Beast of the Void Part III
Aro's eyes shot open and slammed shut once again. Slowly, he reopened his eyes, letting them adjust to the blinding white void he was in before trying to sit up.
"Where the hell am I?" he thought, rubbing his aching neck. His mind registered that he was touching bare skin just a second later. "Where's my helmet?!"
He stood up slowly and looked around. The memories were slowly coming back.
Gluttony claws dropping on him.
Flying.
Falling.
A mouth closing.
Aro couldn't breathe. "Kain?!" He yelled out into the endless void. "KAIN?!" He ran his hands through his hair, shaking his head and letting tears fall from his eyes.
"No. I can't be…No." he fell to his knees, shaking. "I…failed them. I…" He suddenly let out an anguished scream that echoed across the void. Tears fell from his eyes and ran down his face. There was no point in denying it.
"Now is all of that really necessary?"
The familiar voice captured his attention. He spun around, frantically looking for its origin. He found it.
"Gluttony." Aro seethed. He cautiously rose to his feet, hands balled in shaking fists.
Gluttony simply shrugged, "If you want." The Awoken man was an actual man again, instead of a raging insult to nature. He wore simple white cloth, no shoes and his pure white hair was tied back in a ponytail, save for a few loose strands. He looked…normal.
His eyes were still red though.
"Where the hell am I?" Aro demanded.
"Teetering between life and death, just like I am now." Gluttony sat down, cross legged on the white ground, "The only reason you can't find your Ghost is because you're closer to death than life and the gap is widening."
"You're between life and death?" Aro laughed bitterly, "Have you been outside recently?! If you're in here, then who's killing my friends out there? Who ate me?!"
Gluttony took in a deep breath, "I can't give you the details right now. You don't have time. Not if you want to get out alive."
Aro's eyes narrowed, "Why are you helping me? Still trying to preserve the Gate?"
"Not at all. I'm trying to help you and the City. Pride has no control over me in this state unlike every other time before."
"Pride? The first of you Heralds?"
Gluttony laughed, "I wouldn't even put him in the same league as us other six. He's in a class all his own. Maybe Sloth, on the basis of natural talent or Wrath(K) on the basis of raw power can come close. But at the end of the day, they're nothing to him. We're nothing to him. Nothing but tools. Weapons. Disposable." Gluttony looked him square in the eye, "It was him who ordered me to attack Fireteam Daniel in the Skywatch and to defend you in the Devil's Lair. It was him who ordered Greed to kill Fireteam Mira and Sloth to sabotage Fireteam Daniel's efforts on Mars. Greed had to beg him to order Sloth not to kill Daniel, Erek and Kayla in Clovis Bray."
"And Fireteam Katrina?"
"My own free will. Or what little of it didn't belong to Pride. You saw what was down there, Aro and you see what destroying it has done to me."
"What the hell was it?"
"A shard of the Traveler. My experiments on myself took a deadly turn when I became a Herald. I was taking in too much of the Darkness and it was warping me. The shard allowed me to use Light as a buffer." He spoke calmly and fluidly, as if discussing the weather.
After a few seconds, Aro sat down, "What experiments?"
Gluttony shook his head, "If you beat me, there's a journal left in Greed's old room at the Tower. Find it. It'll tell you what you need to know. But like I said, I did too much. Took in too much. That's how I got the title, the name "Gluttony".
Aro took in his words, "What about Tarlowe? What did shooting him have to do with anything?"
"Pride said we needed a distraction. Something to keep you occupied. He ordered the shot to be to the back of the head."
Aro went cold, "Greed shot him in the back. He survived but he's paralyzed from the waist down."
Gluttony's shoulders dropped, "I'm sorry to hear that. But he's alive. There's a silver lining I guess."
"You care?"
"Always have. Ever since Greed…or I guess, Vell and I became involved, I started to see his family as my own." Gluttony looked away, with a small smile, "Adrian would always throw these small parties just for the family. He'd always insist Eris and I come. Didn't seem to care how busy I was and he'd order Vell to practically kidnap me."
His smile fell, "I was there when Joanne died giving birth to Maya. She died smiling at her new baby. Her first daughter. Her two sons. Her husband and his brother. At Eris. And even at me." A tear flowed down Gluttony's cheek, "In that last moment, she seemed as luminescent and as beautiful as the Sun, and I wished to be so brave."
He looked back at Aro and looked at the ground, ashamed, "But I'm not. I'm a coward. I was given the chance to obtain the knowledge I wanted and I took it no matter the price. I wasn't there when Adrian died. Not for Tarlowe, Christine, Daniel, Maya and not for Vell. I was given a chance to cheat death and I took it again." He laughed bitterly, "Now look at me. I'm trying to kill the very people I fought alongside. Now I'm trying to kill one of the very people I watched grow up. Who I looked in the eye as a child and told I would always be there should he need me. I thought I'd be afraid of death. But I think the scariest thing about death is the possibility of seeing Adrian and Joanne again. I couldn't face them and nothing I could ever do will make up for it."
"I caused this. A long time ago." Aro said softly, "I opened the Gate. I brought the Darkness to Earth and I chose Pride. That is a fact whether or not I remember it."
"I won't deny that." Gluttony said, "But now you're working to fix your mistake. Killing all seven Heralds has never been done before; that much is true." Gluttony have a wry smile, "But we tend to do the impossible daily. Just like you're about to do right now."
"Wait, what?"
"What I mean is that our time is up, Aro." Gluttony stood, "You need to leave."
Aro stood with him, "How?"
"You've used Radiance before. Same way you always do. Get emotional."
"I'm plenty emotional!"
"If you were, you'd be alive right now." Gluttony moved closer, "When we first came face to face, I sensed something about you. Your Light is unlike anything I've ever seen. Ancient, ethereal. If you want to beat us, all of us, you're gonna need to stop stifling yourself. Now close your eyes."
"But-"
"Aro please, you do not have time!" Aro shut his eyes quickly.
"Dig deeper into your own mind, Aro. Find your Light."
"Basic Warlock training. Easy enough." The quiet of his mind filled with a warm glow.
"Keep pushing. Deeper into your own Light. Find its core."
Aro did as instructed. The glow became more and more intense as he did until he felt he could go no further.
"You've stopped." Gluttony stated more than asked.
"It's like I've hit a wall." Aro's eyes clenched, "I can't go further."
"Focus on this wall. Pour every powerful emotion you feel into it, like a Sunsinger. But at the same time, try to contain it, like a Voidwalker."
So Aro did. He thought of the horror he felt seeing Jessie and Sora lying dead on the Moon and the happiness and the relief he felt in getting them home alive.
He thought of the gut wrenching fear facing Sepiks Prime and the pride he felt when they overcame it.
He thought of his team. His entire clan even and how they knew of his role in all of this but bore no ill will. He thought of how the Suros' took him in like one of their own. Like Daniel's father to Greed before. His team. His friends. A family to call his own that he'd die for without a second thought.
He couldn't stop the tears from dropping from his eyes again. He thought of Daniel. The first time they met. The first time they talked. Their first time together. It was stumbling and awkward but he had never felt so safe with anyone in his life. Aro could feel the wall slip away and his mind delved deeper and deeper.
"Open your eyes, Aro."
He did. He looked over himself to see his body covered in a light that outshone the white void they were in. He felt more energized and excited than he ever had in his life. Yet at the same time, he felt in complete control. Like he could do anything he wanted to.
Gluttony stood watching him, a small smile on his face, "What do you want to do, Aro?"
Aro raised his hand, staring at it, "I want to go home. I want to end this."
"Do you know what that requires? Focus on it."
The white light became a brilliant orange as the Solar aura of Radiance wrapped around him.
"This is it. Give it one last push. Tell me, who or what are you thinking about now?"
Strangely Aro thought of Kain. Yes, Kain was the one who woke him up and gave the Darkness access to the Gate again but without his Ghost, he never would've met the others. And now he was just barely holding on to Aro, sticking beside him through a situation that seemed absolutely hopeless.
"My Ghost. I'm thinking of my Ghost." He told Gluttony, whose smile grew.
"If you ever get the chance, head to Mars. There's someone there I wish I could've paid my respects to before all of this. I have no right to ask anything of you. But I'd be honored if you did it in my place."
Gluttony placed a hand on Aro's shoulder, the flames licking and enveloping his hand but never hurting him, "No matter how we met or the hell I've put you through, know that I am sorry. For absolutely everything. I'm on your side now. I'll be rooting for you from here."
"Thank you. Thank you, Gluttony."
"Toland. Call me Toland."
The fiery wings on his back grew in size and last thing he saw was Toland's toothy smile, right before the white void was replaced with black.
Erek tackled Daniel and Blinked him out of the way before Gluttony's foot could crush him. Daniel struggled, screaming Aro's name. It was no use. Crona already confirmed she couldn't feel his Light anymore.
Both Wrath(K) and Greed launched themselves at Gluttony, aiming for his stomach. Gluttony fired wildly at the two of them, knocking them into the ground. He kept the beam focused on them. Greed raised a done around himself and Wrath(K) and was struggling to keep it raised.
"They can't even stand up to him." Erek said, "Daniel?"
"After everything…everything we went through…" Daniel's mind was everywhere, "He promised. He promised we'd talk. He promised he'd come back. He…they always promise. Vell promised. Father promised. They always promise. They never keep it."
Erek shook him out of his downward spiral, "Daniel! He's…he's doing something."
Daniel pushed past him, peeking behind their cover. Gluttony screaming and thrashing wildly, knocking over several structures and moving their way.
Erek and Daniel ran towards the others to get out of the way. Asura had restarted the fight with Wrath(K). The way he was fighting, Daniel wasn't sure who was really in control.
Still screaming, Gluttony opened his mouth and a blinding wave of flame erupted outwards.
Daniel's teeth clenched and his heart dropped, "He breathes fire now?!"
"Daniel, that's not him."
"What?"
"Aro. He came back."
"Aro?" He whispered out loud, afraid to believe it.
Gluttony's thrashing became more and more violent as the orange flames shot high enough to lick the ceiling. The monster fell to the ground, trying and failing to use his still attached arm to stop himself. Gluttony heaved again and again as hard as he could. With one last push, a body, wrapped in brilliant flames, flew out of his mouth.
"Aro?" Daniel scrambled towards, stumbling and sliding to a stop, "Aro? Aro!" Daniel was scared to even touch him. Aro twitched and suddenly shot up, startling Daniel. Aro grabbed him tightly and practically flew out of the way of an incoming blast from Gluttony.
Gluttony's head followed them roaring in anger and pain.
Aro roared back. He thrust out both palms of his hands and sent a blazing stream of fire directly into Gluttony's face. The force of the flames were enough to physically push the giant behemoth backwards.
Using the distraction, Aro put his palms close together. A spinning orb of violet Light suddenly appeared in his hands and started to grow in size. Gluttony was regaining himself, still unbalanced by the loss of his arm.
The Nova Bomb suddenly started to fill with orange flame-like energy and continued to expand in size, Aro's hands expanding with it.
"Aro, what are you doing?!" Kayla yelled into the comms, already knowing the answer. Aro didn't respond.
Gluttony threw his head back and fired the strongest energy ray he could manage.
With significant effort, Aro launched the Radiant Nova Bomb, sending it to collide with the Void blast. The Bomb barreled straight through the stream of energy, cutting through it like a mountain through a river.
The Bomb forced itself into the monster's mouth and detonated. The force of the blast seemed to rock the entire Moon as well as knock everyone to the ground. Daniel covered Aro with his arms, shielding his eyes from the blinding light of the explosion.
When the light finally disappeared, a headless Gluttony remained frozen in place. Aro weakly turned in Daniel's arms, not daring to relax.
Gluttony slowly dropped to his knees and dropped forward to his stomach with a reverberating crash. His remaining arm snapped off, turning to dust before hitting the ground. Slowly, the rest of his body followed suit until all that was left was Gluttony, the man. He turned his head weakly and smiled softly at Aro.
"Toland!" Greed ran to him and turned him over.
"I'm sorry, my love. I'm so sorry." he weakly raised his arm, tenderly caressing Greed's face and wiping away his tears, "Take care of her. As long as you can."
The arm disappeared into dust, starting at the fingers on Greed's face and slowly trailing down his arm
"No, no. Please." Greed begged, "Don't leave me. Not again."
Most of his body was gone, "I'll see you soon. I promise." he whispered.
The last of him disappeared, leaving Greed kneeling over an empty space.
Greed was silent for a long time, his shoulders shaking. Daniel moved himself in front of a barely conscious Aro.
Greed ferociously roared and and slammed ground. The entire group tensed, waiting for the next attack. Daniel pulled Aro closer.
It never came. Greed covered his eyes and let out a strangled sob. He remembered what Gluttony had said before Aro resurrected himself. They had been together. Despite everything, Aro felt a pang of guilt for taking his love away from him a 2nd time.
Something moved behind him and looked over to see Wrath(K) hold out a large hand to Asura, who was still on the ground. The Hunter hesitated before taking it and being brought to his feet. Wrath(K) walked towards Greed and placed a gentle hand on his shaking shoulder.
Greed looked over and stared at him for a long time. He finally stood up, gave Daniel and Aro one last tearful look before the both of them faded away without another word, leaving the six Guardians alone in the chamber.
Erek weakly walked over to Daniel, "How is he?"
"Unconscious but alive." Aro's Ghost answered, "We should get him home. I knew he'd find away out." Kain said more to himself.
"Caesar, set my ship to pilot itself back. I'll ride with Aro."
The Guardians returned to orbit and took off without hesitation, leaving the Moon behind.
Reports came in from those monitoring the Moon. The Hive had calmed down and retreated. Daniel paid them no mind, falling into a dreamless sleep with Aro safe in his arms.
Toland the Shattered/Gluttony the Voidwalker's theme is "Size of the Moon" by Nogizaka46 (Naruto Shippuden Opening 14) which should be up on SoundCloud under "Death the Kid"
I'll be taking a small break from posting while I write the final 3 chapters of the book