Chapter 56: One and the Same

"So Zeus...we meet at last," said Rias.

"No need for introductions, Lady Rias," Zeus purred, "for we have already met. I've already met every single one of you, especially you...Katrina..." The red and black coat took a step towards her, only for Calvin to stand in his way, and a white shockwave to zip past Zeus.

"You stay away from her!" Everyone present turned to Kessler, whose existance had pretty much been forgotten until that very second. The old man was struggling to stand on his feet, keeping a hard glare at Zeus. The coat clad conduit glared right back,

"I know I should be glad that I found you so quick this time, but at the same time, I wish I fucking hadn't."

"You won't take Katrina away from me again you evil bastard!" Shouted Kessler. The devils looked at him in disgusted confusion.

"Away from you? What are you talking about?!" Calvin shouted at the raving old man.

"You didn't tell him?" Zeus asked Kessler. "Or were you waiting for me to tell him?" Kessler glared at Zeus, seething with rage and hatred, almost looking insane.

"Fine, I'll tell you my story!" He frothed, "Many many many years ago, I was a happy devil servant to my master, living peacefully with my pregnant girlfriend, who was carrying my baby girl. I was young, and dumb, so when THAT MOTHERFUCKER, appeared out of nowhere, wanting to kill me over the death of his own family that I have never met, I ran and hid my girlfriend instead of staying and fighting. I let everyone else fight for me, and each and every one of them fell...and it was all my fault! My cowardice killed them! What's worse, is that even when I was running, I still lost my girlfriend and my daughter!" Tears were streaming down Kesslers face, yet he was clearly looking for no sympathy. "So I used my most dangerous power, to go back in time to prevent it all from happening-!"

"What does that have to do with you trying to kill me?!" Shouted Katrina, "What does that have to do with you killing my...?" Katrina paused, and she began to think, a thought she hadn't had before beginning to blossom in her head.

"I had to Katrina..." said Kessler, "So Calvin would not have to endure the same hardships as me." He removed his hood, revealing his aged glory, and even though this was the first time seeing him with no hood, he still seemed horribly familiar to the ORC.

"What hardships?" Asked Calvin, growing more confused by the second.

"Of losing Katrina and your daughter, like I had lost my Katrina and daughter." Kessler waited, wanting to see if they could figure out what he was saying, but it seemed like they were at a loss.

"Wait, how did you know they were going to have a girl?" Asked Adrian, causing his friends to look at Kessler suspiciously. Zeus finally had enough, placed a hand on Kesslers head while he was turned away, and in a flash of red and violet, electrocuted Kessler, making the old man tumble to the ground, unconscious and not getting up anytime soon.

"If that is all said and done, I will give it to you straight. No hidden riddles, no more bullshit, it all comes out here." Zeus paused, taking a deep breath, and began his story,

"Long ago, I had my own girlfriend, carrying my baby girl, serving my master with not a care in the world except for my girlfriend, Katrina, and my yet-to-be-born daughter, Elsa." Calvin blinked, and remembered his conversation with Katrina not too long ago, with Elsa being the name of his daughter if he ever had one! "But then one day, a crazy old man came to me and my family, killed Katrina while carrying my unborn daughter, and passed it off as 'preperation' for fighting a beast that never came." The others looked to Zeus with pity, and down at Kessler with malice, "But he was given the shock of his life when I killed him where he stood." Now the ORC looked at Zeus with confusion.

"Wait! Wait! Wait, hold on! If you already killed Kessler, how is he here now?" Asked Issei, clearly confused.

"I'll get to that in a second," said Zeus, "Anywho, once Kessler was dead, I quickly realized that killing him wasn't going to bring my family back. So I used my most dangerous power, to go back in time myself, and what do I find? A younger Kessler, kissing my pregnant girlfriend, carrying my daughter, and all around LIVING MY LIFE!!" Zeus finished with a roar. The entire ORC glared at the red and black clad conduit.

"So you tried to kill Kesslers girlfriend and daughter as payback, before he even did anything," said Adrian, trying to understand.

"No..." said Zeus, being sincere, "I would never hurt Katrina, especially while she was carrying Elsa, or any woman carrying a baby in her belly."

"Then how did Kesslers' girlfriend and daughter die?!" Calvin demanded to know. Zeus paused letting a single tear flow down,

"It was an accident...one Kessler blames me for...all because HE had to redirect a fucking tank shell directly at the store he was hiding his Katrina in!"

"Okay hold on one second!" Shouted Katrina, "How the fuck do all three of you have or had a girlfriend with the same name as me, and all lose a daughter that only me and Calvin would have named Elsa?!" Zeus stared sorrowfully at Katrina, and continued,

"Once Kesslers girlfriend was dead, he used the same time travel power I used to go back, no doubt to prevent me from ever happening...or at least try to prepare himself to fight me. Turns out I was right."

"You didn't answer my question," said Katrina, gripping the hilt of Soul Reaver on her back. Zeus nodded, and turned to Calvin,

"How's your tattoo treating you?" Calvin took a stunned step back,

"How the fuck-?!"

"Calvin you got a tattoo?" Asked Adrian, the other devils looking at him curiously.

"He's got one alright," said Zeus, "Go ahead and show them!" Calvin hesitated, and slowly removed his shirt, revealing the Soul Reaver tattoed down the middle of his back, with the Blades of Exhile flaring like wings next to it.

"Wow, that is a nice tattoo," said Katrina, running her fingers over the ink, making Calvin jump a bit.

"Still a little tender from being done recently, so I don't know how he could have known I got this!" Zeus then knelt down to the unconscious Kessler, gripped the back of his robes, ripped it open, and to the shock of everyone present, the old man had the same exact tattoo, only faded.

"Figured it out yet?" The other devils looked to Zeus in complete and utter shock, "Still nothing? Then let me give you a clue..." He turned away from all of them, removing his hood, unbuttoning his coat, and lowering it just enough to reveal the exact same tattoo decorating his back! He lifted his coat back up, buttoning it back up, and turned around with his hood still down. Everyone gasped, as they saw he had chalk white skin, black veins crawling up the left side of his face, blood red eyes, but worst of all, he had the same facial features as Calvin!

"No...no it...it can't be!" Calvin stammered. Zeus started speaking low, and ended with a full volume bellow,

"It can, and it is. Calvin, Kessler, Zeus...we are all one and the same!!"