Whew...I have been too busy lately. Anyhow...thanks all for your reviews! Hey Miguel, great to hear from ya! About time frames...eh, I'm starting to wrap this baby up, so I really am I not going to worry about it at the moment. Also, I have never seen the Hades chapter, and it is a sacred vow of mine that I never write about something I have never seen/read. I really can't get into the characters otherwise. Erm...Hotaru isn't paired with Shun. Please tell me you guys don't think Hotaru is paired with Shun. She's too young. They're just pals. And once again, since we're getting close to the end, I am not too concerned with pairings. This isn't a romance, after all. And I really am not going into detail about Hyoga and Minako. It's just that Kybele wanted them to be together, and as I didn't get any other pairing suggestions at the time, and I had nothing better, I figured I'd kind of put them together. In a way. Hmm...I like Shun and Minako, though. I never really thought of them being together, but Shun being so shy and Minako so outgoing, it would be interesting. And when I was thinking about pairings, Ami and Hyoga did actually come to mind because their... I dunno...auras/powers/whatevers are so compatible. Ice and ice. Thanks for the great suggestions! I don't know if I'll be doing another crossover like this in a while, but if I do, I'll remember your ideas! Wow...that was a long author's note. More like an author's letter.
Circe was pleasantly surprised to find that the humans hadn't completely screwed over the Earth. Yes, there was an almost suffocating scent of pollution in the air...and yes, the natural forests were disappearing faster than what she would like to know...but the air was still air, and the water was still water, and she was happy to know that it would soon be cleansed of the idiot humans.
The super humans stared at her, completely non-plussed. Circe stepped forward and nodded at Akigara, who gracefully approached and bowed, holding out the pale blue soul with both hands.
"The last soul, Mistress." Circe took it, and smiled. She had the four now, and it would be released at last.
"Thank you, Akigara. You have served me well." The once-human Soul Eater bowed, and stepped off to the side, a tiny grin on her face. Circe turned to the super humans. "You see, I now have the four souls that I need to release the Devourer. And there is nothing you can do to stop it."
"The Devourer." Circe frowned slightly. The speaker was a girl-child, whose eyes held the imminent silence of destruction, and her gloved hand curled tightly about the legendary glaive, the blade glinting ominously.
"You...you were not influenced by my visions. I see why now," Circe's face relaxed; it was almost too simple. "The Devourer could do nothing to you, for you are destruction. You and the Devourer are one in the same, child. Did you not know it?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" A blonde woman demanded. Circe raised an eyebrow.
"Well, it means that this child will hold the great honor of hosting the Devourer. Your friend," she gestured at Akigara, "has been channeling the Devourer lately. But it needs a true host, and she unfortunately belongs to the light. The Devourer needs one of the darkness."
"Over my dead body your creature will take her!" the blonde snapped, her aura flaring for a moment. Circe narrowed her eyes; idiot creatures dared contradict her!
"That can be arranged." The woman opened her mouth to say more, but was silenced by the girl-child who stepped forward.
"Who are you? The creator of the Devourer was a sorcerer. Are you his successor?" Her voice was cool, and they all looked to Circe questioningly. She, however, was fighting down hot fury; the child dared remind her of her past? She dared? However, she composed herself; they were ignorant humans, after all.
"I was a girl living in the French Revolution. It was rather pathetic actually; orphaned, living off of garbage. And so, imagine the excitement of discovering a book that told of a man who created an army of fearsome creatures to rule the world." She fought off the rushing memories, striving to keep her voice cold and controlled. She was Mistress, she was Circe, and she was not going to feel it! "And so, I went to this old man's castle...now a ruin, raided countless times by bandits and the like. And it was there that I established my immortality. It was there that I began to make my Soul Eaters. And it was there where I found the Devourer."
"Listen, you! Just because you had a difficult childhood doesn't give you the right to destroy the world!" the miko said angrily, violet eyes burning. Circe chuckled to herself.
"I do not blame my desire for this world to be silenced on my childhood, girl. The power is mine to behold, and once the Devourer is released, I will never have to watch and listen to idiot human trivialities."
"And so...you will surround yourself with creatures that you create yourself, and live out eternity in a world with no other humans. Is that truly what you want?" His quiet, meditative voice was gentle, the young man who was protected by Draco. She held the soul closer.
"Yes. Yes, because I have had enough of human filth. I have watched it for a century now, and I am sick of it! My Soul Eaters do not rape, or make war. They merely exist!" Circe stopped herself, and took a deep breath.
"It does not matter what words you say to me. On this spot, I will release the Devourer, and there is little you can do to stop me. Cherish the emotions you feel right now, for they will be the last." She smiled as she felt the presence of her Elite, as well as the other three souls. She turned to them.
"Gyakusetsu...give me the souls!" The vivacious Soul Eater looked at Circe with wide, pale green eyes.
"No. I won't."