Well readers, this is the last chapter of 'Angels and Bloodties'. I just want to say I thank everyone who took the time to read this story, and I hope you enjoyed it overall. Tune in for any future chapters in my latest story, 'Oh My Music Idol'. Please enjoy this last chapter!
Aftermath and Epilogue
A young man stands along a vast beach stretching across the horizon. He wanders the shore hearing the waves crash alongside him. In the distance he sees a girl stare out at the ocean, her dark hair flowing in the breeze. He watches her hesitant to walk up to the ghost, her silhouette he could never forget. The teen in his hesitance loses sight of the girl from her spot on the shore. He looks around from where she stood perplexed by her disappearance. The silver haired teen sighs and looks at the sea expanding out into the distance. It lulls him into a sense of calm, lost to the call of the waves.
"Uncle?" chaos becomes startled by a young woman's voice from behind him. He turns around to see his niece watching him bask in the serenity of the beach. Her hair was snow white like her father's, the petite girl somehow dressed in her usual clothes. Her wine red eyes fixate on her uncle's will, calmly studying it from afar. The young man glances away from her with the girl perplexed by his feelings of guilt.
"Lydia…I'm sorry. You didn't have to get involved in any of this. I...I never wanted you to suffer by their hands like I had." chaos sighed and glanced away.
"But uncle, how could you say that? You're not to blame for what happened," The girl replies. chaos was surprised hearing the girl speak so calmly about their situation as she casually played with the waves that touched their feet. She gestures to him to bask at the beachside view again and says, "This place, this is where many souls come when they are at a cross roads. I remember Anshelm used to call this 'The Beach of Nothingness'...he said this was where he was waiting all this time, until you finally released him."
"But it was at the cost of almost killing you, Liddy. I couldn't believe I almost-" The red eyed girl squints at her uncle before splashing some sea water at his face. chaos glares at the young girl for ruining their dramatic heart to heart with such tactless action as her playful smile reassures him.
"chaos, stop. I should be thanking you. You saved my friend, you avenged mother, and you even saved me." The girl walks up closer to her uncle embracing him tightly. "Uncle I don't want you to feel any guilt for what happened to mother and I. None of us could have seen this happen. All I can hope for is that Mom is at peace now." Lydia's smiling face goes solemn when she thinks of her mother. Lydia pulls back from her hug to look at chaos directly in the eyes.
"I suppose since we're talking about parents, there is something you should know...about Father."
"What do you mean, Lydia?" chaos asked. She appears reluctant to share until taking a deep breath. "Father…he plans something for humanity as well. Not its destruction, but quite close," frowned the white haired girl.
"You saw what he intends to do?" chaos frowned.
"Not exactly…when my mind was absorbed with Melvina and Father's during the ritual, I ended up seeing things I should have never seen. Things they didn't want me to see. I brought us here, so father wouldn't notice us talk. I don't know how…but I can feel him watching me since we left Lucifer's hideout."
"Well you are a part of him. Even if your minds had never formed that link with Lucifer, your Bloodties between him and the family naturally run deep."
"I may be his blood, but I can't let him accomplish what he is trying to do. It goes against my beliefs," scowls Lydia. She clenches her fists and pleads, "chaos, we must stop Zarathustra. All it will do is just repeat everything again and again. It won't truly-"
"Lydia, calm down."
"But uncle? How can we just sit here and do nothing?!"
"Lydia!" The girl's pleading eyes look deep into her stern uncle's calm orbs. For a few minutes of silence the two stared, the eyes of a serene sea taking in the red of small burning flames. After an unspoken agreement between the two, the girl's frustrated eyes soften with reservations thinking of the visions she had of the two rivals. She knew one day she will lose both to another divine spectacle...one that strangely felt like it's own magical space novella. She steps back from his gaze glancing away with a pout.
"Your method of interference will not deter father," said the resolved girl.
"I know," smiled chaos. "Although I chose to be a spectator, I have faith in the will of humanity, Liddy. We should, and need to, keep having faith in the light of humanity itself to shine through. It was something that...someone special to me had always believed. Now that I have accepted the darker half of my memories, deep within my own will, I can truly learn to understand my own power. Perhaps now, I can even use it to help my friends find their peace, and let them shape the destiny of humanity."
Lydia quietly smiles and sighs at her uncle. "I suppose as long as you guide them, I will have faith in you to do so. Even if you won't let me help."
A sweat drop forms on the side of her head when the girl takes a strand of her white hair, and begins to pout over the color. "I gotta say, my own…'upgrade', is definitely something I got to get used to. But I guess if you can find faith in humanity to fight their own battles, maybe I can find a way to persevere." Lydia smirks with a superhero's pose and chuckles, "A guardian of the lower domain. Yep, it has a fucking epic ring to it, now that I think about it."
chaos chuckles at the goofy girl as they shared smiles. "Yes, I think so too." The silver haired young man stands beside her happily watching the waves come back and forth on the shore again. The girl dips her toe into the water to feel the cool ocean again. "Uncle, I know after this...we may not see each other as much. This meeting could be our last before fate intervenes." Lydia focuses on the sky, breathing in deeply to signals several waves of pink lights to float around her. Knowing she couldn't help it, the girl slips in one other thing she saw.
"KOSMOS, is the key to determine the fate of this universe. Find a way to awaken her. She can help guide the maiden through her journey, to find her true self."
"As a spectator of this world, I would happily guide them to her." chaos could feel himself being pulled away from the white haired girl. The girl stays turned away from him as she replies, "Then find her, uncle. Find Mary again, and do what you think is right." Lydia's voice was soft as the resolved girl smiles at her uncle in his dream. He felt a relaxing, warm light tickle his face. His sight overwhelmed by the bright white light, his ears stimulated by the beeping of a machine, and his sense of touch overcome with the feeling of soft blankets surrounding his sleeping body.
-Somewhere on Fifth Jerusalem-
The boy jumps up from his sleep in a cold sweat. His eyes were wild as his hands were grabbing the sheets that lined his bed. chaos finds a set of hands touching him as he squirms on the bed. His mind swirling until he sees Shion's face. "Sh-shion?" Jin and Shion stood vigil by his bedside waiting for the silver haired teen to wake up from his injuries. They give their full attention to chaos when he started to wake up.
"chaos, it's okay. You were just having another nightmare." Shion's hands lightly squeezed at his hand and shoulder when she smiled at chaos.
"Where are we?" chaos looked around the sterile white room listening to the beeps of machines and monitors going on around the floor. He could see warm sunlight shining from out a large window overlooking a cityscape.
"You're at the Federation Medical Pavilion with us. You've been out for two days," Shion explained.
"Are you feeling okay? We were worried you wouldn't wake up," Jin asked.
"I'm fine. I guess I must have overdid it back there," chaos gave an awkward reply. Shion gives a lighthearted laugh while Jin sighs with relief.
"It's funny. Jr. said the same thing when they brought you here," she smiled. "You took a big risk doing that, you know? It was pretty dangerous doing that just to rescue them."
"Sorry," chaos smiled.
"Well don't do it again! You scared a lot of people doing what you did." Shion scolds the teenager with an angry pout as Jin laughs. "S-sorry, Shion. I'll be more careful, I swear," chaos responds quickly with a flinch.
The turquoise eyed teen gasps and clutches Shion's hand, "Liddy, is she-"Yes, Lydia is going to be fine. She only has a few minor injuries from the kidnapping. The doctors have her on the next floor up monitoring her," The woman reassured him. chaos sighs happy to hear the news about the Nephilim. They were both saved after all.
"The doctors have also been rattling their brains trying to figure out why her hair turned white after being held hostage," Shion added while scratching the side of her cheek just as confused by that bizarre event.
"What?" chaos blinked at the two siblings confused. He shakes his head in protest.
"No, it was the girl's metamorphosis! The family, and Lucifer, after Seraphina overwhelmed Lydia with her power, she-"
"chaos, slow down! What are you talking about?"
"Shion, I think he is still confused from the concussion," Jin answered.
'Concussion?' chaos feels his forehead touching a large gauze bandage covering up an 'injury'. "Okay, Jin. Don't mess with me, that all happened! There was this archangel trying to unlock my powers and-"
"Hey, is chaos awake now?!" Jr. shouts from beside his bed. He pulls the privacy curtain away to look at the three with a goofy grin. The URTV was laying in another hospital bed next to chaos, still breathing in through a mask. Ziggy sat next to him holding some flowers MOMO had sent him.
"Jr.? What happened?!" chaos freaks out.
"Oh relax, chaos. Everything's okay. I just have to keep breathing through this thing until the hallucinations go away."
"Hallucinations?!"
"Yes, with exception to KOSMOS, most of us were affected by a hallucinogenic gas after breaking into the prison cell they were keeping the Vein family. The Matriarch's mafia set up a trap to keep both the hostages and us from using the door in the prisoner's ward. Unfortunately, we triggered the trap before managing to escape the family's hideout. You and Jr. breathed in most of the fumes out of all of us charging into the prisoner ward," Ziggy explained.
"I'm amazed we were still able to defeat those thugs so quickly, and save both Mr. Wilhelm and the girl," Jin added.
"You-you must be joking. We were fighting alongside the Testaments and...how?" chaos looked like a newborn baby staring at his friends dubious. 'We can't let them know too much about the upper domain, can we Yeshua?' A soft spoken voice explained. An idea suddenly came to the teen's brain like an oven going off.
Of course, and as expected, Wilhelm and Melvina must have altered their memories of the incident. The code of the immortals when it came to interacting with the real numbers domain was a very strict code to follow for any angel. The rest of the group looked at each other perplexed, while chaos shook his head embarrassed he didn't realize sooner.
"Perhaps I should go get the doctor to bring in some more of that antidote," a sweat drop forms on Shion's head before she walks off to fetch the physician. Jin places a reassuring hand on his shoulder smiling.
"chaos, don't worry, everything is okay. Everyone got out of the mafia hideout with most of their health intact. Even the CEO himself should make a full recovery in about a week," Jin reassured. Although his words were comforting, chaos was in shock. They were able to stop the fight between the archangels, the balance between the domains had been restored. He...he didn't destroy the world. chaos lets a warm tear fall from his smiling face. His three friends look at him with concern once more.
"Forgive me, I...I'm just happy you're all okay." chaos wipes his wet cheek the tear fell from and asks, "I want to see her. Is it possible for me to move?"
Jin tilts his head unsure before replying, "Well I don't know if the doctors would want you to get up so quickly. But as an agent with medical training, I think I could get you up there." The agent winks at chaos playfully earning an eye roll from the younger looking man. Jr. shouts a joke about Jin helping a patient escape as the older man wheels chaos up to the eighth floor. While Jin wheels chaos along in the wheelchair he whispers in his ear, "The girl wouldn't stop asking about you ever since we brought them here to the hospital. The poor girl was convinced she killed you after hitting your head by accident. It was like she lost a loved one all over again."
chaos appeared saddened thinking about his dear friend, Angeles's last smile on his mind. "Jin, about Angeles, does Lydia know..."
"Yes, the girl was in the dark about her mother's death. I had to break the news to her about Angeles when we escaped. Poor thing was so heartbroken," Jin answered. chaos frowned as he pushed him to the entrance to the girl's hospital room. The two men were surprised to see KOSMOS sitting by the bedside staring at them blankly. Her scanner identifies chaos and Jin, the android replying with a simple greetings. Lydia was on the hospital bed sound asleep. Her white hair covered part of her face as she snoozed with the blanket tucked up to her chest.
"KOSMOS, how long have you been sitting here?" asked Jin.
"I have been sitting here for approximately 6 hours, 24 minutes and 33 seconds. Shion has instructed me to sit with Lydia until next of kin arrives," KOSMOS replied.
"That was nice of you to sit with her. I'm sure she appreciated it," Jin smiled at the android. Jin wheels chaos up to the hospital bed and waves off to chaos before leaving.
"I'll be back, chaos. I'm going to go check on Shion about the antidote." The agent walks off to find Shion leaving chaos and KOSMOS alone with the sleeping girl. chaos eyes KOSMOS stare blankly waiting beside the girl. The young man feeling uncertain if the android was glancing back at him as he sat beside her. chaos thinks back to what happened a couple of days ago at the Abandoned Research Facility, trying to recall how Mary managed to appear to him then of all places.
'Welcome back to the realm of the living, Yeshua. Did you sleep well?'
'Wilhelm, you're awake!' chaos shouts in his mind with surprise, earning a soft chuckle from Wilhelm's disembodied voice.
'Surprisingly so, I almost thought I would be out longer than what I was. The two of us seem to be more durable than expected.'
Somewhere close by, chaos could feel Wilhelm sitting up on his hospital bed smiling. The man sat relaxing on the other side of that same floor meditating with his thoughts.
'I owe you my gratitude for saving her,' the man said to Yeshua.
'Think nothing of it. I am just amazed both of you are safe.'
'Yes, I believe everyone is safe for now, especially after the feat you pulled with Seraphina.'
'How did you?'
'Relax, Yeshua. My minions had filled me in on what happened. Thankful for that considering I don't remember too much after fighting Lucifer. Hmmm...I think I recall talking to the girl. Yes...I think our last conversation ended with Melvina disappearing off in a huff, and me leaving the girl panicking…' The albino vaguely recalls the memory of waking up to the girl crying over Yeshua while his friends tried to revive him. Then he vaguely remembers agreeing for Melvina to 'protect their secret', allowing her to distort their memories of what happened at the facility. Then recalling the memory ending with him passing out again hearing the confused girl shout, "Help! Someone, someone help us!"
'That wasn't very nice, Wilhelm.' chaos's reply snaps him out of his recollection. The albino man retorts to his friend saying, 'Times of crisis build character. The girl needs to build up her resilience if she wants to continue living.'
'Wilhelm…' glared the silver haired teen in his mind. The albino man sighs and dismisses his rival's tone.
'Let me deal with things how I see fit, Yeshua.' Wilhelm replies to nobody, imagining Yeshua beside the bed. He moves his non-bandaged hand up to his chest to feel one of his healing scars. The man thinks about the girl after their last meeting, surprised to even be given any chance to reconnect with the little girl he once knew.
'If she ever wants to make it in our world, she should learn to be more resilient...for her, it will not be the same as it once was. You would do well to help her remember that. I can only predict her actions will be most, unpredictable, in her current state.'
'Funny, I thought you always knew everything?' smirked the silver haired teen. He couldn't see his face, but chaos could imagine the injured albino man glaring at him for his sarcasm.
'…shut up, Yeshua.' chaos chuckles at his friend's glare, imagining him on the other side of the girl's hospital bed staring at him. Wilhelm makes the mistake of leaning back on his bed, feeling that sleepy feeling take over him. 'I look forward to meeting her in person again…when they finally let me leave this cursed room. Until then, I think I will rest some more. Try to keep out of trouble while I am out...'
chaos smiles feeling his friend drift back to sleep, ending their mental connection to the conversation. The young man brings his attention back to the girl, with him blinking in surprise to see her body had shifted closer to them. The girl muttered in her sleep dreaming about her mother. Her hand was gently held onto by KOSMOS, whose eyes gave a fleeting shimmer of blue.
Epilogue
-Fifth Jerusalem Space Port, Durandal-
chaos, a few days after waking up, was given the all clear from doctors to return home with his friends. He wheeled Jr. all the way back to the Durandal to receive his earful of scoldings from Mary and Shelly, while Ziggy updated MOMO about him and Jr. by video chat. He parts ways from Shion and KOSMOS, who meet Allen at the Dammerung to try and review data from the rescue mission for Representative Helmer. Jin was the last to part from chaos, smiling at his friend from the bridge.
"I know with all that has happened, chaos, I can never repay you for helping us with the mission." Jin admitted to his old friend.
"You don't have to repay me anything, Jin. It is part of our job after all," chaos replies winking at his partner.
"Part of the job or not, I think you've done more for us than necessary...I'm proud of you, you know. For finally facing your memories," Jin puts a firm hand on his shoulder. chaos returns his smile with a tight hug and a warm smile of his own. "Thanks, Jin. That...means a lot."
"Hey, chaos! You're back!" The young man hears Captain Matthews yell out his name from the bridge and turns around. "Captain! Am I glad to see you guys. Is everything almost set with the Elsa?"
"Eh, almost. Old gal still needs a few more repairs with the engine and-"
"What are ya talking about, Captain? The Durandal crew figured it out pretty quickly. Master Guignan said next time don't let you and Tony's electronics overpower the ship's power core." Hammer smirked behind him, earning himself another smack upside the head.
"Ah what're talking about? That was all Tony's fault," grumbled Captain Matthews. "Honestly, it doesn't matter. I'm just glad we can finally get out of here." chaos laughs. The silver haired teen goes back to the Captain with a serious face and asks, "Is there anything we need to do for our next stop, Captain?"
Captain Matthews lets the question slide as Guignan Kukai walks in from behind them with a calm demeanor and replies, "Like Jr. said, don't worry. We made sure to have everything arranged. It would be good for you to take some time off given your situation." chaos nods with a frown and replies,
"Thank you, Guignan. I don't think Liddy and I could thank you enough for doing this."
"Think nothing of it. Until her next of kin has recovered, she does need someone to be her guardian. Just let us know if you need anyth-"
"Oh guys, there you are! I had no idea where the hell I was going," pops in the voice of a certain girl from behind Guignan.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" The Elsa and Durandal crew members scream and flail their arms nearly falling over themselves.
"How did you do that?!" Guignan shouts in object terror at the girl's sudden appearance and starts checking the secured entrance elevator. chaos narrows his eyes at the air headed girl, while his friends panic stare at the peculiar teen with suspicion.
She simply stares back at her uncle with a grin, answering back in an unspoken message of the minds. He sighs at his dear little imp, quietly letting his niece make her own decisions. It was going to be a long trip to Second Militia. chaos begins to chuckle to himself, 'God damnit, Lydia...'
-Federation Medical Pavilion-
Wilhelm continued to sit up from the bed, his pensive claret eyes looked out the window from the eighth floor of the hospital, the sun refreshing on his pale skin.
"It isn't over. Not for any of us," He whispered. His mind wistfully wanders to everything that happened while he was unconscious. The near activation of the Failsafe's powers, the death of Angeles, and the near destruction of the universe weighted heavy on his old soul. Wilhelm feels his weakened will grow stronger, matching the healed physical form. He could not forget the scars left by his own family, nor the things left unsaid to his former lover. He thinks about the woman, picturing her fiery red hair, her soft grey eyes. Wilhelm knew he would miss those days, like the days he missed back on Lost Jerusalem.
Despite the pain he endured, despite the pain that may linger for him in this world, there was the sense of comfort his purpose gave him.
He had to fulfill his plans to preserve this universe. A brief feeling of Zen fills him, along with a slow buildup of anticipation for the final performance between him and his rival. The Failsafe was intact, his resolve never wavering on his decision to be involved in his dramatic production after all he had suffered. Even if it was just as an interactive member of the audience. Wilhelm smirked at the thought, happy to see all this senseless blood shed never derailing his plans for the Eternal Circle.
'And on a positive note, I slept better than the dead.'
"You know you should be resting," a disembodied voice said before waltzing into the room. It was a man with short blonde hair and glasses, wearing his blue and white Vector uniform. Wilhelm grins at the Red Testament in disguise and replies, "I don't think I will require sleep for a while after being stuck in that pod for hours. It felt like I slept my whole life away." Kevin appeared relieved to see Wilhelm joking over his predicament. He walks over to the bed to sit and quietly opens a conversation with his boss.
"How are you feeling?"
"I will get better as the days pass," Wilhelm replies. "The worst of it has healed, only a matter of time before I can convince them to let me leave this place."
"Well, no amount of manipulation is going to convince the doctors to let you go until they think the nano-machines finished their work." Kevin scoffed. The white haired man examines his injuries again sighing at the waste of medical technology on someone like him. Wilhelm in an easy going fashion replies,
"Patience is one of my best qualities. I suppose I can wait a day or two for it to take effect if that would keep up appearances." Wilhelm looks out the hospital window again reflecting. "They at least will let Yeshua leave the hospital. The further he is from Fifth Jerusalem, the better."
"Would they really try to attack Yeshua after all that happened?" Kevin appeared concerned thinking of a retaliating strike from the family.
"Strategically, it would be unwise. She has been subdued by the archangel of light, therefore the appendages of that collective will be in disarray without their head to guide them. The Matriarch will not be putting her nose into anything for a long while…hopefully." Kevin could see his master's face turn blue thinking about the dark archangel. Wilhelm gently shakes his head to brush off the paranoia of seeing her again.
"Sooooo, no Melvina or disciples to bug us then?"
"We shouldn't be concerned about them, Melvina will most likely be too busy with the melodramatics of nearly being destroyed. Her loyalty to the Matriarch has been shaken beyond repair, she may even be too forlorn to do much of anything over this." Wilhelm chuckles in a low laugh, knowing that is what his sister would do after she fled the facility hours earlier.
"What of the girl?" Kevin asks. Wilhelm paused for a moment thinking of the Nephilim again, his face flat in expression.
"What about the girl? …It would only make sense for her to tag along. There is nowhere else for her to go, and I do not trust her on her own yet. Nor around other influences," Wilhelm mutters the last part of his reply.
"You don't seem too sure about her joining us," Kevin remarks with a skeptical stare.
"Losing a loved one to such violent means would drive anyone into crippling anguish. Though she unjustly sees me as the one that brought about her mother's demise, the girl's options are limited to those she can truly trust." He rubs the bandaged arm while rolling his eyes over the girl. "Course, it might do her good to let her grieve for a short while, lest her failure to do so may make the emotional idiot do many reckless and rash things..."
"So let her work out her angsty teen phase?"
Wilhelm mutely chuckles, "Adolescent minds are still developing, still searching for purpose, making them relatively easy to influence. Giving her confused mind a guided hand in her grief would help cement where her loyalties lie. But, forcing her rebellious mind into submission will not be as easy of a task...I was like that at her age, never cared for taking orders from others," Wilhelm's smirk earns a laugh from the Red Testament.
"If that is what you wish, then the chess pieces will be put into place. Oh, speaking of which," Kevin pulls out an old box from his side to show Wilhelm before he sets it on the bed.
"I snagged this set from the waiting room before coming in here. You want to play a few rounds to pass the time?" Wilhelm's face lights up with an enticed smile, already answering Kevin's challenge for a long overdue rematch.
"I would like that."
chaos: So, we are finally done with this?
IWTV: Yep.
Shion: No forcing us to act out a melodrama for your sick amusement?
IWTV: Yep
Lydia: No subjugating us to random acts of violence?
IWTV: I think I had my fill after a third of the cast got put in body casts after the last boss fight. Soooooo, yeah, you're good.
Albedo: -babbling incoherently still-
IWTV: Hey I apologized for that, Albedo!
Wilhelm: Is that red head still around by chance?
Kevin: I think she went off to hide with Ziggy and the others.
Wilhelm: Damn, well her loss. Do we get to collect our paychecks now?
IWTV: Why yes! Buuuuuttttt first, KOSMOS needs to borrow most of you for something else.
chaos: What do you mean?
KOSMOS throws a net over the actors.
chaos: Ah, no! She tricked us!
KOSMOS: You have been selected for call back on acting out a new fanfiction directed by ItWasTheVoices.
Everyone screaming: Nooooooooooo!
Lydia: Oh great, now I'm out of a job. (sigh) Looks like it's back to my original gig.
KOSMOS & IWTV: Please stay tune for more stories! :D