Divinity: Fates and the Afterlife
Chapter Eighty-Three
The strong sound of footsteps echoed stopping right at the rim of the fire feeding on Athamas' body. Barely alive and half-conscious. The andromedian looked up and tried to stretch his hand, silently asking for help to whoever was now close to his side.
Behind the raging flames stood a man wearing a dark uniform hidden under a heavy cloak. The haunting glare of the Titan of Void fixed over him without any sort of emotion. A faint sigh left him and looked around; his beautiful golden eyes glistening in the dark like orbs of lit amber "Ex te mihi haustum vitae sigillum fregit meque statim Tartaro. Tu es patientia mea temptat."
(I thought your life was drained out of you the moment you broke the seal to release me from Tartarus. You are testing my patience.) He mumbled and then turned to the andromedian and lifted a brow, "Tu quidem bene, quia per hoc est Andromedan." (You have done well, for an Andromedian, that is.)
Athamas looked up with fear in his eyes. He was woken from the spell Chaos put on him and in a flash of remembrance, his life played before him and felt it pounding on him like a ton of rocks. A wave of shame crawling under his skin when Serenity's words echoed in his mind, proving their truth to him. This was the end of his pact.
With one snap of his fingers, the raging flames morphed at his command in a very peculiar way, a very close resemblance as it did with Endymion. Athamas widened his eyes. He felt like if he had been hit with a heavy stone when he noticed there was more than just similarity in their movements. They both had the poise, the energy shown with the ever-changing color in their eyes, every time, it was as being observed deep into one's soul. The sound of their words and the low tone of their voices; it was there. It was clear. A strong chill ran all over his body when he finally tied the loose ends. The ancient mystery that had him obsessed for so long had been finally solved. The reason why Endymion's blood was the key, why he held that magnificent sword carved of crystal and golden light, the reason behind his upbringing and training and the answer behind the gods' fixation on his existence was finally there, right before his eyes, in the shape of another man with an aura darker than night itself.
The infamous myth of the terran monster existed because as it twisted as it sounded, the truth relied on how he was linked to the titan standing in front of him. If not two peas in a pond, they were close. The resemblance was now painfully uncanny, and if he knew first-hand Endymion was thoughtless and merciless with who called themselves his enemies, like himself, with Chaos, things escalated from worse to horrible in a matter of seconds.
"I-I..."
Chaos tilted his head to the side and kept watching the flames dance with all might with allure; he took one step closer. Athamas at this point was not sure if it was a good thing or not. The pain of his body being scorched becoming the least of his fears.
The dark titan blinked, "Et eodem modo cum salvus erit ad a matre Asteria est servivit ei serve meus. Et infirma quaeque te ex trying ut possis plus quam tractamus." He took another step, "Video ea quae in his ipsis quicquam in oculis vestris infirmi, vos miror cur..." his golden eyes narrowed, piercing him right through his soul with his intense gaze, "Vociferantibus autem me audierit a tergo ex animo, quare?"
(You were saved to serve a purpose, the same way Asteria served hers. You and your weak ideals of trying to gain more than you can handle. I see it reflected in the weak gleam of your eyes; you wonder why. I hear it screaming at the back of your mind, why?)
"Nunc id vides, tu annon?" (You see it now, do you not?) Chaos arched his brow with wonder, "Videtis eam nunc magnum opus est et nimium te ad consequi, Andromedan. Sed nimium praevidere. Quod talem rectorem, et stetit in te forte putavit me tecum. Vos non aliud faciam a facie principis lunae, soli a Hybrid proles manifesta sit." (The task was too big for you to achieve, Andromedan. It was all too predictable. It baffles me how you thought you even stood a chance. You could not deal with the Moon Princess, let alone a hybrid scion.)
Athamas felt the coldness in his voice mocking his fate. His eyes feasting on his decaying state. He was enjoying this, in his own twisted and confusing way. He enjoyed the burnt smell of his flesh and the cracking of his bones being consumed by the wildfire charring him alive. Even though he didn't show it, with his handsome face in the most cryptic of states, it was clear. It could be felt—he could his enjoyment deep in his mind manifested in laughter disguised by the sound of the voice he no longer had.
But like everything that ever crossed Chaos' path; his interest only lasted a short span. Immediately feeling intrigued to see what else he could do to spare him from boredom. Anything was predictable for Chaos; it didn't matter in how he murdered his obstacles; it didn't matter how creative he got with how he killed, it boiled down to the same result; he had lost interest.
Athamas widened his eyes when he noticed the slightest movement from the titan and felt his heart stopped beating. Freezing him with deadpan fear. It didn't take long, for her words to come alive.
"You have sold your soul to the worst merchant there is. You wanted to be king, but to what extent? That is the power of manipulation over you. Your mind is a playground for others."
With a forced cry to break the spell, Athamas growled, a choking sensation in his throat; he felt like drowning, but he knew it was his blood. It was too late to save himself from what would be of him after he took his last breath.
"Incaendo,"
Chaos snapped his fingers again. The flames coming alive with more force; splitting the remains of his life in Athamas' body and his fate in the afterlife. Like two parallel realities. The echo in the action made Athamas feel his body moving on its own with an indescribable pain that was worse than what he already experienced due to all the deep burns in his body. With frightful eyes, he watched blistered demons and shadows rise growling from the ground and coming after him, hungry for his flesh and desperate to use his body as a host. May the strongest, cruelest, most grotesque demon win.
Athamas could barely move his lips, his first attempt was to try to call out Serenity's name. He tried to scream but there was no voice that would come out of him, not a single mum. But what was worse is that he was entirely conscious of what was happening to him because this is something he had done before to others. Athamas was being possessed; devoured by soulless creatures until soon after, nothing much was left of him, just his tortured mind living on the loop of his failures and cursed thoughts.
A low howl was all that could come out of him. His eyes had sunken and turned vacant, his limbs cracked as they stretched with any movement he made, slipping from the tar-like substance that dripped from his charred and rotten body, leaving marks of decay on the pavement. Every drip making a sharp hissing sound, burning like acid through the ground.
No words could come out as such anymore, just screeches and screams; growls and occasional whimpers. Athamas had lost the little he had left of what he could still claim as his own—his identity. For the rest, he had become a vile creature of the most corrupt place in the underworld.
Uninterested in Athamas' transition, Chaos turned on his heel and began walking away. Not a single glance is given at him again, now his attention fully ahead. To his movements, and with no control and a mind of his own, Athamas followed behind as another one of Chaos's shadows.
O—o—o—o—O
Megumi opened her big round eyes and glanced around. She felt an instant shock of anxiety paralyzing her nerves when she realized what had happened and made her be in her current condition.
Balls of fire and thunder came down crashing all over across the sky like an apocalyptic prophecy. When the impact happened, she was one of the few that could not move any farther and was caught and thrown away by the impulse from the explosion. Her first instinct after she recovered enough to stand was to take whoever she could with her and find shelter. That is when she remembered, that underneath all the rubble and large pieces of concrete and crumbled constructions, Luna and Artemis might still be trapped along with her.
A short, hasty breath urged the maiden to gasp louder when she tried to move. Her muscles ached; everything ached. And she was sure there was serious bleeding too as she felt a wet drip on one side of her face. She tried to move again, grunting as the effort was more than she imagined. Against the idea of being defeated, Megumi put more force to get herself out when she realized she was far deeper into the crumbles of a structure and it was going to need more than just a stronger push. Her right arm got caught under a large piece of concrete, not impossible to move but heavy enough for her to push back on her own. Her legs were trapped too and for some reason, they felt weaker than her free arm due to the lack of proper circulation in her body.
She took a deep breath, she knew that despite the situation as she imagined it would be, she had to remain calm. She was frightened, worried, but mostly angry for having lost consciousness and allow herself to end up like this. But she had to remain calm. Panic would do nothing to get her out and she promised she wasn't going to be an obstacle to any of the girls, the guys, and mostly the prince and princess and yet, here she was, trapped under a pile of rubble and without a single clue of her whereabouts.
She sobbed as fear crept through and heard loud and strange noises moving around her. Whispers she couldn't understand, coming out in strange intervals of silence. It was almost as if they were talking to her, as if they were looking for her, but all and all, she was more than sure that they were just curses flowing along with the wind. Then her mind wandered, letting herself feel clouded with a sense of bitter nostalgia. This felt all too familiar, thinking about how she had been in a situation like this a long time ago.
Like if time never passed by, she was back again to that very moment she hid under a pile of rubble to save herself from whatever torment was happening outside the palace's walls. This would be the third time in her life she had gone through tragedy. Third time since she had seen her loved ones in danger and risking their lives for the sake of a greater good. The third time she would desperately try to hold on to the life she's grasping on. The third time she hoped for a new future, only to see it crumble within her reach.
Tears rolled down her almond eyes when she began to remember the night her home crumbled down. That moment she engraved in her mind when she went to look for the queen only to find her gone. Her whereabouts a mystery up to this day; something Prince Endymion wasn't open to sharing just yet or it was possible he still didn't know.
She was transported to the moment Earth was put to sleep and she fled to the moon with him only to go through the same loop all over again and see everyone perish right in front of her eyes. Again, unable to do a thing. And now, after thousands of years of searching for answers and running away, she was trapped in that same tragic loop again. It was a curse. A nightmare she couldn't seem to wake up from. Her cross to bear.
Exhaustion was starting to pull her into its claws. Megumi felt she could just give up with the next deep breath she took, it sure felt like it; that she was about to let go. Her pulse felt weak in her veins, her wet eyes stared into the cracks and peepholes from under the rubble she was buried on for a minute and closed them as a way to shut herself from reality.
"Silence... there is only silence... Pain... there is nothing but pain..."
-o-
A heavy wave of sadness took over her fragile body for a couple of minutes. The noise from outside had died unexpectedly and she took a deep breath with all the remaining force in her body.
With a heavy feeling of solitude and loss in her heart, Megumi tried to hold her tears to no avail; frightened and resigned, she felt the ground had turned cold, even more than it was before and noticed how nothing had changed since the moment she escaped and hid under the broken walls. She slowly opened her brown eyes and looked around "Silence…" she whispered again and wiped the tears on her face.
"Young Maiden..."
The young girl found her way out again and gasped when she saw her blue planet shining with life around all the stars in the velvet black sky.
"Maiden... Young Maiden..."
A warm voice pulled her from her thoughts and made her turn over her shoulder but saw nobody close even though she felt a protecting presence looking over her.
"Even in danger... Even in darkness... It evolves..."
Megumi felt a terrible wave of sadness as she looked down and realized she was holding the terran prince's sword. It was broken and still warm; as if its power had just been unleashed and the holiness that gleamed within locked away from sight again.
A tug in her chest made her look up again and widened her eyes when she saw the gleam of the blue earth basking the crumbled ground of the moon kingdom with its dim light. In the distance, she saw them, the lifeless bodies of the prince and princess. Tears burned on the very rim of her eyes once she remembered what this meant—when this was.
"Miracles cannot happen without hope..."
Again, the same voice that called for her echoed in the air like a breeze caressing her ear, "Light cannot come without darkness... day cannot happen without night... evolution cannot happen without a fall."
"Who is this?!" Megumi turned to look around and felt the solitude and the fright of being there on her own. She looked down and the sword was no longer with her. In complete disbelief, the maiden felt her knees were giving in and let herself fall to the ground and closed her eyes, completely frustrated. What was this? She thought, a joke?
Far away, the same sweet echo chanted her name in a sweet singsong tone, like a lullaby. Warm and gentle, like the breeze in summer.
"The seal can be broken by one touched by the light of the Sun."
Megumi licked her lips and took a deep breath, "The seal..." Her thin brows knitted together, confused "W-What seal?"
"The Sun warms the Earth and gives it life; the Moon sways its tides and soothes it with its pure and gentle light."
Megumi widened her eyes, "Day cannot happen without night..."
"Megumi..."
Megumi felt her heart pound in her chest and looked up at the velvet sky, tears streaming down her eyes, "I..." her chocolate eyes widened at the sound of the gentle voice, "Please... guide me..."
"Megumi..."
"Megumi..."
Megumi felt a warmth all over her, like a protective embrace, full of love and understanding, "Please... tell me what can I do..."
"Megumi..."
"Megumi..."
"At the peak of the golden hour, the seal will break, evolution will set its course and contrive the pillars of aether light."
Megumi felt a bolt of energy pulling her back and gasped when she heard her name being called with more panic, "I-"
"Just believe, Megumi..."
Megumi gasped, trying to find her voice, "I'm—"
"Megumi!"
"Megumi..."
"Megumi!"
"Megumi!"
"Megumi!"
Megumi's eyes widened when she saw the large piece of rubble blocking her view finally move away and met Artemis' beautiful feline gaze. The white-haired man turned over his shoulder quickly to let the others know he had found her and sighed, "Thank goodness you are all right!"
"W-What..." the maiden frowned, still hazed from her sudden slumber "What happened?"
Artemis kept throwing pieces of rubble away and held her in his arms to pull her out of her concrete cocoon, "After the explosion," Artemis drew back, "You acted according to Endymion's plan and led Luna and me to safety... but then the sky broke again, shaking the ground of our hideout and the already weakened structure from one of the buildings close by collapsed, burying us under a pile of dust and gravel. We were not able to see where you were..." he exhaled with relief, the ancestry of his nature showing through with his tone, "Thank goodness you are all right,"
Megumi blinked and realized that what just happened to her had been a strange dream that ironic enough, had saved her life from the explosion. A fragment of her past connecting to her present, pushing her into a future that was still unknown; yet, she was still here.
Luna ran to meet them soon after and helped the maiden get out, pulling her gently from her arm and quickly inspecting for any wounds, "You are one brave lady, Megumi. Thank you, for saving our lives." Her wine-colored eyes gleamed with tears as she pulled her close to give her a hug and moved back with a deadpanned look on her face when they heard another loud growling close, "I don't know how much longer this body withstand, but I wanted to show my sincerest gratitude. Thank you, thank you so much."
Megumi smiled, slowly returning the hug "There is nothing to thank me for, Luna. We must stay together and stay strong."
"The shadows are everywhere," Luna lowered her voice as she turned to Artemis, "We need to find everyone, we need to figure out a way to pin their location."
"It is hard to know where we stand as it is right now," Artemis looked around, "Everything is covered in tar and veins with blisters of rottenness and poison, not to mention the dark entities lurking in every corner. The city is barely recognizable,"
"Then..." Luna frowned and leaned down to grab a metal pipe to defend themselves, "We will fight,"
Megumi felt a low chill down her spine when she turned and noticed they were surrounded by several shadows who were staring at them with fiery eyes, urgent to feast on their souls. Similar to the ones that had followed her for centuries before finding Earth. Her first instinct was to look around for an opening but they weren't given much time to plan anything else when the creatures started to crawl towards them.
Luna took the lead and started to throw stones and pieces of concrete at the shadows, the lunar advisor turned and found a metal rod and swung it with desperate moves, trying her best to hit at least one.
Megumi's breathing picked up as she tightened her grip on the long piece of wood in her hands. Artemis stood next to her, also with a metal pipe in his hands, ready to attack, "I have relied on negotiations and strategies all my Mauian life. I guess it's time to put some of that into practice... I'm not sure Mamoru would approve any of my offensive moves but while in the middle of a crisis one must do whatever one can," he released a shaky exhale "Right?"
"As long as we can get away from here and find everyone, that's all that matters, I worried about Usagi-chan." Luna swung the peace of metal at another shadow hissing at them and tasting their fear.
"We have to go to the Moon!" Luna's voice cracked with emotion, "We must survive this and help Usagi-chan!" She swung her ready-made weapon again and broke into tears, "We can't fail!"
The desperation in her voice woke Artemis' protective side and stood in between Luna and Megumi and raised his weapon, turning quickly on his axis and hit one shadow with force, sending it back. His feline eyes widened when he saw a blast of light piercing through the shadows, turning them into specks of ash. He took a sharp breath when the ground shook beneath their feet.
Megumi raised her head with hope, "His Highness..." she muttered quietly, her heart pounded in her chest with hope when another strong blast shook the ground, "Prince Endymion!"
"I'm afraid I am not that kind of knight in shining armor, fair maiden, sorry to burst the bubble,"
A deep yet feminine voice echoed through the sound of crushed stone and screeches. The cloud of dust slowly settled, revealing Uranus walking towards them as she turned several times to blast more herds of demons out of her way with her characteristic confidence until she finally caught up and shared a grin expressing relief, "But I well know a thing or two, so I will take it as a compliment."
"Uranus!" Luna almost broke with panic when she saw a demon jumping out of nowhere, claws ready to dig into the senshi's back when the sky soldier turned and jumped in the way between the shadow and the others to protect them, "World—" she raised her first, already charged with energy to pound the ground when another blast of energy took its place into tearing it into a pile of ash.
"Death Scream,"
Uranus licked her lips and turned to Pluto, following behind. The blonde raised her arm and waved it quickly "They're here!"
Pluto exhaled with relief as soon as she caught up to them, "Thank heavens... I was mortified." She turned and used her garnet rod again to blast more shadows with her power and turned to them, "Saturn and Neptune are close, my talisman reacted to the Aqua Mirror's energy; we have to move."
"Have you found Usagi and the others?" Artemis asked rattled, Pluto shook her head, "The Garnet stone only reacts to the Talismans, it's linked to Uranus' Space Sword and Neptune's Deep Aqua Mirror, but also due to what they trigger, it can also sense Saturn's Silence Glaive; that's how I could locate Uranus' whereabouts." She sighed, "But as for the rest, I cannot track their whereabouts."
"What now, then?" Uranus turned to Pluto, "We locate Saturn and Neptune, but how do we find everyone else?"
Pluto took a sharp deep breath when she saw the sky becoming darker, "There is a source of power—the parallel that has been used to breach into this plane. As the guardian of the time and space continuum, my instinct tells me which is the vector I need to tackle and close. I am more than certain that it's there where Prince Endymion must be heading as well." She turned to Uranus, "Princess Serenity is safe, that I can be sure of."
"She asked us to go to the Moon, we need to—" Luna turned to help Megumi and turned to Pluto, who in response shook her head, "A portal cannot be opened under these conditions, Luna," Pluto said with fair warning, "It's too dangerous. The fourth dimension is corrupted, I cannot risk you getting lost in its current because it's uncertain where it may force you to go, we must wait until I find a proper pocket in time to be safe,"
"But then—"
"You've been a witness of it. One cannot cross between realms so easily, not even a time-space key would guarantee a safe trip and this is not the exception." Pluto stomped her rod on the ground and used the energy of the garnet stone shining at the top to surround themselves with protective energy, "I can feel it..." she narrowed her eyes, "Like a blade cutting through my flesh... it's painful... the way it's taking over..." she turned to look up at the sky and felt a tug in her chest when she saw it break in restless ribbons of thunderbolts charged with malice and destructive energy, "After we find them, I will work on a way to take you there, but until then... you stay with me,"
"Lady Pluto..." Megumi mumbled with concern when she saw worry mirroring in the time soldier's garnet eyes. Uranus blasted another herd of demons and turned over her shoulder at Pluto, "It's too risky,"
"All of this is," Pluto spotted a large entity coming closer, "Dementia is manifesting, and so has the army that stands on the side of darkness. We cannot fight divided, we need to flee and regroup—we need to find them."
Uranus looked down at her sword, "I feel it pulsing... Neptune's close..."
"East," Pluto raised her long staff and shouted, "Garnet—Ball!"
O—o—O
Flashes of gold and metal against metal echoed in the wind. Grunts, groans, and curses mumbled under their breath mixed with the screeches of demons being ripped apart. No matter how long they've been in this continuous loop of fighting and dodging, it was never a sound one could get used to. The sound of war, death, and misery.
"Venus—Love Me Chain!"
With another whiplash, the soldier of love threw another large herd of shadows, splattering on the ground in pools of tar but only to respawn just seconds later. She grunted, again, as she turned to Kunzite, who was dealing with his own share of opponents and the girls who were also busy trying to keep them as much at bay as possible.
Not long before they finally reunited with Ami and Zoisite who quickly worked to elaborate a quick plan to keep the most vulnerable areas such as districts with more hospitals, shelters, hospices, and senior homes where people might be taking shelter from the commotion save from the battle zone but they have reached an alerting situation when it was an impossible task to keep everything contained.
Kunzite jumped and threw an energy lash at another herd of demons and turned to Zoisite, "What is the status from the others?"
Zoisite turned over his shoulder and stabbed a demon with his quartz long sword and stretched his arm out to throw it and pierce a shadow coming close with a piece of quartz he made out of thin air. He ran closer to his leader and threw a blast of energy spheres to keep their perimeter clear, "Zoi!"
With a forced grunt, the blonde shook his head as he pulled out his weapon from the pool of tar on the ground and shook its remains before putting it to use once again, "Very much the same. Jupiter contacted Mercury; they are on their way here but the level of invasion is beyond our control. It is heightening to massive proportions."
"I don't care how many they come our way," Venus turned and whipped her enemies with her gleaming chain and turned to wrap others with it and throw them away, "I need to find Usagi, I need to know she's all right."
"She is,"
Venus turned to Kunzite with a cold glare, cursing under her breath for a response she felt too light to meet the occasion. The white-haired general turned over his shoulder to look at her, his voice deepening with reassurance "The Princess is all right."
"Shabon Spray—Freezing!" Mercury turned and aimed the force of her snowstorm at a bigger scale to keep the demons from overcrowding them, buying some time to plan their next move, like the genius strategist she is. Before the demons could break the ice keeping them still, she leveled her attack and raised her arms "Shine Snow Illusion!"
Pressing her left earring to activate her intelligent goggles, Mercury quickly studied the surroundings, "There is a force from where all these shadows are feeding on,"
"The area is contaminated, Earth is under crisis," Kunzite gritted his teeth as he turned to cut another demon's head, "Said source would be?"
A loud rumble forced Mercury to look up at the cracking sky and pointed her finger at it, making the high ranked general mumbled a curse under his breath, "How clever... A portal..." he growled, "Another damn one,"
"Not just any portal," Mercury blinked with horror, "But one directly linked to something else..."
"Crescent Beam—Shower!" Venus jumped high to dodge a demon's claws and whipped it with her chain and turned to her friend, "What does this mean? That we can't get rid of them?!"
"We could come up with a temporary strategy to stall them, but it's hard to tell for how long." Mercury pressed her lips nervously and looked down at her small supercomputer and started typing, "Also, the temperature drop isn't helping... We are currently in something close to a suspended state..."
"Endymion is doing this on purpose," Zoisite stood behind her back and looked after her while she kept typing and aimed another blast of energy to shatter the frozen demons, "He's putting Earth in hibernation to avoid more damage," he squinted when he spotted movement ahead and raised his arm to create a long shard of crystal, "But again, we are reaching a breaking point when our options have become limited."
Mercury frowned as she kept looking through her intelligent goggles up at the sky and then at her palm computer analyzer, "This isn't right... it makes no literal sense,"
Venus frowned "Does any of this make any sense, Mercury?"
"I know, I know..." Mercury shook her head, "But how is it possible for the magnetic fields of Earth to be heavier, this would mean gravity—" her blue eyes widened when she felt a sudden shift in the atmosphere that forced her to lose her balance.
Venus turned with panic at Kunzite who in a rapid response pulled her close to him to keep her safe and used his cape to protect her from the sandstorm coming ahead and the invisible force pulling them down.
"Take cover!"
"What is going on!?"
"Silence Wall!"
A heavy field of energy blocked the force coming their way, sliding on its tangent as Saturn kept her glaive up high above her head to keep everyone inside her energy shield. Venus jerked her head back from Kunzites' chest and widened her eyes when she saw the senshi of silence standing tall keeping them safe from the blasting storm happening around them "Saturn!"
"The gates have been breached," Pluto's low voice startled them and turned to find her with Neptune and Uranus walking behind with Megumi, Luna, and Artemis. The senshi of time turned to look up and narrowed her eyes, "This is far worse than I predicted," she sighed, "And we are not even close to the parallel from where it's breaking through."
Zoisite shook his head, heavily concerned and confused "Excuse me, parallel? Does this mean it is not just one portal creating this?"
A loud metal thud caught everyone's attention. Saturn had lowered her glaive, once the storm passed and looked up, "From this point onward, I must stay behind and fulfill my duty." Her violet eyes sparkled with determination, "Silence must fall,"
The soft-spoken comment from Saturn rattled Megumi to the core. Every time they had encountered an enemy, whether in the past or in this time, the soldier of silence has always kept a very stoic presence amidst tragedy and then all the times she said to her that she was always at some sort of disadvantage for not being able to use her power unless necessary; her words finally making sense. Her chocolate eyes burned, she had tears to shed for the young senshi and for the true meaning of her existence.
"No!" Uranus took a step forward, "I won't let-"
Megumi swallowed, "The Prince and Princess are not here..."
"My duties are different from yours. I must stay here until further notice."
"Further notice for what?" Uranus frowned, Saturn shook her head, "No matter how much we fight these shadows, they are coming from the Underworld. They will not die because these demons are already dead. It's my jurisdiction to take them back to where they belong but the gates of time and space are faltered. I need a seal only Pluto can grant me. I need to wait my time to act and aid the Prince and Princess when it's needed."
"Mars, Jadeite, Jupiter, and Nephrite's exact location is still unknown, they could be close as much as they could be far away," Venus frowned, "Even if we had the means, we can't leave them behind."
Kunzite turned over his shoulder, "Zoisite,"
The blonde shitennou nodded and closed his eyes to start channeling, "The quarter-winds are North by East, Nephrite and Jadeite are with a middle azimuth of 11.250° degrees," His brows furrowed, "But..." Kunzite narrowed his eyes, "You too, then..."
"What?" Venus looked at the general. Kunzite frowned with concern, "There is something else," his deep gray eyes narrowed, "It's clouding my vision—I cannot channel a connection,"
"Could it be the Princess and the Prince?"
Kunzite closed his eyes and took a sharp breath, "No... it is not him," he shook his head and turned when he saw a flash of light moving across the angry sky. A large explosion broke the clouds in the sky, revealing the immense spiral storm gushing energy into its depths and bidding flares of negative energy that looked like tentacles.
The aftershock from the impact threw everyone to the ground, smashing the concrete and asphalt beneath them. Zoisite looked up with parted lips at the flashes of light blinking in the darkness, "It is surreal..."
A loud growling caught them off guard, Saturn widened her eyes and raised her glaive to summon her power and form another protective wall when shadows in a larger size as more demons appeared and came out from the cracks on the ground. Kunzite stretched his arm to use an energy attack but Mercury's hand on his arm stopped him, "It's useless—they're void. They are coming from that portal... they are going to respawn in a matter of seconds and we would be only wasting our time and energy,"
Neptune looked down at her mirror and saw it cloud in black, "Something is happening... my mirror doesn't foretell anything, it's completely black."
"The sword is resonating..." Uranus widened her blue eyes and turned to Pluto, "Another portal?"
"We are not alone." Pluto said and tightened her grip on her long rod, her breathing picked up, feeling horrified when she saw flashes of light and thunder growling alike, "Father..." she whispered.
"They're multiplying!" Venus took her golden chain and used it to whip the shadows coming close but just as Mercury predicted, they respawned almost immediately. She turned on her axis, ready to call for a second stage of attack when she felt Kunzite pulling her to him again and held her close, "Wait!"
"No! I can't wait!"
"You cannot max out your energy! This is not the enemy! It's just a decoy to divert us from our main goal!"
"I don't care! If we don't fight them, they'll eat us alive!"
Kunzite clicked his tongue and held her tight against her wishes, releasing a frustrated growl, "Are all deities from the heavens this stubborn!?"
"Kunzite!" Venus blinked and looked at him, "We have—"
"—Mercury is right," He growled louder as he pulled her closer to him, the blonde still fighting her way to break from his hold "Listen to me!"
"I have to find her, Kunzite!" She started pounding his chest with her fists, gravely frustrated "Goddammit! Let me go!"
"Venus!"
"Let me go!"
"NO!"
"What the hell are we supposed to do then?!" Venus frowned, "Eh?! Give me a damn response, a good one! A valid one! One that makes sense!" She shook her head and pointed up, "Hell's breaking loose and we don't know where they are! She's sick and he's hurt! I don't know if she's okay! I don't know if they're together! I promised her I would be with her! That I wouldn't leave her alone! She can't be alone!"
"She's not alone,"
"You don't understand... Kunzite..." Venus sighed as she diverted her gaze for a minute "Right now there are more reasons weighting this worry of mine; why I'm so worried about her. I know she can fight... but her health... her mind... her spirit is fractured and I don't know how much longer she can handle it. How much longer she can take all this because it's not just about her anymore. It's not about just her taking care, her husband's life is also at stake. The universe is bending under the will of a fucking psycho! And to stop it who knows what she's capable of doing!"
Kunzite looked at her with glossed eyes. He was deeply worried about his friends, but mostly, he was deeply worried about her, his Venusian girl; the great love of his life. As he watched her, close to a point of breaking into tears of frustration, he couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if he couldn't keep his promise to her. If he died in this bloody battlefield. Suddenly, thinking of Purgatorio tasted bitter in the back of his throat. The uncertainty of his fate, the gray area that was his life in this plane—if he was meant to just be here for the sole purpose to give up his life only to return to his previous suspended state. If he could even have the chance to fight his right to stay. All of that pounded heavily in his mind, all of that, and his deep devotion and love for her. The desire to hold her hand, to hold her tight in his arms and never let go. Kunzite never felt so desperate in his life, trying his best to keep his emotions concealed.
"I know my words cannot appease that fear, Venus. I know. One of my brothers is gravely wounded and also risking his sanity and his life. I understand, but I also trust them enough to know they will get through this. She will persevere because it is in her veins to be unstoppable." He looked at her, serious and confident of his words, "And he will not let her forget that important fact."
Venus blinked the tears trapped in her long lashes, and looked at him with eyes wide open, "Kunzite,"
"He will not let her forget who she is." Kunzite shook his head, "And she will not let go of his hand. She is fighting, Venus. Like the sailor senshi she is. You may be the leader of the team, but she is leading this battle with him on a different scale; they are doing what we as soldiers expect from someone who holds that lever of authority."
Venus swallowed, finding the truth in his words despite her desperate need to find her dearest friend; her soul sister as she would often call her. Before she could say anything else, a blast of energy diverted their attention to Mercury, who had surrounded everyone in a mist to blur their presence to the shadows and demons lurking close.
"We need to cut them from the source, and said source is up there..." Mercury pointed the dark hole forming in the sky, "It presents a challenge, the closer we will get the harder it will be for us to fight it, I can see it's an open invitation for demons and monsters to come over from all over the universe,"
"Sounds like an interesting party..." Uranus pursed her lips to the side, "But we cannot expose Luna, Artemis, and Megumi to this crap," she frowned as she looked up at the dark hole forming in the sky; carefully studying the situation, "One wrong move could turn this whole battle around, we can't risk it,"
"I will take them into my care," Pluto said, "They have orders from our Princess to be sent to the Moon, but I need to be careful and wait for the right time to open a continuum because—"
"Polemarchos are in our atmosphere,"
The soft but low tone of Jadeite's voice caught everyone by surprise. The blonde general appeared with Mars who had her flame bow in hand, signaling she had been using it constantly to break their path to them. Zoisite noticed the longbow Jadeite had carrying across his chest and blinked with evident surprise in his emerald eyes, "Jadeite,"
Pushing the question aside for later, the blonde walked towards him but his older brother took the lead, "We are being surrounded and they will lay down their power any minute now."
"But what about—" Megumi turned anxious; Jadeite quickly stopping her from saying more than she should at the moment. He gently patted her shoulder in support and excusing his brash behavior at her "Sprinkles and Pancake are all right."
"Sprinkles? Pancake?" Venus widened her eyes, finding it strange he wasn't using their names; Kunzite sighed, trying his best not to chuckle. He understood Jadeite's intentions on following the cue, proving they had indeed made some sort of contact with the royal couple, "This is common during battle—military tactics that will help you identify a comrade on the battlefield. It works as a deviation when trying to move through the shadows by not saying any names or titles out in the open. I believe it is a stretch considering who they are and how the enemy we are facing is all but unprepared. My first guess would be to think he is buying some time for them to save energy and strength for battle by keeping their auras dormant as much as possible, moving around like common civilians... now as for the codenames they chose... that is something... unusual."
Jadeite nodded his head, his grey-blue eyes locked with Zoisite's then with Kunzite's "I was given a set of coordinates, if it is their location then it means they are in our perimeter. It's a quick strategy and at the time being, safer as well."
"Safer for what?" Venus frowned, she turned when he felt Mars' hand on her shoulder, "For a brief moment, I also felt their aura..." Mars flinched, resenting the density in the air most than the rest, "Not much information was shared, it's weak, but it's enough to tell us they are all right."
"You said Polemarchos were here?" Artemis turned, following the tactic by not revealing Jadeite's name. His always impeccable white tunic and long white hair dirty as it fell over his beautiful pale face stained with ash and a trail of dry blood from the small wound he got while escaping from the explosion, "May I ask, how are you certain of it?"
"I was informed by the God of War himself," Jadeite pointed the titanium bow and then motioned his head to the swirling storm in the sky, "We were stalled by a strong entity. Mars took care of it and met with the War God. He gave me the details and a special message for Pancake."
"This is in part Eris' fault." Mars muttered and turned to Saturn, knowing for certain she would immediately understand "It is indeed coming from the Underworld. Any signs from Hades?"
Saturn shook her head, "It wasn't him. The Underworld is not entirely under his command right now."
"What does that mean?" Uranus frowned, Neptune sighed "That there are stronger forces taking over..."
Saturn nodded, "Tartarus is locked in the very depths for a reason. What it is in that pit is stronger than what lives in the surface known as the Underworld."
"So this is not just hell we are dealing with, but what follows deep bellow..." Uranus sighed, exasperated. Saturn looked at her, "We are facing the demons of Tartarus, the broken, the corrupted, and the vile... divine poison."
"It still has not touched ground but it is a sewer of decay and demonic creatures. Once they do, Earth will be cursed and engulfed in deadly contamination." Jadeite pointed out, "So far the sacred barrier Zoisite created is working."
"But the force fighting it is very strong." Zoisite said with clenched teeth, worried about the outcome, "It is only granting us time to be prepared for collusion."
"Any word on Nephrite?" Kunzite asked with a hurried tone. Jadeite turned to his leader and first in command, "They stayed behind to make sure the area is clear for us to move, but both are in the same perimeter."
Venus locked eyes with Mars, who shook her head "I can't grasp her aura, it's faint, but I don't see her light fading away. That is enough to give me the confidence to tell she is doing all right." She glanced at Mercury who also had her share of silent questions she was eager to ask, "Motoki is all right too. Jupiter helped him drive away so he could take people to safety; it was them who let us know of his location, they were together moments before we arrived in his aid."
"The Army of Polemarchos..." Artemis mumbled, shocked. He took a sharp breath and exhaled "This means there is no way we can escape now."
"What does that mean?" Luna frowned with worry, "Artemis, what do you mean?!"
"For the longest time I knew about this. I was taught about it but I have never been a witness to it. The celestial army of polemarchos, known as the wrath of the gods. When Lord Ares appears ready for war there is no turning back. It means a sentence has been given despite the lives that are on the line; everything they touch becomes a massacre. Polemarchos are the guillotine of the divine law."
"B-But..." Luna widened her eyes; terrified for what she just heard. Artemis curled his hand into a fist, shaking with rage, hating his weakness and inability to fight or gain an opportunity to negotiate; his known well-polished skills. Shook by the revelation, he continued with a morbid tone in his voice "If the Celestial Army of Polemarchos is surrounding us..." His feline eyes widened, he stood with a gaping mouth. Luna blinked, "Artemis?"
Artemis looked up, feeling a knot in the pit of his stomach, "It's because..."
O—o—o—o—O
Ares stretched one arm back to get a hold of the claymore sword sheathed on his back while he pulled the reins of the celestial beast he was riding toward the vortex, "Close the perimeter before it touches land!"
Aegeus, Polemarchos of Orion, riding next to Ares in his own divine beast took out his gilded chained swords and slashed the demons pouring out of the vortex's silage. His eyes gleaming with threat and murder turned to the monster breaking through and wrapped the clawed sword into its head and pulled toward him to knock it back with severe force. His long red hair tied in a high ponytail flowed like streams of angry fire, catching the light of the thunder as he went through the dense clouds to take over more demons under his unforgiving sharp weapons.
"Canopus!" He turned to the next polemarch riding his beast at his closest distance, "Spread the leverage of attack, we must push back as much of this before it touches the mortal realm!"
The polemarch in deep ultramarine armor frowned and made a detour to go against the gust current, and raised his hand to summon his battle-ax and started slashing demons coming out of the flow of the vortex. He snapped his fingers and an after-shock of the energy used to perform the attacks sparked around the perimeter in flashes of intense ultraviolet light.
"Arneb!" Canopus yelled at the warrior from the constellation of Lepus, riding toward him to take over the squad and yield the jurisdiction to his peer. The dark-skinned polemarch in deep purple and silver-lined armor used his long spear to attack the demons coming after him and snapped his fingers to call for a squall that would deviate their path towards Aegeus who was slashing shadows with one sword while using the chain of the other to grab more demons and pulled them back into the pit.
Ares charged his claymore sword with energy and blasted a whole flock of demons with a single glide of his heavy slash as he moved closer to the pit, his grey eyes narrowed. From the moment he parted ways from Mars and Jadeite he traveled back to take position and lead the first battalion of polemarchos. The order had been given from the moment he fled the underworld, but deep down he still wished he was in time to prevent the fusion between realms with hell and the depths of Tartarus.
Fearing the worst and turned back at the blue planet, "Damn it," his brows knitted as he watched a known giant break the fibers of space and show its long limbs from the darkness. The god of war swung his sword above his head in circular motions and pulled the reins on his beast to get closer, the giant's eyes instantly caught him coming his way, eyes gleamed red with threat as it stretched its arm at Ares "Olympians will not see victory this time!"
"We will see about that," Ares aimed his stretched palm at him and sent a blast of energy that clashed with the giant's in a loud explosion, "You will not find retribution! Return to darkness!
The giant roared as it blasted a stronger wave of dark energy at Ares, the god of war created an energy shield strong enough to protect him but also limited his range of attack and movement, "This cannot be happening..." he muttered under his breath, "Chaos cannot have gained this much power while being imprisoned..."
"This is the force of the black mass from Omega,"
Ares turned to Centaurus using his sword to reflect the light from his constellation to support Ares' merciless attack, piercing the giant's eyes, Whatever energy goes into the vortex is only going to feed its strength. The power and fusion of cosmic energy has caused a centrifugal force that will break the barriers of reality and merge with the mortal realm." His low rumbling voice flowed along with the loud sound of the impact from his long-range attack, "And not just that, but it will feed and pull the movements of everything around it."
"The course of the planets will shift," Ares clenched his jaw, "He is not just trying to take over..."
"He is trying to blast everything into a state of nothingness." Centaurus charged his sword and narrowed his eyes, "He is trying to fuse himself with the universe." He turned to Ares, "I am fearing the worst, Commander, because if this goes on..."
"Go to Earth." Ares swung his sword and aimed it at the giant's head and shot another blast of energy, taking control of the demonic body, "The Sol Polemarch has been given specific orders to follow that go beyond my command but they aren't far from what I would have ordered. The order he follows is absolute. He will go different directions from us and act on his own strategy,"
"And you have approved this?" Centaurus frowned, "Why would you do such a thing?!"
"Because such command comes from a higher authority than my own," Ares turned to Centaurus with a serious glare, one impossible to divert "We need to take back the power of Omega and the way to do it is by breaking protocol."
Centaurus' eyes narrowed, "Ares,"
"Surround the perimeter, lock positions and be ready," Ares tightened the reins of his divine beast, "I gave Aegeus the order of annihilation once it reaches its breaking point. This energy must be contained at all costs."
"I cannot leave my post! It is my duty as third in command! I am the shield of the battalion that follows the God of War!"
"I will take the task,"
Centaurus turned over his shoulder and widened his eyes at Hades riding his divine beast, a beautiful black smoke steed and holding his powerful scythe gleaming with the light of the explosions happening in the distance. Hades narrowed his grey eyes, "I have interests and assets at stake, Alpha Centauri, the same way you do. Focus on the danger ahead, whatever strategy works as valid."
Ares nodded at Centaurus, "I trust your wit, Centaurus, do what is need to be done."
Centaurus looked at the blue planet and disappeared in a flashed of light, leaving Ares and Hades fighting the front led by him. Hades tightened his grip on the reins of his divine beast from the underworld and turned to Ares, "Zeus went to Olympus to see how many soldiers are spared from Chaos' influence and also, to see if Hera is still there. He will take over the second battalion, stay alert for his instructions," His grey eyes darkened, showing his authority as leader, "I also think he will follow your advice and send his daughter some special aid,"
"Jupiter,"
"She is the one fighting inside the blue planet,"
"So is yours," Ares turned "Are you going to aid yours?"
"Saturn is a force of her own." Hades said with caution, "Whatever she has to do she already has it planned; she does not need of me."
"What makes you think Jupiter needs Zeus?"
"I do not." Hades used his scythe to cut through a barrier of shadows and sent a strong blast of energy at another to break them apart and take control over their souls, "But I have never denied Saturn as my daughter."
"No," Ares slashed his sword across another monster, "You just use her as your weapon."
"A little late on parenting advice, Brother." Hades turned on his infernal beast and swung his scythe again, "Your daughter is fighting on that planet as well, she has also taken sides."
"I trust Mars." Ares said with pride, "She is a Goddess of War, and she is not alone. She has a whole family on her side." He gave a quick glance at his brother, "So does your daughter, and so does Jupiter. They do not really need us, but it is up to us to be present in their lives. As for Zeus... well, he has a lot of bridges to rebuild. Plenty of mistakes to take into admission."
Hades' lips twitch, a subtle sign that his younger brother's words made sense and had touched a sore spot. While he always pretended to be strong due to his jurisdiction and who he eventually turned out to be, the God of Death was not a soulless man and deep down, he never wished for his daughter to carry such tragic fate of performing duty at the risk of her own existence. A deep secret he always kept as to why he never shown himself attached to her. It pained him as much as it pained his mother, Persephone. It pained the deep devotion he had for her because Saturn was the child born from two opposite forces, life, and death. The young senshi was the embodiment of rebirth, she was the blooming spring Persephone represents and the inevitable change of season Hades' presence meant. A beacon of new life, yet, a keeper of silence.
Hades stretched his arm with his scythe secure in his hand, "That is something I will take care in a later time. We must deal with this disaster first,"
"Who stayed back in the Underworld?"
"Agamemnon is taking charge of an army of shadows. Charon was found in one of the rivers and is joining the battle there by taking the souls that are being sent back. The rim is dissolved but that is a different matter, Nyx and Hecate are working from there, so is Lethe, Mnemosyne, and given Eris' betrayal, I had no other option but to put Medusa in her place for the time being." Hades blasted a herd of demons, "Lost souls are just that, lost. Demons already have a sentence... shadows are already condemned. It is our past what must stay locked and also, who has the power to manipulate their already broken minds."
"The ancients."
"Corrupted Giants and Titans alike,"
Hades' eyes narrowed, "Tartarus already merged with the Underworld. That vortex will reach the mortal realm soon enough if we do not act soon. Chaos must not have control over the three realms and take over reality. He must not take over the course of our fate." His jaw clenched, obviously bothered by his next words, "We have come once again to a time when we must rely on the power we still have on our side. The hybrid still has much work to do."
Ares pulled the reins and change his course toward the battle scene led by Aegeus, who wasn't wasting a single second of time with his chained weapons. He turned to Ares and pulled at one of his chains to tore a giant into pieces, "Commander!"
"Canis is taking over the third galactic quadrant between the constellation of Boötes and our range at 0° and +60° degrees of declination. Ursa is with the fourth galactic quadrant taking the lead of the battalion at the rim of the Magellanic Cloud. The fifth battalion is at the reach of Olympus." Ares turned to Aegeus, "I need backup."
"Andromeda has limited resources, they have been the most affected by Chaos' demonic army," Aegeus said, "Perseus has measured the level of damage and it is bigger than we initially thought,"
"Where is he now?"
"Taking part in the second battalion with Canis Major. He has taken the royals of Andromeda into safety."
"Good." Ares' eyes narrowed, "And the Sailor Senshi?"
"They are fighting as we speak, their course of action has already started. Parallel forces are into motion. They are taking care of the shadow cast spreading across the universe."
"Our duty now is to prevent this cast from spread any further. Cut the disease from its root, and said root is right under our noses." Ares tightened his grip on his sword and sung it to take care of the demons coming their way, "Create a shield, from this point onward nothing goes in..." His gray eyes narrowed, "And nothing goes out."
"Yes, Master," Aegeus stretched his arm to activate the chain of his sword to attack another demon and turned, "Where is Centaurus? He was leading one of the battalions closing the perimeter at the Milky Way,"
"He is taking care of another task,"
"I will go with you ta the edge of the vortex." Hades looked ahead, "Rhadamanthus can take my post. Minos will team up with Aegeus and Aeacus will be my eyes and ears on the battlefield." He turned to his brother, "I am the only one that can pull the souls of those condemned back into the depths of the Alpha Galaxy."
"Are you not concerned about your life?" Ares arched his brow, Hades clicked his tongue, "Are you not concerned about yours, God of War?" His gray eyes glanced at his brother, "We became pillars of an entire realm for a reason." He tilted his head to the side as he analyzed the situation, "And besides... if there is someone that knows darkness and death like the back of his hand is me." He turned to see the mass of battle and murder happening in front of them, "It is beautiful... the agony before death. I want to see his face and be witness of the very moment his soul leaves his body."
Ares pulled the reins of his divine beast and turned to another herd of demons spawning out of the massive dark hole, "Is this another side plan of yours?"
"I do not have a plan, Ares," Hades swung his scythe taking in account many demons as they rode close to the vortex, "I am just playing with the pieces I have left on my board. Relying on my last resources with high hopes of our efforts not going straight to failure." He swung his curved blade again and took another herd of demons and manipulated their energy to his advantage, "I know this battle is just the trail of his path; the real threat is down there," He frowned, "You are putting too much faith into one cause."
Ares licked his lips as he slashed another giant demon to move across, his handsome face splattered with its blood as he passed by, leaving the rotten corpse behind, "I do not have faith in a cause, I believe in a force of nature." He raised his sword to give the signal to the polemarchos to create the seal by bonding their cosmic power, creating a strong energy barrier around the vortex and galaxy, locking everybody in and out.
Ares took a deep breath as his eyes looked at the bright star burning in the distance, "It is done, Master."
The Divinity Series is rated M. Violence, cursing, and intimacy may occur.
I do not own Sailor Moon, just this plot and some of the characters.
A/N: So, I cannot say enough that this story is a long one. That the characters portrayed here are my interpretation, and so the events that happen in it. I understand it's not everyone's cup of tea and that's okay. Just please for the love of god, if there isn't a positive comment to share, better not say anything at all. Writing is therapeutic for me. As for Divinity, the story will continue, I enjoy writing it, and there is more to come. Thank you to everyone that has followed me throughout this long journey. I hope you can keep me company and enjoy the adventure with me.