable of making this come true. Getting him to apologize, I’m not quite sure. But this lake seems important. I don’t want to believe that the ‘theatre of living nigh’ could be anything beyond this. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. The way I see it, the prophecy can mean a lot of things. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a one-to-one meaning.You’ve been drinking from this lake. A lot. And when I drank from it, I saw when you gave Protheus this prophecy. Some of it got on me after… whatever it was that finished off Jecht and Azumi. The water can overflow us with memories. If we can get Protheus to feel this water, maybe that can stir some memories in him. There has to something in there that he’ll remember. A memory that he regrets. Or maybe there’s a bunch of them! Whatever he sees, something has to trigger that apology.”

 

“And do you suppose we try that?” Gaomon asked.

 

“Eria.” Even as Arthur said her name, guilt settled in as quickly as hope. As a Water Charmer, it’d only be fitting for her to control the lake, but could she manage it? “We’ll find some way to teach Protheus what it means to feel regret.”

 

Gaomon crossed his arms. “I suppose that’s bound to answer the ‘broken heart’, whether it’s Itsu or someone else. But are you sure that’ll be enough? Sure, that might stop him for a little bit… but it won’t kill him. Or do you expect him to commit suicide?”

 

“Of course not. But it might get him to at least surrender. Give us some time to think of an edge. Chardonnay, was that all you had for your prophecy, or was there anything else you didn’t get to before we were interrupted?”

 

“Ah yes, I never did finish, did I?”

 

For the most part, it appeared as though her conversationalists had come up with ideas on how to approach the battle. After hearing the prophecy, having had a fully-fledged discussion on the lines, and almost being killed by Protheus’s remaining two Dark Ones, the priestess could sense that they were just about ready. If she stayed in this position from this point, she might just get caught in the crossfire again… Satisfied with her actions thus far, her best option now would be to advance. Sooner or later, they would have to too.

 

Chardonnay LeBlanc downed her final cup with a trace of ecstacy in her eyes, before dematerializing it, the table, and the chairs for good. She took a few steps towards the giant staircase. Turning around one last time, her eyes glowed, channelling a greater power whilst she foretold the end of the prophecy:

 

When all the cards have fallen

 

Embrace the fate that you have chosen

And with that, the priestess, satisfied, started to walk up the long staircase. Damaged though it was, the Pathway was quick to repair each step with every movement of her feet, eager to bid her farewell. Finally leaving her beloved lake, and approaching the exit that she had held off for so long. Approaching Prologuous. All the while, carrying along several energy bottles attached to her waist, each one filled with memory liquid from the Lake - that can’t be healthy, can it?

 

Arthur and Gaomon still had so many more questions than answers, but what they did learn would be enough. Watching the priestess leave Remembrance, Arthur and Gaomon stood side by side, gazing beyond the lake.

 

“You really think we can do this?” Gaomon asked.

 

Arthur slowly nodded. “I don’t know. What matters is that we don’t give up. One way or another, Protheus has to die here.”

 

“Good enough for me.” As it was, there was no way across. No boats to carry them, and they certainly weren’t going to swim their way back. “I don’t think I’ve gotten all my strength back, but I think I can at least manage to go as far as MachGaogamon.”

 

“Then I’ll thank you now for the lift.” Arthur pointed his Keyblade to Gaomon, and his partner evolved to Champion, then to Ultimate. MachGaogamon picked up Arthur, and began to hover above the lake. Together, they would kill Protheus Maximus. Arthur could only hope that his plan would work. Hang on a little longer, Eria. I hope you can forgive me for what I’m about to ask.

 

---

 

To Be Continued…

[Reinforce]

Apep

Location: C4

 

While the being that had come out of her target's chest had gotten hold of her to drag her down, she flickered into lightning briefly before hitting the ground, getting out of the other girl's grasp and settling without the hard landing. As she shook off the disorientation from the fall, she noticed the new girl stab her target and absorb the broken body into the blade. As the girl bounded away, shaking her balance with the breaking ground as she did, another foe appeared to confront her instead.

 

So creature... this is what happens when you take her side. I'm not impressed. Do you retain thought? Can you speak? Do you even have a will? Hmph. Do you bleed?

 

The demon growled up at him, yellow eyes glowing with power as she glared at the man she vaguely recognized. A deep voice emerged from the demon's mouth, as she abruptly replied to Rhadamanthys.

 

"Get out of my way."

 

As the beam descended on her, she vanished once more, both dragons burning away in the abrupt blast of energy as she darted away in a bolt of lightning, alighting back on Isamy's shoulder with a scowl on her face, as the two dragons reappeared on each side of her.

 

Ending Location: D4

 

---

 

Chandra

Location: F3

 

What is 'Jace'? Why put effort into seeking such?

 

Shock filled her as she heard that thought, abruptly quenching the anger and rage she was feeling. In response to that question, thoughts flicked through her mind, various meetings and interactions with the Jace she knew, who he was before Isamy's power twisted him into this caricature of the planeswalker she'd known.

 

It's not a what, it's a who. As for who, Jace is you, it's your name. I don't know what Isamy did to take that knowledge away from you, but you are Jace Beleren, Mind Mage and Blue-Alligned Planeswalker. And, from what I heard recently, the Living Guildpact that keeps the plane of Ravnica intact and functional.

 

---

 

Darcy

Location: E5

 

"...I will join you, but I will not become a god. I do not trust myself with that kind of power."

"Even those who have shown to care naught but themselves will also be granted this "happy ending", though they clearly do not deserve it."

 

With the sound of a bang, his defenses shut his mind off again, blocking her out before she could get more than a glimpse through them, and leaving her with only a few lines of a conversation to show from it, seemingly from his agreement to join Ameliorer. With an annoyed look she tracked his location, watching as he was forced to move on even as his gaze became briefly fixed on the fire mage even now flying in the sky. She was briefly distracted from the fight by a renewed communication in from Satori, never letting herself lose track of the other mental manipulator, but replying to her current partner's queries as she did, talking over the now shielded connection between them.

 

"Do you think it would even work, communicating with one of this Isamy's minion? Although...hm...I will see how this develop. I might have an idea on what to do if this end up going south, Darcy.

It's just, it's not exactly going to be pleasant."

 

Lets hope it doesn't come to that then, though if it becomes necessary, we can try it. As for Ameliorer's minion, he's a lot more sane than I'd have expected given what's happened. If he can still be reasoned with, well it's worth a shot anyway. With some luck, and a good bit of persuasive arguments, we might just be able to convince him to turn against the monster she's become.

 

[spoiler=tldr]~Apep managed to avoid both attacks, losing her dragons in the process, and returned to Isamy's shoulder where the dragons reappeared.

~Chandra replied to Jace through her thoughts.

~Darcy's keeping an eye on Jace's location and conversed with Satori, explaining part of her reasoning for trying to talk to Jace.

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"She's a real pain...meh, No way she'll run forever."

 

Incarnating in an actual body again felt quite weird for the short-haired Tenshi and it took her a while to realize that someone did an attack that'd catch her in the blast radius, and to promptly dodge out of the range. Though...no, the fact she's around and kicking again was the real shocker. She could barely remember about the moment her time in her old world ended, but she did remember that it was around the time she, Ness, Paula, and Sanae went hunting for the seven needles to wake up the Great Dragon or something. Oh wait, that's just a big sham. That mess really made her feel quite sour, but at least now Tenshi felt like her effort might actually mean anything, even if her friends weren't here to see her. Looking up at the other person that also attacked the herald, Tenshi decided to call him out.

 

"You...uh...purplearmorman...you there, flying one!" Trying to get him to look at her, Tenshi then summoned a keystone to lift herself up towards him. The man seemingly was quite shady, but it's not like she hadn't ever worked with someone shadier. Well, he ain't Porky, for one.

 

"That lightning girl thing, you have anything there to catch her? Real slimy kind, you hold her and she just go WHOOSH and such. Maybe grounding her or something, but 'long as we can't catch her we can't really smash her face, no?

 

Oh right. Name's Tenshi, here on behalf of the other blue-haired brat. Might not be here for long, but gotta make that count still. Any plans that's not just 'smack that ugly thing until it weeps' right now?"

 

---

 

Lets hope it doesn't come to that then, though if it becomes necessary, we can try it. As for Ameliorer's minion, he's a lot more sane than I'd have expected given what's happened. If he can still be reasoned with, well it's worth a shot anyway. With some luck, and a good bit of persuasive arguments, we might just be able to convince him to turn against the monster she's become.

 

He's a mind mage, isn't he? With a mind connected to his heart, which connects to his world...? In that case...perhaps it is really possible. I will be preparing a certain Recollection should this discussion go sour, and should you and the fiery girl over there helped me to get him still, then the operation could actually begin.

 

What is it? Oh, nothing much. It disgusts me to even consider it, but with this, I'm going to recreate the event that closed my sister's heart on him. Ah yeah, closing his eyes with the force from the hatred of an entire world...

 

With that said, I hope your plan works, Darcy.

 

---

 

"Damn, I lost my sights on her..."

 

Yukari had disappeared without a trace after the fire pillar and Reimu hadn't found her yet, and while she normally wouldn't be too concerned about the gap youkai, she knew for one that it'd be really unwise for her to hide in her gaps at this moment. She wandered around, trying to exorcise more of the wraiths in the meantime, but at that time, she stumbled upon the epicenter of the earlier flaming explosion. Wait, wasn't she the girl that was with Koishi earlier? Where was the satori youkai now, anyway? Something about this girl felt wrong when Reimu noticed her though.

 

"I hate this."

 

She was standing there, all on her own. Was she affected deeply by the sight of the wraiths that were summoned here? Reimu considered for a while whether she would approach her or not. Had this was her before this mess, she probably wouldn't even stop to consider her action and just go with the flow, but right now it felt appropriate to at least have that small consideration. After a while of thinking, Reimu went closer on her and tapped her shoulder.

 

"Hey, are you alright?"

 

---

 

[spoiler=tl;dr]

-Short-haired Tenshi went towards Rhadamantys in C4's sky and tried to start a conversation about trapping Apep

-Satori discussed her plan with Darcy in E5

-Reimu noticed Lydia and tried to talk to her.

 

 

 

---

[The Warden]

"Hey, are you alright?"

 

"Ah!"

 

Just that simple shake was enough to jolt Lydia awake, her consciousness resurfacing as the Soul Gem marking faded from Hopeless Black. Gripping the hilt, the girl's mind managed to refocus, with another familiar voice raging in her head. "Finally I can get through to you girl!"

 

"Avalon? What just happened?"

 

"Your emotions clouded your mind and threatened to snap what little sanity you have left! I was trying to get your attention, but you couldn't hear me as you neared the abyss. Just as well that girl got your attention, or you might have been beyond reach. And if that happened, well, I can tell you know I wouldn't have hesitated in devouring your soul so I could continue on unhindered."

 

"Girl? Oh right!" Lydia realized, switching to external monologue and getting to her feet so she could engage Reimu and ignore that thinly veiled threat. "So-sorry about that, I was a bit pre-occupied. Can I help you?" she inquired while trying to sound normal. "I could have sworn I heard another voice in my head. A familiar one" the sorceress thought while waiting for Reimu's reply.

 

"I heard nothing, so what you heard was the voice of Madness itself. Try not to take heed of it, as it will take you down a path you never want to walk."

[Tesability Black]

~???'s POV~

Turning to face the faint sensation of unfairness and momentary fear, the figure stopped for the moment, landing for the moment to allow for focus upon thought. Three masters against someone that could still be considered a student, no one figure would believe that fair. The onset of a temporal distortion also started to emerge from that direction, a distortion that needed to be dealt with in due haste. Raising a gloved hand towards the distant direction, focus was given towards the aspect of creation, the Rite of Replication upon the outnumbered.

The feeling of temporal distortion emerged once more and after a moment, an unbidded moment of understanding emerged. Speaking with silent words, the keywarrior and his new duplicate in addition to the three around them, flickered in and out of reality and time before disappearing existence for a temporary time.
~B/C4~
"Coward!" Turning towards the source, towards the figure in white wielding a katana yelling towards all around in hopes of finding the one that aggravated him. "Don't make thinly veiled threats!  Fight me or stay out of my way!  Do you hear me!?"

An ungloved hand found itself upon a chin that was starting to show the signs of stubble in thought, the head was slightly shaking at the mistake in understanding.

It is of your Nozarashi that the warning relates to. Though a mind is sensed within the weapon, there is no obtainable knowledge of if it is considered organic or not.

Then the sounds of a mind literally screeching to a halt came to him, as well as a halt to the rage and anger from the same mind. Strange images flashed into his mind from he guessed to be the fire mage among them, some of them featuring a faintly-familiar being in blue, a form that was strangely distorted, unable to fully reach their target.

It's not a what, it's a who. As for who, J̨͡a̴̶c̴̵͟͡͝ȩ̵͜ is you, ̷̧͜i̧̛͜҉͠t̷̀̕'̷͡s͘ ̶̴͡͡ý͏͡o̵u͡͏̶̧r̸͠ ҉͘n̴͢á̸m҉̡e̵̸͟.̴́̀͡ I don't know what Isamy did to take that knowledge away from you, but you are ̵́͏́J͘͝a҉͏̢̧͘c̵̨e̶̷ ͝͡B̴̛ȩ̷̨̛͠l̵̢͜͠͏é͘͟͞r͜͟͡e̛̕͜͝͞ņ̴̕͜, Mind Mage and Blue-Alligned Planeswalker. And, from what I heard recently, the Living Guildpact that keeps the plane of Ravnica intact and functional.

There were some words, like the strange images, that were distorted, unable to be clearly heard through the familiar medium. The figure raised a hand to feel the cool forehead, rubbing it for a moment before letting it fall.

There is little familiarity with the words and images that have not distorted. And of Ravnica, if any harm befalls the plane...

...there will be nothing that remains of their minds.

The feeling of rage, unbecoming. Allowing a moment to let it fade, to the skies returned before something surfaced into attention.

The inorganic structure, the machination. That needed to disappear.

Taking to the air once more, the bottom of boots met the snow once more near the water before looking up at another figure hidden under invisibility.

Apologies are many for this action, Ravnica. No joy comes of this.

If anyone could truly see through the illusions, they would see tears forming from the eyes as motions were made and Ravnica became visible near Isamy, the figure only slightly shorter than the part of the Hollow visible and floating slightly above the ice. Like Byakuya, it was chained down, to the ice below it instead of to the Hollow. Soon after the figure stilled, Ravnica entered visibility, appearing to be resting until stirring.

Then the plane let loose with a sharp scream towards the sky despite the lack of mouth to do so.

An echoing roar emerged soon afterwards from the outside of the southern-most tower as a large creature of faint colorations of a rainbow sort emerged from the lake, breaking through the ice now edged with jagged, cubical rainbow structures with ease to move towards the tower in question. It stood with multiple legs that was hard to count the full number of and its two arms split into three directions at the elbows. On its head was flat yet sharp horns with a trio of triangles that defied gravity.

And this thing was larger than the tower. And it, for the moment, had one goal.

The little mechanical creation by the name of Mr. Zurkon.

 

[spoiler=TL,DR]~Corrected Kenpachi regarding an earlier warning

~Created a duplicate of Nero and 'banished' them and the trio of Souls attacking Nero until Chaos Sonic's ready to post again. If something happens during the banishment, that's up to him and whatever the funk they were banished to is also up to him.
~Anything specifically regarding identity have completely failed to reach the figure by mental means
~Ravnica appeared over the ice above D3 and in a lot of pain
~The Heralded Eldrazi emerged through the ice near the edge of the lake at E3 and is moving towards the tower at E2

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Neos's POV~

He had to cover his ears as the roar broke through the air, grunting and swearing under his breath about hating his heightened hearing before finally lowering his ears and daring to look towards the source with eyes that immediately widened.

"...Chandra? What in the Distortion is that?"

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Final Round

Rhadamanthys smirked as the herald managed to dodge his attack and return to Isamy. 

So it does seem to value it's life. Interesting...now I want to kill it more. Rhadamanthys said out loud to no one in particular. 

"You...uh...purplearmorman...you there, flying one!" 

 

Rhadamanthys turned around to notice the little lady slowly floating upwards to meet him. 
 

"That lightning girl thing, you have anything there to catch her? Real slimy kind, you hold her and she just go WHOOSH and such. Maybe grounding her or something, but 'long as we can't catch her we can't really smash her face, no?

 

Oh right. Name's Tenshi, here on behalf of the other blue-haired brat. Might not be here for long, but gotta make that count still. Any plans that's not just 'smack that ugly thing until it weeps' right now?"

 

 

Rhadamanthys was honestly perplexed at the thought of having to actually catch a creature. Usually total obliteration would do the trick, but the end game boss would probably be harder than that. Hmmm  he thought out loud. Ah I have an idea. He said as the light bulb went off in his head.

Tenshi would watch Rhadamanthys point his finger in a weird seemingly arbitrary direction and  fire a devastating beam in that direction. He smiled and looked back at her. Give it second he muttered. Literally a second later Rhadamanthys stuck his hand up and a large splat and mass of ink seemed to cover his arm. Rhadamanthys stuck his arm as the Black Blood reformed into a little black bat creature.

Really you Dick! Ragnarok shouted. Did you have to shoot at us to get our attention!

I trust the host is safe you parasyte. Now silence. This woman, Tenshi she says her name is, says I we must have some method of actually capturing one of those minions of the monster. I imagine in your quiver of stolen, unoriginal, plagiarized abilities you can be of assistance. Rhadamanthys said with a scoff.

Is this how you ask for help you unsubstantiated myth? Ragnarok retorted.

Big words parasyte, did you leech them from the brain of your host? Rhadamanthys replied. Be honored that I Rhadamanthys, GOD OF DEATH! Allow you to exist in this world to begin with.

What's a God to non-believer!

STILL A GOD! Just one less mortal to grant mercy too! 

You lucky I'm going to help you catch that thing for the sake of peace, but when this over, you're food! 

Challenge accepted mortal! 

Rhadamanthys looked back at Tenshi. With this creature we should be able to seal off the creature's movements. Rhadamanthys told the blue haired woman. 

[Dad]

The Sweetness of Cherry Blossoms

 

As one of Isamy's enemies fell, it was quickly replaced by another.  Emerging from the nameless girl's body in a fashion of gore and blood, an unidentified girl with blue hair appeared.  She zipped and zoomed through the snow before summoning forth a tremor which spat spikes from the earth at Isamy's feet.  The Hollow did not respond.  Rather, the spikes politely poked the roots of the sturdy bone amalgamation before shattering, having only tickled Isamy. 

 

Then her foes began to attack from all sides.  One took to the air.  Butlerok exhumed flames down upon Isamy and Byakuya, sucking away the oxygen as the powerful flame drew ever near.   

 

On the shore, the one called Kratos had summoned forth a legion of undead who rained down a cascade of burning arrows at the Hollow Isamy.

 

Not far from them, the remaining Soul Reaper, Kenpachi, unleashed a wave of raw energy which parted the lake.

 

And the burning heart of Chandra remained ablaze as she too brought forth a torrent of fire and phoenixes with which to strike Isamy.

 

The Hollow remained still as these attacks were mere inches from utterly demolishing its life.  But there then came a sweet and disturbing scent across the lake which reached every nose.  The bound Soul Reaper, Byakuya, flicked its wrist as Isamy was surrounded.  Wheezing, it pronounced the name of its weapon.  "Senbonzakura."  

 

What should have been bright, flourishing color was replaced by dull, dead, grey cherry blossoms.  Hundreds of thousands of those blossoms appeared from the Soul Reaper's Zanpaktou and spread in a wide shield around Isamy's back and shoulders.  Butlerok's flames, Kratos' arrows, and Kenpachi's  reiatsu shockwave all met the cherry blossoms.  Kenpachi's attack was absorbed completely, nullifying any damage it would have done.  Kratos' arrows and Butlerok's flames ate at the cherry blossoms, quickly dissolving what remained of Byakuya's defense.

 

Chandra, however, once more found her mark.  Isamy had only briefly turned her head, but the side of the Hollow's face was scorched by fire.  It was not enough to gravely wound the creature, but enough to enrage it.  

 

Hollow Isamy screeched with agony, its inaudible speech sounding like a mix of hatred and sorrow.  Byakuya moaned and repositioned itself upon Isamy's head, his voice suddenly filled with terror and sorrow.  He posed to his enemies a question with which they had dare not answer.

 

"ARE YOU IN PAIN?"

[Reinforce]

Apep

Location: D4

 

Eyes narrowed as the demon watched the two she'd so recently clashed against now talking. With a gesture, the black flame dragon alighted down across her right hand, forming back into an ornate black tattoo running down the arm and ending with the head over the hand. Leaning forward, she vanished again from her position, reappearing above the pair and that little bat with them. As her wings flared out and kept her floating there, her clawed hand splayed open and pointed her fingers towards them, before black lightning burst forth at them. Using the freezing black fire with her lightning, the bolts would both shock and chill where they touched, and a torrent of the lightning was shooting directly down at the pair from her hand. Though it was subtle, a keen eye would notice the tips of her fingers were starting to blacken where the lightning was bursting out of. Behind her, the shadowy dragon was flying their way as well, aiming to intercept and bite the bat when it arrived.

From deep in her heart, a faint voice spoke to her mind. "Ayame"

Ending Location: C4

 

---

 

Chandra

Location: F3

 

There is little familiarity with the words and images that have not distorted. And of Ravnica, if any harm befalls the plane...

...there will be nothing that remains of their minds.

 

Chandra wasn't sure if the lack of familiarity was because he'd wiped his own memories at an earlier time, or if something was interfering with his mind, but one way or another, she was going to yell or beat some sense into him, whichever worked first. Saying the next bit out loud, even as her thoughts echoed her statements, she started to yell at him again. As she did, her anger was starting to rise once more, though much more directed towards Isamy rather than Jace this time around.

 

"Open your eyes Jace, this isn't working. Isamy's plan will fail, and if she's not stopped, the whole of existence will be brought to ruin. You say that you'll crush the minds of any who harm Ravnica, but are you not the one harming them the most currently. Look at yourself and see what you're doing, your actions and words contradict themselves."

 

Hearing a roar from first Ravnica, and then Isamy, Chandra caught Neos statement as she saw what the plane had summoned.

 

"...Chandra? What in the Distortion is that?"

 

"Distortion is right, that looks like an Eldrazi. If it is, it'll be just as dangerous to the melee fighters as the memory golems are."

 

Looking back around, she called more fire into being, having seen the damage she'd succeeded in landing, however low it may be, Chandra pointed a hand towards the bone amalgamation and aimed right at the head once more, channeling mana through her gauntlet to throw a high-powered Banefire directly at the head of the thing. As it flew forward, a second one burst into being in front of her, following the path of the first to strike in the same location as well. Even as that happened, the three phoenixes that were flying around the head and harassing Isamy swooped around to fly directly at Byakuya from multiple sides, attempting to hurt him and distract him from blocking the attacks flying at Isamy.

 

---

 

Darcy

Location: E5

 

He's a mind mage, isn't he? With a mind connected to his heart, which connects to his world...? In that case...perhaps it is really possible. I will be preparing a certain Recollection should this discussion go sour, and should you and the fiery girl over there helped me to get him still, then the operation could actually begin.

 

What is it? Oh, nothing much. It disgusts me to even consider it, but with this, I'm going to recreate the event that closed my sister's heart on him. Ah yeah, closing his eyes with the force from the hatred of an entire world...

 

With that said, I hope your plan works, Darcy.

 

If it comes down to it, I have options available to restrict his movements, and the fiery girl seems to have a knack for confusing him and making him think at least. For now though, I'll see what I can do to convince him.

 

Focusing on the mind mage even as two beings screamed out at the group, Darcy spoke once more at the front of her mind, directing thoughts at the mind mage again even as she kept the rest of her mind and Satori's shielded.

 

She's right you know, the fire girl, you're the one hurting Ravnica the most right now. You realize as long as you continue to fight for her, Ravnica will be forced to suffer in order to use that power you're channeling from Isamy. You should break the connection now, before you lose what remains of your sanity and drown in her power and madness like has happened to the other two heralds.

 

[spoiler=tldr]~Apep attacked Tenshi and Rhadamanthys with freezing black lightning, while the shadow dragon charged to attack the bat Ragnarok.

~Chandra continues to try and yell sense into Jace, while unleashing two blasts of Banefire at Isamy's head, and directing the three phoenixes attacking Isamy to harry and distract Byakuya.

~Darcy replied to Satori, and then proceeded to send another message to Jace, still trying to talk him down.

 

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Final Round!

Dorian looked on as his attack seemed to have missed its intended target for whatever reason but luckily it seems that in his efforts to take down one target he ended up finding himself right next to the big baddy herself. It seemed as if the other two ladies were doing fine on their own to talk to this illusionist. Of course, with his Seventh Sense, Dorian should be able to spot whoever this trickster is...buutttt if the main target was right here then why go out of his way to take on some minion. 

Dorian turned and looked as one the other women started firing at Isamy's face and of course he joined in. Dorian drew another arrow and pointed it straight at Isamy's face. Oh Boss, lady time for a makeover. He released his arrow and unleashed a torrent of blazing arrows directly at Isamy's face.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Butlerok laughed as his flames of Ryuujin Jakka were actually blocked by Senbonzakura. He landed on Isamy's shoulder directly across from Byakuya and pointed his katana at the transformed Shinigami. 

The Captain Commander is impressed and unamused at the same time. He gives you his regards. Butlerok pointed his hand at Byakuya and from the blackness of his body droplets of Mad Blood slowly floated from his body and stayed there for a second. Bloody Storm. He fired a constant torrent of Black Blood bullets at Byakuya similar to his Senbonzakura attack earlier. The Kishin chuckled as while he was attacking from the front he actually saw past Byakuya and noticed that someone was attacking with flaming birds from Byakuya's flank. This works. He said with a malicious smirk.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It seemed the food was willing to walk back and offer itself to Rhadamanthys. He looked up and smirked when the opponent fired twin lightning bolts directly at him and his new friend. Rhadamanthys looked up and fired two beams at the two points of lightning that was shot at him. As the two forces collided and caused a mild explosion Rhadmanthys through the bat right at the opponent. As the shadow dragon came in to take out Ragnarok, the creature laughed as it self destructed into what was a large collection of Mad Blood. The Mad Blood simply surrounded the combatants and made a massive floating bird cage. 

I think the parasite would call this Bloody Cage. Now creature, you won't be able to escape this time. Rhadamanthys looked at the Herald closely and then he tilted his head. Do I know you? He asked while stroking his chin very curiously.