Divinity: Fates and the Afterlife
Chapter Eighty-Eight
"High King of Earth, Endymion De Terra."
-O-
Endymion tried to keep his gaze on Serenity but it was as if his body had given all of him. His eyes were losing focus, his lips barely moving to say her name. The pain was numbing, he was starting to lose control of his body.
Across from him, Serenity shared a teary glance with him, trying her best to keep the connection between them. Her lips also barely moved; her breath was too weak to mumble any words louder than her thoughts.
Chaos rubbed the back of his hand over his lips and stares at the larger trace of blood, slowly turning to the couple lying far apart from each other, knitting his brows as he glanced down at the prince half-conscious at his feet, fighting for his life "Ah, Navus..." his golden eyes narrowed, "Is this all?"
His boot stepped on the impaled weapon on the prince's shoulder and pressed it deeper. Endymion grunted, tightening his lips shut more as an act of pride to not show Chaos he was feeling excruciating pain, swallowing his urge to scream.
Chaos charged his hand and blasted the prince out of his way with dark energy "All that intricacy for nothing. Is this whom you expected to keep the Sun stone hidden from me?" He licked the last traces of blood in his lips "I am not amused."
Endymion coughed wet; his glossy eyes caught red stains in his hand, clearly his blood. Chaos kicked him on the side where his wound was still not fully healed, making him grunt between forced gasps for breath.
"Insolent. You are nothing else but the scraps of a titan," He muttered with annoyance "You may have endured the force of my presence, but you are nothing but a distraction. Guardian, protector... You?" Chaos arched his brow "There is nothing for you to protect when none of it is yours in the first place."
He crouched next to Endymion, leaning his head closer to him "You are never going to take my place. You cannot ever take my place. I am going to retrieve what belongs to me and bend this universe the way I want it to be. I will forge that seal out of you and erase all the trace of your existence. I will break you; I will destroy you." Golden eyes took a sudden change to crimson red, "You are not the only key."
Endymion gasped for air, his deep blue eyes widened with panic and let out a muffled scream, ghosted by the howling from the demons coming out at Chaos' command. He snapped his fingers to call for more demons as he slowly stood up and turned over his shoulder. His eyes darkened even more "The only one that can correct the trail of this dynasty is me and it starts by meeting its end."
Like smoke, demons spread all over across the city invading every nook in every corner of the world, pushing it faster to deteriorate. People had started to lose their minds; every speck of darkness was a valuable source of energy for Chaos and delicious food for demons and Endymion felt it all, like venom rushing all over his body. He felt it all.
Endymion knew the gravity of the situation. This was worse than being trapped in Purgatorio, this was worse than walking the rotten mazes and pathways of hell. Impotence was a bitch; he thought. He knew the risks, but right at this very moment, as he felt his life thinning out of him, he was more worried about her.
His right arm was useless, unable to move. It was as if Chaos had destroyed completely every nerve and muscle in his body; as if he had stolen all self-control from him. He tried to keep his gaze on her; as he hears her forced breathing. He hated being close to her and at the same time far enough to not be able to even to touch her hand. His eyes burned with sorrow; he saw tears in hers too.
Like her breathing, Sailor Moon whispered something at him again very faintly, barely audible. Her fingers twitched as she tried to reach for his and blinked slowly, mouthing the words she could not say out loud, hoping he would listen somehow.
Endymion felt his body was giving up on him; betraying his will. His eyes started to lose focus; his lips barely moved to say her name. The most sacred prayer of his life. His favorite word and sound combined.
A gentle, troubled voice echoed in the distance but he was too confused, too much in pain; too frustrated to pay more attention. He felt heavy very heavy; his body wasn't responding to him at all. And then, after a couple of failed attempts... everything went black.
O—o—O
From the opposite side, Sailor Moon watched wide-eyed, frozen, panicked. She tightened her lips, pressing as hard as she could to try to swallow her pain, to try to stay quiet despite feeling ravaged inside. This could not be it; she thought.
This could not be it.
This was not how things should go. This is not what they were constantly told about, this is not who they were. As a warrior, Endymion was not known for failing; as the monster assassin every god thought him to be, he was not known for giving up. As a thief, he was strategic and relentless. As a man, he was stubborn; very stubborn but also, hopeful.
This could not be it.
The same would go for her. She repeated it over and over again. As a sailor senshi, she knew better than this. As a soldier of love and for justice, she was not known for giving up; as a princess, she vowed not to go over this ever again. She wasn't known for giving the credit and the right to an enemy who had no other purpose but to bring everything to ground zero so he could cause another explosion and reboot the universe just for his amusement. She has faced adversity before—the worst there is, but not Chaos; the embodiment of torment. The most twisted irony of divinity: Beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
This just could not be it.
Her eyes felt heavy, her brain urged her to shut down. She had reached her limit and from here, all was going to wind down. Not sure when Sailor Moon gave in and also let herself go.
-O-
"Well, well, well..."
Serenity, undressed from her senshi uniform looked up to look at the woman who's voice she recognized immediately. Streams of crimson flowed around Beryl as she stood in front of her like a spirit lurking over her grave.
The former self-proclaimed queen of the Dark Kingdom looked down at her, eyes gleaming with pleasure; her lips showing her a half-smile as if she now knew her darkest secrets, mocking her life and apparent death.
The moon princess tried to stand but she felt like she had tons of dead weight over her shoulders and back. Her breathing fastened; all she could do was to shake her head in the hopes of getting rid of the sense of desolation.
Beryl slowly walked over to her and crouched, not close yet not too far. It was enough for both women to meet face to face and talk without having to raise their voices. Her red hair flowed in luscious waves down her back, slipping like silk ribbons down her neck and shoulders as she leaned down. Unparalleled beauty, something Serenity noticed right away and had never forgotten of her.
Beryl stayed quiet for what it felt like an eternity. Suspended in time, time is relative—nonexistent and yet, it felt like a thousand-year-old reunion.
"So, it happened... the untouchable princess... the divine... finally fell from grace."
Beryl arched a brow and chuckled quietly "It tastes bitter, is it not? Failure... hatred... envy... pain... the impotence of not getting what you want." She tilted her head, "All that sacrifice summed to this very moment. You and me. Feeling one and the same." She smiled "We are one and the same." She started chuckling, then broke in laughter.
Serenity frowned, she felt her skin crawling with fear and also with disgust "No..."
"We are one and the same, Princess Serenity..."
"No..."
"You too fell for the curse of having met Endymion..."
"No..."
"You are ruined..."
"No!"
-O-
"No!" Sailor Moon gasped with anxiety. She thought this is what it felt to be at the brim of death. Every breath leaving her body with a part of her essence, her heart telling her what her broken sense of reason could not accept: Live. Live. Live.
"Carry on. You must carry on, Serenity. You need to stay strong; you are not alone."
"Open your eyes child, it's time."
She slowly opened her eyes; regaining some of the clarity of sight. Her numbed hand slowly reached out to hold the golden pendant hiding underneath her collar and clasped it as tight as her hand allowed her to. A tiny spark of self-control woke her from her traumas and fears, silencing the voices Chaos had woken in her head with the mission to break her convictions; giving herself the power of perseverance.
"Please... don't... lose... sight... of... me..." She whispered in Endymion's direction and mumbled it; the dreaded secret word she feared the most "*Debellatio..."
Sailor Moon took a slow, very deep breath to calm herself down; she didn't want to attract Chaos' attention on her but everything inside of her screamed pain. She needed time and by that, she had to persevere, to stay strong and to keep her faith strong for the sake of this planet and for her husband's too.
Between her dark lashes, she saw the dark titan passing her by dragging his blade and carving the asphalt as he went, leaving a long trail of ash and tar behind.
"Notam ad mediam,"
(At the mark of the midnight hour,)
Chaos looked to the other side of the cliff he was standing into the stormy ocean breaking ahead to the force of the turbulence and brusque magnetic force of the portals he had been opening to allow more dark spirits from Tartarus and the Underworld alike merge into this plane until it was nothing left.
"Silentium non cadere. Terra antiqua spiritus adhuc stat et damnata fatis tellure hastas arcum suum imminenti morte." His amber eyes gleamed "Mediae Sol in conspectu dei, et hic deficiet, et alius sphaeram creaturae sanctitatem vitæ nostræ, nil inultum remanebit."
(Silence will fall. The ancient spirit of land stands still and bows to its imminent fated death. In the presence of the Nocturnal Sun, the aura will be eclipsed and the sanctity of our creation will reveal itself.)
Chaos felt a twitch and arched his brow; his lips pursed in an instant, almost undetectable by the human eye. He turned and used his weapon to block the flash of light coming his way.
"Venus—Love Me Chain!"
From the air, the senshi goddess of love and beauty appeared whipping her golden chain several times to hit her target. The blonde flipped backward in the air like the most agile gymnast, paying great homage to her sporting skills as a professional dancer and a badass volleyball player—as she would always say.
"Get your hands off my sister!" Venus whipped her chain again, taking shadows and demons under the force of the beaming weapon. She touched the ground and was immediately affected by the titan's strong aura and started to cough as if she had swallowed too much smoke. Her skin hurt and began to peel into thin flakes as if she had the worst of sunburns in her life but she didn't care.
At this very moment, her focus was more on her friend than on the fact that she was standing almost face to face with the most vicious enemy she ever had encountered in her entire life—mortal and divine.
From the moment Kunzite gave the other shitennou the command to break the parallels in the atmosphere and use their power to bend the density to allow them to cross and rise barriers to counteract the shadows causing the distortions; a power none of the girls knew of them having until now, proving that even they had their own skills in battle as much well-kept as the prince of earth did until very recently.
Each of them had their own net of working, as much as the senshi did. They all knew each other's strengths and weaknesses and knew when to add support when the other needed it.
With his newly acquired weapon, Jadeite pulled up in his saddle so his feet were the ones keeping him balanced as their stallion kept galloping full speed and kept shooting energy arrows to clear the way. He took lead with Mars into guiding the rest to the warp merging between worlds and used his skills as strategist to give quick routes of evasion with the help of Zoisite whom with the power of his crystal sword cleared the view for Mercury to keep calculating and tracking the royal couple's location and giving information which way to avoid and which way to head.
Nephrite would use his mental and cosmic abilities to manipulate the corruption of the dark stars to open their way while Jupiter used her blessed power of lighting to take down masses in few strikes and give way for Kunzite and Venus as each leader of each team and each royals' right hand to go ahead and search for them.
Her bright blue eyes trying to land on any signals of her friends, she felt like her heart was sinking deep into her stomach when she finally spotted both, prince and princess, on the very edge of losing their lives.
"No... Oh my god... No..."
They had finally reached ground zero. The coordinates Endymion had shared with Sailor Moon when she kissed him before he went to meet face to face with Chaos and sent the message with Centaurus' celestial horse had finally led them to their exact battle location.
Thankfully they had arrived charged with power but much to everyone's horror, they found both of them severely beaten and lying far apart from each other, like it once happened thousands of years ago.
For what looked like, each one had faced Chaos on their own, taking each other place when the other fell unconscious. The tragedy was latent, pounding in their ears like a heartbeat. Venus felt her blood freezing the moment she saw Sailor Moon with a lost stare and unable to respond to her voice no matter how loud she called out her name, barely breathing.
Kunzite's reaction was not too far from hers when he spotted Endymion lying on a pool of his own blood with his sword impaled in his shoulder and in a similar catatonic state. Panic hit him. His face paled; his first instinct as his guardian ignited and rushed to his aid "Endymion!"
Being the first to come closer, with his quartz sword in hand glowing pale pink and ready to charge its famous strong blasts; Kunzite pulled the reins of his celestial beast to make it go deep into the thick fog that had started to make it near impossible to see. There was no reflection of anything, almost no sound but the ones from the demons sprawling from the ground and the screams of those tortured and captured by them. The closer he could get to the prince the more vicious the shadows became and the more he risked the sight of him.
Chaos spotted Kunzite coming closer riding a celestial beast and commanded a large crowd of shadows rise and go after him, hissing like hungry snakes. "Ah, look... your sitters have come for you..."
Venus aware of the general's intentions, she raised both hands and aimed her palms at the darkness "Venus—Love and Beauty Shock!"
"Mars Flame Sniper!" From an opposite location, Mars shot the fire arrow with Jadeite who had used his own bow and arrows to back up the fire senshi's attack. Jupiter did not wait and jumped from the horse she was riding with Nephrite and brought a lightning storm with her as she went down, madly furious.
"You bastard!" She turned and aimed her hands at the titan and blasted an impressive ball of lighting at Chaos "Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
Mercury joined right after, her harp materializing out of ribbons of iced water and glided her fingers through the cords to a dark melodic attack "Shine Aqua Rhapsody!"
Chaos' eyes gleamed, sensing more forces of divine nature aimed in his direction and turned to see Uranus jumping down with her fist hitting the ground "World—Shacking!"
"Deep—Submerge!" Neptune attacked from the opposite side leading to a big explosion when all the forms of attack merged to aim at Chaos.
When the dust of the impact settled, finally allowing them to meet for the very first time; the titan swung his weapon down, making a gust of strong air strong enough to push back the senshi and shitennou with impressive force.
"So, the heresy of the gods has come in their name as well..." Chaos digs the blade at the end of his glaive on the ground and glared at them "Oh, Death and Time..."
O—o—o—o—O
A long swing of the curved scythe took count of a herd of demons and remains of those fused with ancient deities. Hades turned over his head and used his majestic weapon to reap others coming from behind and turned to Ares who was caught in the same situation with demons coming from all over for their souls.
Ever since the brothers had teamed up and went into one of the portals, the god of death has been doing the job he had given up ever since he became one of the pillars of Olympus.
"I can feel the angry aura of the giants," The god of death muttered under his breath "They spit curses at us," his brows knitted together, using his power to control what remains of the underworld under his command to send the souls there and with the help of Hecate, Charon, and other deities from the dark realm to keep them locked in now that the judges were serving to their title of polemarchos of Alpha, known as the protectors of the Cauldron and fighting on the other side of this daunting spectrum.
"I cannot stand to see my own realm going against me," Hades' eyes darkened and brought his hands together and gathered a ball of energy "I am the God of the Underworld, my power is of death, I call for you, Typhon! Come forth!" He turned with his famous scythe in hand with the curved blade facing the demons coming at him and from a dark portal of its own, the infernal beast appeared roaring loud.
Joining the battle, Poseidon did not wait and swung his triton to point his command, "Rise! From the depths of Cetos, the haunted goddess of Poseidon's waters!
From the depths of the void, the said creature of legend, the famous Medusa appeared in a dark tunic dress clinging to every curve like a visual curse, luring everybody to look at her contradicting beauty. The snakes living in her head hissed in response to the corrupted demons and giants breaking out and snapped her fingers to call for none other but her most beloved and trusted creatures of companion.
As she stood in the raging waves of darkness, Medusa raised her arms and let out a high-pitch scream "Charybdis and Scylla!"
From behind her, two serpent creatures of massive proportions answered her call and started devouring the corrupted forces of the giants. Hades on his side of the battle with his scythe in hand, Ares on the other with his claymore sword both gods reliving the battle of the Titanomachy.
A strong sting that echoed in the depths of his mind made Ares turned, he growled as he pulled his long claymore sword from one corrupted large demon and shook its black blood from the heavy blade. From the very bottom, deep down from the actual view, a loud echo shook both gods. Medusa responded with another high-pitched scream and commanded one of the sea creatures to attack the source only to be devoured by the nothingness below.
"Ares!"
Ares looked up at Hades, his eyes mirroring the fright of someone who knew what was happening. Another loud echo followed, this time, the god of war knew that Chaos had stepped up in terms of strength and power.
"We must close this portal now!"
Below him everything started to crumble and disappear right before their very eyes. Frantic, almost on the verge of breaking character, Ares turned to his older brother and pulled him out of the way when blasts of dark matter poured out like pus over an infected wound "He found it..." he muttered with fear.
Hades turned to his brother; his face splattered with dark blood as he cut other demons' heads with his scythe "What are you saying?!"
"Chaos is manipulating the fluxes of time and space," The god of war repeated the same action his brother just did and kicked another monster aside "This cannot be stopped... not anymore..."
Hades felt his blood running cold, hearing such daunting premonition from his always feisty and prideful brother was disheartening "Ares... but..."
"Hades." Ares muttered, almost breathless "We need to start preparing..."
Hades frowned and widened his eyes when he saw Aegeus coming close with a daunting look, "Ares..."
Aegeus, the prideful polemarchos of Orion; Ares' right hand in the celestial army. Known for his perfect skills and performance on the battlefield; his hair always looking like fire and his rich deep voice were now shadowed with concern.
Ares didn't need to look; he knew the only reason Aegeus would leave his post in a battle to go into a vortex looking for him was because things had escalated to a graver scale. He did not need to look at the warrior's face, he already knew they were more at a loss than a win.
"Status,"
"We lost Apus—Arches is gravely injured. Crotus is taking his place but Sagittarius is a weak link for us now; the constellation will not last and it will burn the same as Apus if I do not move more troops. I sent support but—"
"We don't have time,"
"Ares?"
"Where is Zeus?"
"Still at the front of the first battalion; he is the one that sent me here noting something was not right."
"None of this is right, no matter how much we try to keep these demons contained, they are growing much in strength..." Hades muttered with that same daunting tone Ares was speaking just moments ago. Aegeus used his chain weapons to take care of the shadows coming towards them and continue his conversation "The judges of the underworld are taking second, third and fourth."
"Still not enough at this point,"
Ares finally turned; his face darkened with determination. He was fully aware of the measures and consequences of his decision; his last card now on the table along with his remains of hope.
"Go to Terra. Find Centaurus, join his force."
"Ares..." Aegeus frowned "What—"
"We are running out of time! The lockdown will not remain for much longer... Chaos is creating more warp holes in space as we speak!"
"Ares!" Hades tried to intercede but he knew his brother had a broader knowledge in the situation above and below the battlefield. The god of death lowered his scythe "Fighting black holes and the bends of time and space are just giving us fickle threads of hope; we can only close them momentarily. Chaos is the root of the problem and he is on Earth. It is there where it must be cut."
"I will find Centaurus, then." Aegeus nodded "He knows Chaos more than any of us do... aside from you."
"It is because I know him better than anyone that it is why I am doing this," Ares licked his chapped lips "Once there, you will have to make a choice." His eyes darkened "I am trusting your good judgment."
Aegeus frowned "Ares?"
"Memento mori..." Ares sighed heavily, remembering his master's bitter words, finally understanding what he once meant. He lowered his weapon, reluctant to look at one of his most trusted allies, "I am not capable of fighting Chaos, Aegeus. Not anymore. He has gone beyond my control; beyond anything I have learned from Helios." His lips tensed as he rolled his tongue slowly over them with shame and admission, "I have fought this war for thousands of years to know well I no longer have the power to stop him; to accept what Chronos warned me that night..."
"You are the God of War!" Aegeus said with increased panic, almost mad at his leader "What in the heavens are you talking about?! Why are you saying—" the polemarch of Orion growled enraged but this time, Hades took the conversation and pointed his scythe down "Reckless strategies... unplanned and bitter." His low tone finally finding the middle point and bending his posture against Ares' constant allegations.
"If it's not us, then what will then?! Are we really condemned to perish this dishonorable way!?"
"Chaos is not a god, Aegeus." Ares finally looked up "That has been our biggest mistake; treating him like one and fighting him like one. Chaos knows us like the palm of his hand but there is something he does not know... something he has never cared to understand," His gray eyes found Aegeus' "Evolution."
Aegeus frowned "What?"
Ares tightened his grip in his sword and looked up at another herd of demons, he gave him one nod before returning to the fight "Go to Terra. Find Centaurus... from there... you will know what to do."
O—o—o—o—O
All eyes were fixed on the man in black standing with outstanding pride with his deadly glaive stained with gore; his beautiful golden eyes staring into each one with allure.
From their position, Jadeite felt a twitch he could not let pass and shared a side glance with Zoisite who was also ready with his weapon in hand, "Oi..."
"I know what you are going to say..." Zoisite muttered, his green eyes now fixed on the titan. Jadeite sighed "Is it a competition with this dynasty or what?"
"What?"
"Allure is not a casualty with this family then, they all are born to be like that..." The blonde sighed, "My, my, that is truly unfair,"
Zoisite blinked "All right, I was not expecting that..."
A barely-there smirk crossed Jadeite's boyish face, lifting some of the somberness that had followed all of them ever since the battle began "Helios must have been very popular with—"
"Save it..."
"I am just stating a truth... are you going to deny it?" Jadeite frowned, Zoisite sighed "I am in a very uncomfortable position where I feel forced to answer something I do not think it is poignant to address right now. Especially when one represents a threat to the universe,"
"You cannot deny it,"
"This is getting very creepy."
"Well yes, we are fighting creatures that are coming straight out of hell."
"I was talking about you," Zoisite smiled, "But I am glad you have kept some of that sense of humor within you... you were becoming quite dull, to be honest,"
"Oi," Jadeite sighed, "Please don't tell Endymion I used the word allure to describe him..."
Zoisite arched his brow and gave the man a side glance "What? And miss the joyful moment when he slaps your head? Now, why would I do that?"
"I would never hear the end of it."
"True, you would never hear the end of it."
"You are going to tell him, am I right?"
"Who knows... first, we need to come out of this alive, then I will give it a thought whether I should expose you or not."
Jadeite sighed, "Yes... sounds about right..."
"All right, first things first. We need to break the charged barrier to get to Endymion. Kunzite is taking front center," Zoisite regained his stoic face "I will back Mercury; Mars will be Venus' shield,"
"Mars is covered, I am not losing sight of my fire maiden. I made a promise I do not intend to break." Jadeite nodded "I am ready for this..."
"Good." Nephrite caught up with them and watched Kunzite slashing shadows with his charged sword "Because it is time."
O—o—O
"Damn it, it's impossible to get closer!" Venus said with frustration as she tried to make her way to Serenity; her blue eyes quickly found Kunzite moving through the shadows with excel battle skills but as much as her, he wasn't getting anywhere close. It was as if they were trapped in a loop with deformed demons that were now difficult to separate from possessed civilians.
Mercury immediately activated her goggles again and started analyzing the matter around them, confirming her suspicions "We are not in the same plane as him... there is too much distortion in the ambiance it is hard to reach his exact location..." She narrowed her blue eyes "He is manipulating everything around him,"
Mars looked over her shoulder and gave Venus the sign to run and turned with her hands already wrapped in flames and brought them together "Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!" A sacred ofuda appeared fully charged and traced the now-famous attack from the Shinto priestess with it in front of her "Akuryo—Taisan!" She quickly took a second stance "Burning Mandala!"
Chaos arched his brow and raised his hand, easily bending the fire as if it was his own. Mars widened her eyes and raised her arms "Phobos—Deimos!"
The crows flew around her, taking the shape of her bow and arrow and shot an attack at the titan "Mars—Flame Sniper! "
Jupiter seconded Mars as she stayed close to Venus so she could get to the princess without getting trapped by the shadows Chaos had been manipulating and commanding at his convenience following in a similar move Sailor Uranus was known to do, she discharged a bolt of lightning into the ground taking shadows and demons in one strike and sent another one at Chaos, her forest-green eyes focused and dark with anger "Jupiter Thunderbolt!" With a strong stab on her heel, Jupiter charged again "Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
"Shine Aqua Rhapsody!" Mercury threw a blast to stop the shadows and give them an opening to get closer to Chaos with futile success. Her eyes quickly read the gathered data in her goggles and quirked a brow "A pocket... but..."
"I will take care of that."
Mercury caught a gleam coming close, showing Pluto protected by the sacred power of her talisman. The senshi of time and space, stomped her staff on the ground, the garnet stone at the top started to shine intensely.
"Pluto!"
Pluto turned quickly spotting demons raging after them and charged her staff "Death Scream!"
Mercury walked up to her with hasty breathing and looked at her in the eye with concern but before she could even mouth her concerns, the senshi of time and space nodded "Saturn is close by and taking care of her part of the mission."
"Hades..." Mercury said in almost a whisper; Pluto nodded "Like me, Saturn is tied to her jurisdiction and she has her own way of working, she is, after all, born from the Underworld."
"Luna, Artemis, and Megumi made it to the Moon safely, then..."
Pluto sighed "Yes... Luna and Artemis did..." she turned and saw no signs of Megumi, her heart immediately cringed as she slowly shook her head, "Megumi..."
Mercury widened her eyes with realization but none of them was given more time to explain and turned to take a position, "If anything I have learned about her, is that she is more resilient and braver than we all think she is." They stood back to back and smiled sadly, "I never doubted her... she is one of us, after all."
"Then we must trust her," Mercury said hopeful, "If she has have chosen to stay is because she, just like us, has unfinished business..."
"Unfinished business..." Pluto's garnet eyes darkened, paying homage to her titan ancestry and thinking about how Mercury's words matched Saturn's wise ones. Her posture immediately changed, from worry to determined, focused on her next task at hand "Chaos."
"Sailor Moon and Endymion are injured. We need to get to them fast," Mercury looked at the readings in her goggles, "But he is too strong... the energy around him is too much, even for them..."
"Chaos is creating layers of energy from different dimensions; he is very smart and as a titan, he is a force to be reckoned with. A straight attack will not work... he has complete control over the space he inhabits."
"This means we need to find a loop in one of them and create an infiltration," Mercury blinked "By manipulating space as well..."
"Or better yet, create a new one." Pluto gave her brilliant friend a confident smile. Mercury blinked widely surprised "Y-You can do that? But it would make the fibers of space and time more vulnerable,"
"Yes. But under these circumstances we don't have many options to pursue, we won't know if we don't try." Pluto stomped her staff on the ground proudly "I am Titan as well," she sticks up one finger, and tilts her head to the side, giving her friend a smile ever so sweetly, "Plus I'm also a scientist! We can figure something out!"
Mercury loved this side of her always cautious, always prudent friend. The wisest woman she's ever met "You are so awesome."
"I will disrupt the continuum, the talismans will react with enough energy for you to create the loop,"
"Got it." Mercury typed as fast as she could and quickly turned to Uranus and nodded "As fast as you can,"
Uranus gave her blue-haired friend a strong nod and waited for the signal. Pluto raised her talisman above her head and called for its power "Chronos Typhon!" The gust of winds attached to the strong and incredible Pluto's power boosted Mercury's plan with enough energy to increase the level of distortion; raised her hand and shouted: "Hyperspatial Sphere Generate!"
Similar to when Pluto slowed time, a vacuum was created from merging both attacks in a momentarily deafening effect followed by a sense of suction. Neptune's mirror started glowing, with the charged energy within and shouted "Submarine Reflection!"
The solid blast of energy kept the disruption steady enough for the others to cross; Neptune turned to the shitennou, who was closer to her and with a higher chance to cross "Now!"
Nephrite raised his sword and channeled the power of the stars as he traced a symbol in the air with it; the blast of energy was strong to clear their path as they rode down the crumbled building now swirling with the strong gusts of wind intensified by Pluto and Mercury's attack.
"25 gradus Aestellus! 15 gradus separationis—" Zoisite said and turned to Jadeite, nodding.
"Impetum contra occidentem!" Jadeite wrapped the reins of the celestial horse again and went down the crumbled building with bow ready and cleared the path for Mars to run alongside her leader to get to the princess "Ambusti terrae!"
Nephrite pulled the reins of the horse he was riding and pointed at the demons "Starlight Attack!"
Confident in Uranus' speed and quick abilities, not to mention the heightened power of her talisman, Mercury gave sign to the girls to cross the loop and get to closer, challenging Chaos' disturbed physic laws of both gravity and space.
The sky senshi wasted no time and went straight on after Chaos. She raised her hand as she ran, leaping from the rising corpses on the ground "My Magic Tool—Talisman!"
A flash of light materialized her heavenly weapon, Uranus held it tight and came closer to the titan who had now noticed her presence "Show thy power and protect me!" Uranus jumped and kicked demons out of her way, feeling the adrenaline rush through her whole body as she saw finally got a visual of Chaos up close and that he was not taking any cover, feeling victory in her hands "Space Sword Blaster!"
The attack unraveled into countless spheres of energy and light swirling in a consequent chain of explosions followed by a loud and screeching echo. Uranus knew she had landed her weapon on her target, that she was sure. Her deep blue eyes widened when she knew the situation was far graver than what she initially thought; victory was not in her hands or relied on the power of her sword, nor it was close.
Her grip while stronger than any other, objective and merciless, Sailor Uranus was in a great disadvantage against Chaos and she knew now that she was face to face with the titan himself and her weight was supported by his careless grip on the glowing blade of her sword. The tip of his fingers held it so tight it was impossible for Uranus to make another move, not even to pull it back from him and attack him with another angle or start over.
"Gods' celestial toys do not amuse me at all. They are all just useless relics, very much like your poor skills to wield a sword." Chaos looked at her, his overbearing energy getting into the sky senshi's mind "Nor their weak attempts to make a worthy soldier out of you."
Uranus growled in frustration. She couldn't fight it, the darkness getting inside of her head. The sense of loss and the pain of feeling tore from the inside. Every fiber of her emotions. She let out a loud cry, one Neptune caught right away and turned in her direction. She felt as if her heart was being ripped out of her chest, every scream, every rant coming out hoarsely.
"Uranus!" Neptune raised her hand in the air to call for her talisman as she ran toward the titan and her lover "Submarine Reflection!"
Chaos slowly turned and raised his hand and turned his wrist; stopping Neptune in an instant. His golden eyes fixed on the marine goddess then at Uranus still trying to push the blade against Chaos "I am impressed by your endurance..." he tilted his head "But do not think of yourself so highly; you are before me because I allowed you to. I wanted to see the face of Uranus' flawed daughter, whom he named after himself out of pure ego."
Uranus growled "Bastard,"
"You cannot forget..." Chaos blinked slowly "You will never forget... how he wished to make a worthy soldier out of you and all the things he did to actually make you believe it, so you could take the place of the son he never had. But not even then were you worthy, poor you... alone, confused, and abandoned. Your mother preferred to look the other way while your father, well... you being a chosen senshi had him with some sort of peace." He turned, Neptune still unable to move just meters away "Until you met her..."
Uranus' teary eyes slowly caught Neptune fighting for breath but at this point, Chaos had gotten too deep into her mind, numbing all of her muscles. She wanted to scream in anger, scream the worst of curses at Chaos for reading her thoughts and rummaging through her traumas as a divine. To hear her millennial old grudge in the voice of her enemy.
"This is the nature of those of Olympian blood. This is your heritage,"
Uranus stared dead cold at Chaos who had his eyes in the reflection of his face caught in the blade of her sword "Always so grotesque and unpolished." He arched his brow "Imprudent,"
Uranus growled with rage and fought with her all her might the invisible force pulling her down and thrust her knee at Chaos' chest; her eyes widened when she saw the titan didn't even flinch and heard the blade of her sword cracking into pieces. Chaos sighed and grabbed her from her hair and blasted her out of his way and did the same with Neptune; cutting her as she fell with the remains of Uranus' sword.
"Uranus!" Mars widened her eyes "Neptune!" She ran after her and snapped her fingers to charge an attack "Mars Flame Sniper!"
Chaos turned over his shoulder and raised his hand, the energy around him manipulating the flames as his own again and returned the blast back at her threefold in force—if not more. The impact was too strong to allow the priestess to measure the level of strength, putting her down as well.
Another blast of energy roared the surface. Jupiter came next ready to charge them on Chaos' neck. The Amazon clapped her hands to create more electric ions and threw balls of lighting without even chanting the names of her attacks. One after the other as she came closer; her green eyes filled with rage.
Chaos raised his glaive and cut through her attacks with ease and returned each blast with magnified force; Jupiter looks up, stumbling, fighting with all her might to give up.
"This is all there is, then. The mistakes, the leftovers, the flawed, the abandoned..." Chaos said nonchalantly "Glorified bastards..."
"I don't need a lecture from you," Jupiter wiped the trail of blood trickling from her forehead and turned to spit, she didn't even want to know what it was; she didn't care. The soldier of courage and thunder took several steps and stopped, her eyes fixed on Chaos but her vision had started to be compromised.
Jupiter cracked her charged knuckles "I don't give a fuck if that good for nothing of a god abandoned me, whatever I am I became on my own and I am proud. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that, so yeah... I am one damn glorious woman." She frowned "I don't care if I am unrefined. I don't care if I wasn't loved before... I care for those who do now." She closed her fists and frowned "I care about kicking your sardonic ass,"
Chaos stared beyond Jupiter and remained quiet for several minutes, startling the Amazon senshi "Oi... Titan..." She cracked her neck with a smirk plastered in her beautiful face, "Are you afraid to be beaten by a woman?"
"Jupiter—Coconut Cyclone!"
Chaos used his glaive to cut through the storm and kept walking towards her; Jupiter didn't wait. Her frown deepened and turned to blast him "Jupiter Oak Evolu—"
Her forest green eyes widened when she felt his hand on her neck, frantic for not having noticed him move. His eyes boring into her soul, just as he did with Uranus, he was breaking into her psyche but the Amazon wasn't going to give in that easily. After all, she was Zeus' daughter and she had the same pride running through her veins.
"No, Olympian bastard, I do not." Chaos arched his brow "I do not know fear and I do not care for your unrefined sentiments either."
"Ah... well, in that case, let's introduce you two, shall we? Because now I am really damned pissed for what you did to my friends."
Closing her eyes was her first attempt to stop Chaos from playing with her mind, although already knowing that was not how it worked for him but it worked for her, at least for a few seconds. With all the self-control she had left, the antenna in her tiara raised higher, taking twice the force from the lightening above; Chaos' and hers, blending together, creating a supercharge.
"Supreme..." Jupiter muttered, opening her forest green eyes to see Chaos' reaction.
Nephrite felt a strong pull in his chest, as if the stars in the sky, those that still remained on their side were speaking to him, giving him the alert of what was going on. His rich hazel eyes, between moss and oak, widened and turned in the direction the sky was breaking into ribbons of electric charges.
"Jupiter..."
His lips trembled; his heart raced. His hand tightened in the reins of his horse and went the opposite direction Jadeite and Zoisite had agreed on him taking; both shitennou surprised as they saw him leave with no explanation.
"Please, Jupiter... please..."
"Nephrite!" Zoisite called out to him with no response from the always responsible and focused general. His eyes widened twice in size, blinded by the strong light pouring down and cracking the remains of structure still standing all the way to the ground.
"Jupiter!"
"Thunder!"
A mad roar in the sky broke the thick clouds, allowing a massive bolt of lightning flow down like a dragon ready to devour its prey. Millions of specks like bioluminescent dust flowed around them, getting trapped in the magnetic field and charging along with the force coming their way. Jupiter had made her peace with it, long ago and never felt prouder to be one with this force and power.
The rumble and force were so intense it disturbed the magnetic fields and barriers with its imminent explosion. Nephrite was about to jump down the horse when he felt a strong pull, limiting his movements. He turned over his shoulder and saw Saturn manipulating the energy to keep him still.
Saturn shook her head, almost as if she knew something he did not and looked at the scene in front of them "You have a duty, she has hers. If you are a man of war, then you very well know this is how things go. Stopping her would be like denying her right to fight for justice just like everyone else."
Nephrite stared into the inevitable blast coming from the thunder shi that stopped everyone else from making another move. Uncertain and scared, he jumped down his horse and ran after the amazon soldier when the dust had started to set despite the still on-going deep rumbling sound of thunder in the background. Their surroundings were shattered, unclear. Daunting and in the middle of it all, Chaos stood still with his weapon in one hand and Jupiter lying on the ground, looking lifeless.
"Jupiter!" The general broke his usual controlled character and raged at Chaos, charging a blast the titan flicked carelessly like a speck of ash from his shoulder. He tilted his head back with pride "Well, well, well..." His eyes landed on the brown-haired general; he started walking towards Nephrite with his glaive ready to charge, "So now, Helios' celestial beasts reincarnated from stones into humans... Not only they wanted it to be true but they really believed it..."
Kunzite widened his eyes as he pulled the reins of his horse and turned to Chaos with an ice cold-glare. Nephrite was ready to charge at the titan with his sword in hand, time was limited, so distances. His gray eyes finally landed on Endymion's moveless body and turned to Jupiter who was looking at him with a faint smirk on her face. The shitennou immediately knew this was planned by her, the attack and result of her confrontation with the titan to create a diversion so they could get closer to the prince and princess. The famous soldier of courage had opened a window of opportunity for them in one single strike; marvelous.
"Thank you, Jupiter..." He bowed his head with admiration but knowing the limited timing, he pulled the reins and had to thank her and praise her strategy as she deserves once this is over. Because he truly believed it, he wished it so, that one day all this would be over.
Taking advantage of Nephrite taking the front and with Chaos' focus on him, Kunzite moved through the dense fog when he saw a tall shadow lurking close the princess.
Chaos broke character and let out a low chuckle. One, just one chuckle, but it was all he needed to prove his amusement. With one flick of his fingers, everyone that remained standing was pulled down to their knees as if gravity commanded them to bow to Chaos' presence. Kunzite tightened his jaw, swallowing up all the bottled-up anger inside of him along with his frustration for not be able to do more at this point regardless of knowing what to do.
"How far are you all going to keep dragging the imminent end of this worthless planet?"
"How much longer are you going to keep pretending your fate is not settled?" The titan turned over his shoulder at Kunzite his hand controlling Nephrite's power "That you have reached your limit," He narrowed his golden eyes, "Blessed relics, divine aid from War, Death, and Time; ancient prayers, guardians, prophecies—they are all useless on me," He gaze moved to stare at Pluto holding her staff horizontally, using the energy from her talisman to protect them from the demonic waves swirling out of the portals "Even for other titans, all is relative in the presence of void."
Chaos extended his arm, revealing the mass of darkness flowing above him, hitting everyone's sense of reality. Grasping the horrors of having their lives being taken away.
The cloudiness they thought was fog were in fact the hundreds of souls and energy stolen from those Chaos had possessed and controlled for thousands of years and ever since he broke from Tartarus, mortal and divine alike, they were all under his control now. Everything was what he said it was... his.
The noises from underground and above were inhumane, screeching and tortuous. The smell of decay was unbearable, the anguish, the pain, everything was taken to an extreme no human being could ever bear. Earth was dying and with it, a chain reaction of mass destruction was about to follow with the growth of Chaos' space vortex.
O—o—o—o—O
On their way, Centaurus felt the change. The shift and collapse of the many energy barriers the polemarchos raised to contain Chaos' malice on Ares' command. He clenched his jaw and looked around quickly spotting Chaos who had noticed their intervention and sent demons and shadows their way. The powerful titan swung his glaive with force, disrupting their course and making them fall.
Aegeus frowned when stopped his horse; he pressed his lips and turned to Centaurus "This is where the Sun Polemarch should be, no?"
Megumi felt as if all air had left her lungs, her glassy eyes quickly saw the senshi and shitennou all scattered and forced to be surrendered to the bigger force she could not entirely see but felt was clearly present. From their position, it didn't take her long to spot the princess and at a considerable distance away from her, the prince.
Hurried, she tried to jump from Centaurus' horse but was quickly stopped by the polemarch with a strong grip. She turned with tears streaming down her eyes with panic "Let me go! Let me go to them!"
"Wait!"
"I knew it was just a matter of time,"
Chaos swung his glaive again as he wiped the blood splattered on his face with his other hand "I knew you were going to drag yourself to this place..." The titan demanded his weapon to swallow more energy "What can you possibly do in a place like this, Centauri? Confront me? Here?" His golden eyes landed on Aegeus "You even brought others to do the work for you, of all polemarchos... it had to be Orion's."
"Do not mistake things." Aegeus frowned, "I am not here for you,"
"Oh?" Chaos arched his brow "You are Ares' lapdog, always have been. The only reason you are here is because he sent you to fix his mistakes the same way he has done for thousands of years." He started walking towards them "This. What you are doing now, I have done it too. Condemnation, I know it like the palm of my hand. You being here means nothing. Your position as polemarchos means nothing."
Centaurus sensed the treat in Chaos' deep voice and carefully pushed Megumi to the side; Aegeus quickly catching up, stood in front of her to protect her and keep her from view.
"I know who you are, I know how you are, that has been settled for millions of years." Centaurus shook his head, "I came here as an arbiter, a facility of war and take back what belongs to Omega. As much as I have wanted it to, you are not my grindstone, Chaos."
Chaos arched his brow and turned when a gust of wind dissipated the fog revealing Endymion standing still and fully awake. Centaurus tilted his head low, the tension palpable but also an incredible pride to see this moment finally happening "But you are his, and that is enough to feed my lust for blood."
Endymion raised his head, his eyes fixed on Chaos; darkened with iron determination. Chaos saw it, the absolute power of his descendance. A golden sheen slowly showing through the deep Prussian blue of his eyes, the rim of his irises shining gold like a corona during a solar eclipse; Helios' power manifesting within him like a true successor.
"I won't surrender our lives nor link my existence to you." Endymion said in a grating voice, not recognizable anymore "This will end here; this will end now."
With this, Aegeus realized what Ares had said. The drop of temperature around them and the shift in gravity, feeling even heavier than when he got there, "Centaurus..." he muttered under his breath, clearly taken aback by the energy coming from Endymion, instantly reacting in discord with Chaos'.
Endymion tilted his head to the side without breaking eye contact with Chaos and stretched out his arm at Centaurus. The polemarchos of Omega pulled his sword out of its sheath and threw it at the terran prince who quickly caught it from its hilt with a secure hold.
The polemarch of Omega smirked with satisfaction "Now, let us see what Helios' successor can really do."
The Divinity Series is rated M. Violence, gore, cursing and/or intimacy may occur.
I do not own Sailor Moon, just this plot and some of the characters.
T/N: Debellatio: To end a war by complete destruction of a hostile state.