Chapter 32: What Happened After
"ARE YOU FUCKING JOKING?!" Erick shouted.
Palutena's frown intensified as she clutched onto her golden staff with a blue orb at the top. "What you say is outlandish."
"DYSON FUCKING DIED YOU HEARTLESS STUCK UP BITCH!" Sarah screamed at her. "Our friend just DIED because of her! We saw her with our own eyes!"
"A woman with pale white skin, white hair tied up to look like a six legged spider. Bloody little red eyes of a heartless soul. Black blooded veins running up her arms to a black gown that seems to be tainted with evils. There is not a soul in the entire Multiverse who looks like that!" The goddess responded.
Each member of the council seemed to groan in response to this. Byleth, Ness, Lucas, and Akira each held power because of Moon, in addition, since reforms had to be made in order to make peace with Palutena, each cluster's most recognizable figure was made into a member.
"For-a the love of-a god." Mario groaned. "Enough already with-a this-a nonsense."
"What would they possibly have to gain from lying to us, you fat corrupt plumber!" Mewtwo snapped, crossing his arms. "May I remind you how poorly you've treated them in the past."
"HI!" Kirby cheered.
On the opposite end of the table, Ness buried his face in his hands and let out a groan, Lucas, Akira, and Byleth all looked at him sympathetically.
"You saw her too, didn't you Byleth?" Akira asked. "Surely she'd take your word for it?"
"I tried one off mentioning it to her in the past, much before Moon made his return to overthrow her." Byleth replied. "It was actually one of the first things I did when I got my Invite to Smash Ultimate."
"What about you, Joker?" Lucas asked, directed towards Akira. "Maybe she truly doesn't exist in the Multiverse and only in their cognition. Maybe she's like...a shadow...or a cognitive being...maybe even an evil Persona of their combined distorted desires?"
"I doubt it, Persona's appear to be unique to each person. Only certain people can have more than one on them at a time. Something like that would be an anomaly. In addition, I feel as though Moon's persona would be Principality if he had one, simply based on what I've seen and what my father and mother told me about him."
Ness sighed as he turned to Paula, who had been dragged into this simply by coming to watch the 6th tournament. Either way, this was another entire fiasco that involved Giygas yet again, more work, more effort, and more pain for Moon, Sarah, and Erick.
"Are...are you sure there's nothing we can do?" Paula asked, approaching the table, trying to ignore the shouts and bickering of everyone at the table.
"I...I just don't know anymore…" Ness replied, rubbing his head. "Giygas always played his cards perfectly. We didn't know Moon's world came to fruition, we didn't know the Church of Serios was a threat to our timelines, we didn't even know that Tabuu was working under Giygas. This whole thing has just evolved into a big freaking problem."
"So if she truly does exist...then that means Giygas found her world first...and with Tabuu's help, he obscured her world from all forms of detection until he needed her again."
"I won't believe a damn thing you say until you show me some proof!" Palutena shouted, snapping everyone back to reality.
Sarah's face was red in anger, and her eyes formed a deadly glare, she took out her golden frying pan and smashed it against the table, the amount of force she put into the swing was enough to make the entire long table shatter into bits, despite being on the end.
"PROOF?!" She screamed. "YOU WANT PROOF?! HOW ABOUT THE FACT THAT DYSON ISN'T HERE! HE DIED! HE'S DEAD! OUR FRIEND IS DEAD!" Tears flowed down her cheeks violently and her fingers were sparking energy out of the tips as she gripped Freya with all her strength.
"Sarah...I must advise against your-" Erick started.
The goddess's glare intensified. "Your friend was killed as a result of your foolish actions if you want to blame any-"
Sarah's scream of rage echoed through the entire hall, so much so, that the temple started to shake. Before anyone could do anything, she jumped on top of the goddess of light and repeated smashed Freya against her head. Her entire body reverted to the state of her darkside, much to everyone's shock and horror.
"IT'S YOUR DAMN FAULT MY BOYFRIEND IS STUCK THERE!" She half cried and half shouted as she struck the Goddess's head. "ALL BECAUSE YOU JUST COULDN'T ACCEPT LEGAL DEFEAT WHEN WE PLAYED BY YOUR OWN FUCKING RULES!" Each strike of Freya had such a loud echo, you'd think Palutena was a hollow gong.
"SARAH!" Erick shouted, "You need to…" the genius suddenly stopped, catching Ness's eye. His friend's doppelganger simply shook his head.
Erick bit down, but shut his mouth as Sarah continued to mercilessly beat the goddess into the ground. Everyone else on the council simply watched on in horror.
"IT'S YOUR FAULT WE'RE UNSTABLE!" She hissed, smacking the goddess across the face.
"IT'S YOUR FAULT OUR FAMILIES ARE DEAD!" Another loud strike against the skull.
"IT'S YOUR FAULT THIS MULTIVERSE IS A GIANT CORRUPT PIECE OF SHIT!"
"Thank everything that she's a goddess...and can't be damaged, bleed, or anything other than feel pain." Akira whispered. "We should be thankful she can't summon Satanel in the process. Oh what my mother would think if she saw this now."
"I feel as though your friend Akechi would be proud though." Ness replied smugly.
"Oh absolutely...I always thought Crow would get along with them, or at the bare minimum, Pankechi would at least like Moon's train of thought."
"So...Ness...how much longer are you going to let her…" Paula asked as Sarah's merciless screams and shouts, as well as the ever increasing sound of metal smashing against the goddess' head increased drastically.
"HOW...MANY...TIMES...DO...WE...NEED…" Sarah heaved as she smashed Freya again and again. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO SMACK YOU FOR YOU TO SEE YOUR TRUTH!"
Palutena eventually found her strength to grab Freya's handle and force it upwards, holding Sarah back. They could see the PSI Energy sparking off her fingertips as her arms shook, trying to continue smacking her.
"You're insane…" the goddess snapped, pushing against Freya. "I have scoured and scanned every corner, every inch, every part of the Multiverse, there is no one, NO ONE, who likes the person you describe!"
Dark Sarah hissed. "OF COURSE THERE ISN'T YOU BIG FUCKING IDIOT! I'M THE ONE WHO HID HER WORLD! I, GIYGAS, DID IT! I HID HER WORLD FROM YOU!"
There were a few loud gasps, followed by several "I knew it!" from certain council members.
"You're lying…" Palutena snapped. "This is just another wild goose chase…another trick to get your way using those kid's distorted minds...they've been your tools since day one, and you'll do whatever it takes to get out...that's why I'm going to kill you."
Dark Sarah cackled. "GOOD LUCK TRYING!" A loud explosion of multi-colored light exploded around the area, quickly thinking, Ness, Paula, and Lucas all put up PSI shields that absorbed the blast for everyone except Palutena.
The dust settled and Sarah was on the floor, coughing, and still crying. However, she was back to her old self, no sign of darkside. Palutena had been blasted to the opposite side and into a column.
Erick quickly ran over to her and helped her up. To the genius's horror, she looked awful, her mouth was leaking blood, her hair was still charred a little, and her whole face looked like she had been rescued from a burning building a few seconds too late.
"Come on...come on…" Erick said calmly, holding her shaking hand. "It's okay…we'll be fine. Stay with me Sarah."
"Take her to get some rest…" Ness said, motioning to Erick. "Astro should help calm her down." The black haired genius nodded reluctantly, and took Sarah out of the room. Well...not after Sarah made several attempts to stay put, it was another 3 minutes before he finally convinced her to walk away.
Palutena grunted as she walked back to the table. "Thank you!" She snapped irritably.
"You're welcome." Akira replied with a smirk.
"Now...Palutena…" Ness said, his eyes narrowing. "Are you SURE you've scoured and scanned every part of the Multiverse? I mean...surely that would mean that you also knew that the Church of Seiros was connected to Giygas...right? And...in addition that would mean that you saw the conspiracy list that showed that every villain was connected to him as well. So, I'd think very carefully about what you DID and DIDN'T DO."
Everyone on the council looked over at the goddess. Who's eyes looked down at the ground. She didn't say a single thing after this.
"That's what I thought…" Ness said, folding his arms.
"Well...with Nightmare defeated, Moon should have gotten better." Lucas said, a small bit of doubt in his voice.
"It...took a bit…" Byleth said. "But...he did come around eventually."
"Your majesty, please this hardly seems like the time to take such a..."
"Enough babbling Hubert," Edelgard replied furiously, "He just lost a friend with us as a witness, give him time to himself, we do not need to rely on him for everything."
"Excuse my rudeness," Hubert replied quickly. "But, I doubt that will make much of a difference, I believe what you have told me is true, however, should Flayn, Seteth, the Archbishop, or, dare I say Thales, get their slimy paws on him in this state it could set up for a disaster. It might make more sense to move Moon to a more...secure location."
"No matter where we move him, my uncle will find him," Edelgard replied. "Keeping Moon nearby and close is the safest way to keep my uncle from him. Now, can we please move on from this discussion and get to our main concern." Sapphire and Byleth both nodded in agreement.
Yes, of course." Hubert bowed to her. "It would appear that Claude was not lying about the Church's attempt at a surprise attack, your Uncle's second-in-command, Myson spotted the Archbishop, along with Thunderstrike Cassandra making a march towards the northern entrance to Garreg Mach. In addition, Petra has reported strange flashing lights, as well as the flapping of wyvern wings in the nearby forest to the south."
"Everything adds up, meaning that the Church has no intention of taking over from the front entrance." Sapphire replied. "Their forces are split, and the heavier distraction is routed towards the north. However, defeating the Southern strike would end in our victory."
"So, no holding back then…" Byleth pondered. "We must defeat Seteth, Flayn, and whoever else is with them on the southern attack force."
"We should also make sure we defeat them swiftly." Hubert placed a hand on his chin. "Claude did mention they plan to set fire to the forest grounds out there. And, it should go without saying, but we can't allow any of them to get into the Monastery."
"Your Majesty!" all heads turned towards the Gatekeeper, who had chosen to align with the Empire due to some past connections.
"Ah, Gatekeeper...what is it?" Sapphire asked.
"Church forces spotted to the North, they'll be arriving soon, what's the plan?"
Though taken aback at first, Edelgard shook her head quickly. "Get Ladislava and Randolph." she said firmly. "Tell them to put all force and focus on the Archbishop and Catherine."
"Yes ma'am." Gatekeeper saluted them and ran off.
"I suppose that means the southern flank will be arriving soon." Hubert replied. "I shall go alert the rest of the strike force. Sapphire, it's best that you go inform Moon that he'll be sitting this one out."
Sapphire reluctantly pushed open the door to Moon's dorm room. Too his great surprise, he found his friend sitting at his desk looking over a book. Although, based on the water marks still stained in the floor, he was still crying.
"Dyson…" Moon whispered. "I...I want...I want things to be different…"
Sapphire opened his mouth, before quickly ducking as Moon threw a light book, almost a journal over the back of his head.
"I can't...I can't do that…" his friend's voice cried, it sounded almost unnatural to hear him cry. "I can't...I know the rules…I know the consequences that would await me if I did."
Curiously, the blue haired boy picked up the journal and flipped it over.
Cognitive PSIciene, Reality Manipulation and its Effects
By: Takuto von Maruki
Under the journal, there was a large red stamp of ink that was clearly done by Seteth that marked the journal as "Against Church Beliefs.
Fueling reality to match one's desires truly is a spectacle of a greater picture. A way to manifest such a thing could create a world with no need for war, for lies, for corruption and crime! Using the powers of the Cognitive world, it may actually be possible to rewrite such a feat, of course, creating a world with this reality would take time to adjust and make permanent, but with everyone's memories being very easily alterable, it wouldn't be a problem at all! No one would think to put a stop to it!
However, for every major step of the process, there will be those who seek to rebel against change. A truly perfect Utopia simply wouldn't be a place they want...I can fully understand that. It would seem that the way time and space function agree with that idea as well. As I continued to make little changes here and there...I could feel myself growing stronger...I am this world's greatest hope! I can fix the issues here! I can make it so that nothing wrong ever happens or happens again!
Below the writing, he could see a scribble in Moon's handwriting
Each time one manipulates reality, no matter how big or small, they get the good warm feeling to keep going. They want more, the power to solve everything and destroy everything at the tips of your fingers is simply too great an opportunity to pass up isn't it? As you continue, your desires become stronger, and your sense of true justice and reality fade. It leads to hunger, for power and control.
"I...I need to find her…" Moon whispered, Sapphire could hear disdain and emotional distress in his voice. His friend shook his head for a moment.
"What am I going to do when I do find her though...I know nothing about her, or where she is from, I could be walking into a death trap for all I know...and without Dyson...our team is going to feel...less powerful."
"I...I think I'll come back...later…" Sapphire whispered, he closed the door quietly, then, he stood between his own dorm, where Willow was currently staying, and Moon's, guarding both in case Edelgard needed him.
Moon growled as he scanned through the Demonrift again.
"I know you're somewhere...If I just had a name...it would be so much easier." His brain flashed the image of Nightmare's sword through Dyson's chest. Making his tears flow even faster as sparks from his fingers ignited.
"I'll find her...I promise...I just need her name...that's all I need."
The loud voices and shouts of Alois and Shamir came into his dorm.
"I can't believe you'd try and harm Lady Rhea!" Alois's voice shouted. "Jeralt must be turning his grave right now!"
"If you truly knew my father, you'd know he left the Knights because he didn't trust Rhea." Byleth snapped back, the Sword of the Creator clashed with his Axe of Zoltan.
"I can't bring myself to kill you...you're the Princess of Brigid, a hostage of the Empire!" Shamir's voice sounded upset.
"That was a truth in the past, Shamir." Petra's accented tone replied curtly. "Edelgard has given me the power, she has promised to make amends. I will stay, as I am the will of the Emperor."
His head flashed again, this time, he was shown a picture of Flayn at the top of the goddess tower, she summoned a large meteor that fell from the sky, crushing the Strike Force below. His anger reached a seeping point and his eyes flashed red, reverting to his darkside form.
"Cethleann." Dark Moon hissed. He telekinetically moved his sword into his hand. Then, he ran to the window, transforming into a black owl he made his way towards the top of the Goddess Tower.
Flayn walked up the steps to the goddess tower, silently humming peacefully to herself. Just as Lady Rhea planned, she had made it to the goddess tower, unharmed, now, after many years of fighting, it was time to crush the Imperial army the same way she had crushed Dominic's army thousands of years prior. Seteth was made unaware to not worry him."
She arrived at the top, towering down over them. She could see Seteth fighting Edelgard, her father was waiting for her to launch her finishing blow, it was time to end this.
She clutched her Caduceus Staff, the same staff given to her by Uncle Macuil and her hands began to glow yellow.
"I've finally found you!" before she could react, her staff was yanked from her hands and flew over to Moon, who caught her staff, and simply tossed it aside.
Flayn's breathed heavily as she looked at Dark Moon, a small smile emerged on her face at his deadly cold stare.
"Lord...Lord Giygas." she said, a strange happiness in her tone. "You...you finally did it! You took his body! We won!"
Dark Moon chuckled. "We?!" he hissed. "Cethleann, there is no we."
"Lord Giygas...please…" Flayn whispered. "We can do this, Serios, my father, and I, we know where Macuil and Indech are...we can go find them...and then we can go get S-"
"Silence…" Dark Moon hissed. "Cethleann, this isn't about you anymore!"
"But...I gave you a family here!" Flayn sputtered back. "I gave you the magic needed for you to still exist here! Why don't you help us return the favor."
Dark Moon growled as he blinked and shook his head. His red eyes returned to blue and then his skin reverted to the lighter tan. Moon's real glare intensified.
"Don't you get it Cethleann?!" he hissed. "Giygas doesn't care about you! He never has! He just wants to use you to get what he wants!"
"He helped us!" Flayn snapped back. "Your father helped us because he saw we were in the right. I know that he will bring peace to the Multiverse out there!"
"Then, why hide the truth?" Moon snarled. "Why cover his great name up from the history books after the Giegue Family exposed you? Rhea had the power to do so!" he took a step up to Flayn.
Flayn backed up a little, quickly she summoned a beam of wind light and pushed it towards Moon, who used Saphria to slash the beam into nothing.
"You're being lied to!" Flayn snapped. "Ness and all of them, the Super Smash Brothers. They're all liars! Giygas can do great things! You know first hand just what he is capable of!"
"He still tried to kill us all." Moon snarled. "Twice!"
Flayn's face was bright red. "I gave you and your friends that gift!" she shouted at him. "I gave you four the ability to do everything! You could topple the world, I gave you all the gift of power with Giygas' soul. You should be thanking me for all that has happened.
"THANK YOU?!" Moon snarled, stepping closer and backing her up to the castle wall.
"You...you took away my life!" Moon snarled. "You took away Sarah's life, Erick's life, Dyson's life! You destroyed my childhood, causing me to destroy theirs! All you have ever done is cause me and my friends pain and suffering. You, your father, Seiros, Macuil, Indech, and whoever that last woman is, you took away our happiness. You gave us nothing but pain! All it was pain, nothing but pain!"
Flayn stared into his eyes. "I am disgusted by you," she snapped. "I gave you the greatest gift anyone could ever ask for! And now, you're going to unravel everything we worked for?!"
Moon glared at her, then, without any hesitation, he slashed Saphria across her chest. Flayn let out a scream as she started to stumble back a bit, trying to keep her balance. Moon stabbed his sword through her chest and held her up.
"Lord...Lord Giygas…" Flayn gasped, her eyes were wide and tears started to fall from her face. "Why?...Moon...I...I gave you...a gift of life…"
Moon glared at her crying eyes as his sword pierced through her chest. A greenish sort of gooey blood leaked out her chest as she dangled there in front of him.
"May your distorted soul burn in the fires of hell with you, Cethleann." he let the sword drop down so Flayn's body slid down off it, and fell from the highest tower the Monastery, the youngest Saint splattered against the ground into a pile of green gooey blood.
Just as Moon expected, Seteth flew over to the tower and saw her body all over the ground.
"FLAYN! NO!" he shouted. "NOOOOO!" Moon breathed heavily, before jumping off the tower, using his levitation to stop his fall to the ground as Seteth hopped off his Wyvern.
"FLAYN!" Seteth shouted, tears started to fall from his eyes. "WHY?! I TOLD YOU NOT TO COME! WHY DIDN'T YOU LISTEN?"
As Moon's feet touched the ground, Seteth turned to him.
"Oh...it's just you…" he muttered, he set his Spear of Assal on the ground and looked at him. "I suppose that this is your doing?"
"Technically, yes." Moon replied coldly. "However, I did not make sure she came here to fight. I think you know who is though…"
Seteth looked at him with a glare. His eyes still sparkled a little from the tears in his eyelids.
"Are you going to fight me...or…"
"No…" Seteth said, shaking his head. "I can not blame you for taking Flayn's life…not after all the pain you must've endured because of her magic...you know, you're starting to look a lot like Hubert don't you think…"
"Silence Cichol." Moon spat.
"Frustrated, I take it?" Seteth replied, eying him with a glare. "Is Dyson dead?"
"Excuse me?!" Moon snarled. "How do you know about that?"
"Well, when we...experimented...on you four back in Stonehenge all those years ago, Lord Giygas wanted all of us to give you parting baby gifts. Think of it as...a combination of our powers to you. Macuil gave you four each of your signature weapons, Saphira, Freya, Gaia, and Lumiere. Seiros gifted you your underlying strength and...well...your attitude. My daughter gave Sarah her magical expertise, Idech gave Dyson his calm and understanding of leadership, and I gave your friend Erick, Wisdom and Knowledge. In a strange sort of way, I guess you could argue that I was always watching."
"And that last Lady?" Moon questioned. "The spider haired-woman?"
Seteth cracked a grin. "Ah...her," he said, lost in a bit of thought. "I always suspected she was your father's favorite. Absolutely nasty that woman is...you'd think she was born in a pool created by Giygas himself with her attitude. I think Seiros was always jealous of the attention he gave to her. I'm not quite sure what gift she gave to each of you."
"Who is she? Where is she?" Moon snapped.
Seteth rubbed his beard. "A grim world, her place is," he said. "Not the place I would ever visit again. Creatures that feed off fear. Kingdoms with leaders pretending to ignore. Relics with unfound power. Fauna that would keep scientists awake at night. Dust, way, way too much dust. Doesn't exactly sound like the most salem place to live."
"What's her name dammit?!" Moon snarled.
Seteth frowned. "Unfortunately, that is not for me to tell you Mr. Wolfe." the older saint replied calmly. "I will advise you though, stop wasting your time chasing Giygas' tail. She is unlike Seiros who you will soon face. She is unlike the many other villains you have fought in your time. I think it's best...that you simply let her go free."
"BUT SHE'S OUT THERE!" Moon snarled at him. "Who knows how many people have died at her hands!"
"According to what little I know about her age and past, probably millions…" Seteth retorted, making Moon's glare intensify. "Regardless, Moon, you shouldn't go disturb her. It could have...unfortunate consequences."
"I don't want to disturb her, I want to KILL her." Moon snarled.
"I see…" Seteth said, rolling his head. "Your desire is for revenge on those who took your livelihoods away from you and your friends as kids. You've defeated Cethleann, now you want to move onto the rest. I should have known. Well, just so you know, Macuil and Indech parted ways with us after Giygas fell, I believe they were pleased that they were finally free from his clutches, that would explain why they won't return to us."
"I kinda pieced that together myself, wisdom and knowledge my ass." Moon cursed.
"Well, I have no regrets for what I've done to your life." Seteth said calmly, opening his arms. "I've simply lived too long for it to not be rooted in my brain any other way. But, without Flayn, I don't really have a life to continue with. So...if you would be so kind...take out any anger you need on me."
"The Fuck?!" Moon snarled. "What sort of trick is this?!"
"It is far from a trick young Wolfe." Seteth replied humbly. "Maybe one day, you'll look back on this situation, and understand just what I meant."
Moon felt some sort of pit in his brain as a chain broke.
"I can feel as though our bond with Seteth has reached its limit." The voice mimicked Sarah in a sort of way.
Bond Rank A: Seteth (Saint Cichol)
Moon blinked, recovering from the blow. "Are...are you sure you want to die?" Seteth gave him another reassuring nod. "Of course...you'd only go right back to Seiros if I didn't."
Without missing a beat, he sliced the sword through the Saint's neck.
Byleth let out a grunt as he and Edelgard collapsed into two seats at the dining hall. Both of them were exhausted, the Church force led by Seteth had been much worse than expected, Alois and Shamir didn't make things easier.
However, at some point, someone had come across Seteth and Flayn's bodies, both on the ground and not moving, and the Church Soldiers all retreated at the sight. Garreg Mach lived to see another day.
Unfortunately, there had still been casualties. While Ladislava and Randolph both succeeded in holding off the smaller coalition led by Rhea and Catherine, both of them had been mauled to death in the process. By Linhardt's calculations, based on the injuries, it was likely that they were killed as a last ditch blow by Rhea, so they had already succeeded in winning.
He heard his former student let out a small whimper, heck, it actually sounded kind of cute when he thought about it more strictly.
"So...that's another two deaths at my heels then." Edelgard sighed, there was a bit of distress in her voice. "I will have to make sure we honor them properly. Both did an amazing job in shielding Garreg Mach."
Byleth only nodded silently, his former student removed her horned helmet diadem, showing that her hair had gotten thinner, she still had two little strands that moved down to her sides outside of her helmet.
She noted his staring and her face frowned. "What?" she asked. "Is there something you'd like to say?"
"Your...your hair." Byleth said calmly. "Has it gotten...thinner?"
"Oh…" The empress's face turned about as red as the armor she was wearing. "Well, I suppose I haven't really had the time to notice...I used to take excellent care of my hair back when I was a student, I still try to from time to time. But, wearing this outfit must've taken a toll on it. Why? Does it bother you?"
"No...not in particular." Byleth replied. "It's just...been a long time since I've actually seen your hair. I guess five years can change you right?"
"Yes...I suppose it can." His former student smiled a little. "I feel as though stolen time has caused a lot of things for you and I. I guess that's why we get along so well."
"I can feel as though your bond with Edelgard has grown." That familiar voice from Sothis said.
Support Rank A-: Edelgard
"Your Majesty, Pardon my interruption." Both of them turned to Hubert as he walked into the room. "Your request for a damage report has come in."
"Ah...so soon?" Edelgard asked.
"Yes, and, you'll be delighted to hear that there was very minimal damage to both sides of the Monastery, our forces intercepted all flammable materials before they could be set off."
Edelgard's smile brightened a little. "That is good news, what about our casualties?"
"Well, from what I can tell, both of us have suffered heavily, most notably our front defending team with Ladislava and Randolph being now deceased. However, the church also lost many soldiers and fighters, the most notable, being Rhea's second in command, Seteth, and his daughter Flayn. In addition, with the deaths of Alois and Shamir, the Knights of Seiros have taken a massive blow to their commanding units."
"I see…" Edelgard replied, rubbing her head a little. "Thank you Hubert. You are excused."
"Lady Rhea!" Catherine approached her leading saint with a disgruntled tone. "I...I'm sorry to report this...but...I'm afraid we've lost...we've lost Seteth and Flayn…"
The Archbishop's eyes flashed red, a wave of black light flashed through the area, snapping several large trees and bringing them to the ground.
"Cichol...Cethleann." she whispered, her gaze turned into a glare as rage swept through her body. "Must you imputent scum take EVERYTHING from me?!"
"Lady...Lady Rhea…"
"I will kill all of you disgraceful humans." Rhea snarled. "Every last one of you worthless rats who decided you should defy the goddess. Defy our Lord Giygas."
From her mouth, black ooze started to pour out of it, dripping onto the grass and making an acidic hissing sound as it dissolved in front of them.
"Anyone who dares get in my way...shall suffer in a fate worse than hell itself. I will bring those imperial traitors to their knees, all of them…each and every one of them shall burn in the same flames I burned those elites in thousands of years ago."
"And whenever that will be, I will be at your side," Catherine said firmly, bowing to her.
"In the name of the Nabateans, the Starmen, and everyone else who allied with us." Rhea snarled, the earth below her feet started to crack. "I swear that I will bring you all their heads."
"I will chain all your bodies to the decaying corrupting earth. And have them dissolve your screams as your skin rots from your fucking bodies. I'll swipe that psychedelic brain, my mother's stone heart, and that dismembered head of all your friends, and turn them into trophies of torture."
"Lady...Lady Seiros?"
"All of those ungrateful people, all those traitors. All of their bodies will perish and rot in the eternal flames of my wrath. A nightmare for Giygas's son worse than his damn fate of hell. I'll kill every last fucking one of those imperial shitface traitors. And their damn professor who I gifted power beyond his very comprehension."
"Understood...Lady Seiros."
Rhea let out a screech that could echo throughout the dimensions.
"I'm calling to you! I know you can hear me you stupid monster controling freak! Stop ignoring my call and come help me."
Her memory flashed to the Spider-haired woman, who gave her a smirk that taunted her enraged self.
"Now, Saint Seiros, why would I do that?" she smirked, wiggling a pale ash gray finger. "You remember what Giygas told me, I'm not allowed to expose myself to the Multiverse quite yet. Only when the time is right. Besides, it seems like you and your little knights and servants have everything under control."
"Cichol and Cethleann are dead you asshole!"
The woman smirked. "Well...if someone found you out, then it would be for the best that I remain hidden then, wouldn't want anyone...finding out now?"
"Your grace, if I may inquire…" the image of some sort of Scorpion tail covered her vision.
"We're done talking Seiros." the woman said sternly. "Don't fuck this up you immaculate beast!"
Rhea was snapped back to reality, with a stern psychotic look, she let out a loud scream of rage that echoed across the entire continent.
I'll own up to my mistakes, while it definitely would've been nice to spare Seteth and Flayn, I simply could not bring myself to do so after writing them this way for so long.
Controversial writing point aside, I do really like Seteth's character, and I'd argue that he has almost no glaring flaws as a character. Any flaw he does have it is very well understandable and it is heavily implied that he does try to learn from his mistakes of the past. I really like his character, and, as shown by Crimson Flower's plotline, he clearly gets fed up with Rhea's methods. Sure, it's because he's worried about Flayn's safety as a whole, but he at least recognizes when Rhea's clearly lost it. Which is more than I can say for some characters.
I do wish, looking back at this story. That I gave Moon and Seteth more time together, sure, having him get on Seteth's nerves all the damn time was funny. But maybe that would've helped justify that finishing scene they had together a bit more. Oh well, no time to reminisce about that.
One thing I've always enjoyed doing, is making the Multiverse world I've built up feel more connected, sneaking in clever references to the various series throughout Super Smash Brothers have made this an absolute blast. I think I've referenced Zelda the most, with Persona having a close second.
Ironically, I don't actually play the Legend of Zelda very often. I'm no good at puzzles and dungeons and all that shit that the series is known for. Maybe if they made some sort of Zelda JRPG turn based battle style or something I could get my hands on. That hasn't stopped me from at least appreciating old classics like Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess. (Seriously though, I still have nightmares of Majora's Mask).
Heh, maybe I could do a Zelda crossover at some point? Eh, seems like a bit too much work. Though, maybe If I ever decide to expand the lore past simply my EarthBound Saga, I could explore all the things that led to these events. Maybe do a Subspace Emissary Retelling or some shit. But, let's not jump the gun too far ahead. Lord only knows I'm working on this story's sequel with a series I believe many readers are familiar with based on your favorites and writings of your own. I like to look for new things all the time, so I check out stuff you all like as well if it suits my tastes, I think it helps me connect and understand my readers better. (It also allows for me to cater the references I pull).
Ah well, that's all for this chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it. I really pulled through a lot of stress to put this one out for you all, so I hope you don't mind if the next chapter takes a bit longer than normal. We've hit the 3rd Marking Period over in High School, so of course, 3 teachers of mine had to jump the gun and assign massive 6 week long projects when Covid delayed my Golf Season to this time of year instead of last fall lmao, (Fuck you my Principal of a Blue Ribbon School System no one gives two shits about, you and your damn ego and ignorance of bullying that caused me to suffer middle school).
Anyway, sorry for going off on a rant, must've lost my thought for a second while thinking about Persona 5 Strikers. Leave a review if you want, any thoughts you have are greatly appreciated, even if it's just a "Nice Chapter."
See you all, next time!