And here we reach the climax!
(Quotes from the Qu'ran and Bible)
When the Word is justly carried out against them, We will produce a Beast from the earth which will speak to them. Truly mankind had no certainty about Our Signs. (Surat an-Naml: 82)
What are they awaiting but for the Hour to come upon them suddenly? Its Signs have already come. What good will their Reminder be to them when it does arrive? (Surah Muhammad: 18)
We did not create the heavens and earth and everything between them, except with truth. The Hour is certainly coming. (Surat al-Hijr: 85)
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? (Revelation 13:1-4)
The time of reckoning had come. As had been prophesied The Great Beast had awoken within the form of little Koyomiko Takino-Mizuhara. A punishment for the Dagon playing God? Possibly. A punishment sent on Tomo and Yomi themselves for indiscretions unknown? Maybe.
Shocked to speechlessness, Tomo was still audacious enough to approach her daughter and touch her shoulder. The response was pure rage.
Koyomiko whirled around, sending her mother flailing into the dirt. No one dare touch Tomo as if she were now accursed.
"Just stay there.", Koyomiko said. "You will be saved."
Dagon cursed himself repeatedly. The Class C Vorpal Lysis Demodulator had not made full contact. Thus the girl seemed nearly unharmed. He had tried and failed, but this was not a failure to accept and forget.
The signs began at that moment as Koyomiko returned her gaze upon her attackers.
The sky went dark. Not dark as occluded by clouds but as if night had fallen suddenly. So dark it was that the moon appeared brighter than ever. That sight was short as the moon took on a blood-red cast.
'What have I done?', Kagura thought. In her eyes, she had doomed the world. She had doomed all life due to her suspicions. Could she blame Dagon? It was her fault. She led them to Koyomiko.
Osaka babbled senselessly. Her mind was befuddled by too much thought input. Nothing was straight, nothing was right.
"Now,", Koyomiko said. "All you guys without the Mark gotta die, ok?."
'Mark?', Dagon thought back to his readings on the Apocalypse.
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13: 15-17)
The Mark of the Beast. Commonly thought to be the number 666.
Dagon's eyes flashed with revelation. It all fell into place at that moment. All he thought to be correct had been a twisted experiment to, in time, bring about The End.
The Mark of the Beast was the modified DNA in their creations. Cytosine, guanine, adenine, thymine, xanthine, and uracil. Six nucleotides triple base bonding with one another. He had always thought that a bit odd that, even though there were four helixes in the DNA of their creations, only three of the helixes were connected to other nucleotides. The fourth helix was attached to the phosphate backbone of the other three. Six triple bases bonded together. Six triple...Six triple...
The fourth had to have a purpose.
"The fourth is me.", said Koyomiko, who had obviously read his thoughts.
"Speak clearly, Beast.", Dagon insisted.
Koyomiko grinned and began to approach the group. The soldiers raised their rifles to fire. Laserbolts rained upon the girl. Tomo and Yomi screamed and tried to run towards their daughter, protective up to the end, but Kaorin and Chihiro had to hold them back.
The bolts hit Koyomiko but were seemingly absorbed by her skin. No mark was upon it when the soldiers ran out of ammunition. She just flashed a sweet smile and approached closer.
"The fourth helix is what makes me who I am.", she explained.
Dagon took a step back.
"The fourth helix encodes The Beast?"
Koyomiko nodded with an adorable smile on her face. It was hard to believe this girl would end the world.
Dagon understood though. The fourth helix consisted only of xanthine and uracil bases, two mutated nucleotides. They just had to be in the proper order. What caused the mutations Dagon had always known, but the connection was not there to make.
He hatched his plan. He knew the way but he could not, would not, think it lest the girl read his thoughts once more. Dagon had to stall.
"Who is saved, Beast?", he asked.
"Those who love me.", she smiled. "Like Mama and Kaa-san."
"KOYOMIKO!!!", Yomi cried, struggling against Chihiro's arms.
"What are you going to do against her?", Chihiro hissed. "It's too late now...". Sadness overcame the girl as all hope in the situation was lost.
"It's never too late!", Tomo yelled, kicking at Kaorin who was trying to calm her.
Tomo broke from her grip and then, using her adrenaline-infused strength, pulled Yomi from Chihiro's arms. Together, they ran towards the girl.
"Koyomiko! Dagon! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!", Yomi screamed.
The little girl turned and smiled happily at her mothers.
"It's not his fault, Kaa-san. I was born like this. The world is evil and it has to be destroyed."
"It's not as bad as you think!", Tomo said, shaking her daughter by the shoulders.
"Yes, it is! With all the silly humans gone it'll be a better place!", Koyomiko said.
Before the mothers could argue again, Dagon interrupted.
"What about us?", he said.
Koyomiko regarded him with innocent eyes.
"You mean the Dagon?"
Dagon nodded. This was the chance he needed.
"You gotta die too!", she smiled.
"Would you destroy the Beacon? The device that gave you the opportunity for life?", he asked.
His skin tingled as he awaited the answer. He hoped it was what he was looking for.
Koyomiko looked into his eyes, she delved into the crevices of his brain and found only truth in what he had said.
"No more Beacon."
Dagon's face registered absolute hopelessness. A feeling that there was now no way to avert the end of the world.
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Taito tore from their embraces and stumbled backwards. He had released his grip on Kaede but he no longer thought that important. He regarded Sakaki and Chiyo with eyes bordering on insanity.
"What...are you doing?"
"We just want you to see that not all the world is bad, Taito-san.", Chiyo said.
Such nameless, baseless emotions flowed through the man. Nothing in his twenty-three year life would have prepared him to accept such. Unloved he was, but how would he have known? Born of two fathers whom he never knew, he lived a secluded life as the last remaining male experiment. Used as nothing more than a curiosity, he was left to watch over the progenies of the Dagon. He never thought it tiresome though, he never fell into depression. He simply never knew. He was totally unaware.
"What can you show me?", he asked.
Sakaki approached him and clasped his hands in her own. She smiled and gazed at him reassuringly. She hoped he would understand.
"Come with us out into the world.", she said.
He paused for a moment.
"I can't.", he said.
"But why?", Chiyo asked, who was now holding Kaede by the hand.
"Humans have passions and desires that push them forward to do something with their lives. I don't have any of those desires! I would be lost; not knowing how to perform any of the tasks I would be asked. Think about it, I know nothing of how to act in society."
"Please just try, Taito-san!", Chiyo said. "Come with us and we can teach you. I promise to teach you!", Chiyo stomped her foot.
Taito smiled at the girl. She certainly was audacious. He had never met two humans so capable of making his emotions swirl. They were honest and beautiful people; trustworthy and he knew that they only meant to do right by him.
So he nodded.
"I'll come with you."
Sakaki and Chiyo cheered and hugged him earnestly.
"Thank you, Taito-san! We won't fail you!"
-------
"KOYOMIKO! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!", Yomi screamed, shaking the girl by the shoulders as tears streamed down her face.
"Ya dun gotta do this, Koyomiko!", Osaka said.
"You shut up!", Tomo growled.
Osaka relented under the pressure. She had never heard Tomo speak in such a manner.
"How about we start now, ok?", Koyomiko said.
"Wha-", Yomi began, but Koyomiko had already left her arms.
In a flash, the girl floated two metres above the heads of those assembled. She had left her makeshift clothing below and instead seemed sheathed by a burning, diaphanous light.
"Bye bye Beacon.", she waved playfully at the darkened sky.
Dagon gulped as the others jumped and pleaded for their lives. Osaka was on her knees praying to whatever god she knew, Kagura let tears loose to stream down her face. Kaorin and Chihiro hugged one another, sharing one last embrace. Tomo and Yomi pleaded with their daughter to end this madness.
Yet even the voices of her mothers could not dissuade her. She was The Beast.
In one fluid motion a lance of flame erupted from her palm. She reared back one arm and heaved it into the abyssal sky. It traveled through the air faster than anything seen upon this world, leaving jagged streaks of crimson fire throughout the sky; like vipers of the End Times.
It soon disappeared from view.
Then came another light, a slight blossom of light, nothing but a pinpoint upon the inky blackness of the sky.
Dagon knew what it was. And he smiled.
"Yay it's gone!", Koyomiko cheered.
Then Dagon began to clap. It was a slow, congratulatory clap.
"Thank you very much, Mega Therion."
"Huh?", Koyomiko said.
"You have destroyed yourself by your own hands."
"What do you-", Koyomiko's words stopped at that moment.
The others watched as the glow about the girl faded. This was followed by her immediate plummet from the sky. Tomo threw her own body under that of her daughters and broke her landing. The others gathered around her to check on the fallen girl.
"Koyomiko!!", Yomi called, pushing past the others.
Just then, Koyomiko began to convulse. Her muscles contracted and threw her body about with immense force. Enough force to knock Tomo on her back. The little girl cried out in pain as the sky once more became bright.
She panted and called for her mothers.
"Mama! Kaa-san!", she cried.
Tomo and Yomi approached their child to see blood streaming from her tightly shut eyes.
"KOYOMIKO!!", Yomi cried, grabbing hold of the girl.
"Mama...Kaa-san...", she wept. "I can't see!"
"Oh my god...", Kaorin gasped as she watched the two parents softly wipe away the girl's bloody tears.
Koyomiko became calmer as her mother's comforted her.She slowly opened her eyes, which were revealed to be terribly bloodshot.
"I can see...but everything is blurry."
Dagon stood by the solemn scene and smiled inwardly. For some reason he felt good that he had to sacrifice a possession of his own to end the danger. The destruction of the Beacon had destabilized the fourth helix and thus dissolved the danger of The Beast.
But this also meant the time of the Dagon was coming to a close as well. The fourth helix was also present in the cells of all their creations, as well as their progenies. Thus only the true Dagon would continue to live. All others would be destroyed. The only tetra-helical survivor would be Koyomiko, for her fourth helix was the one set properly.
Command would not be pleased. But, they didn't need to know because Dagon no longer cared to continue his conquests and experiments.
He had had enough.
It was time to play by the rules.
----
"Wow! It's really dark out.", Chiyo noted as they emerged from the tunnel.
"And look at that moon.", Sakaki pointed to the bloody-red moon hanging in the heavens.
"Eh?", Kaede said.
"Yeah, that's pretty weird.", Taito commented.
"I wonder what's going on.", Chiyo asked.
"I don't know, but I've never seen anything like that moon.", Sakaki said.
They both had seen harvest moons before, but those shone a cast of ochre, not this deep crimson.
"We should prolly get going before the Dagon decide to send out people looking for us.", Taito suggested.
They pushed their way through the trees; beginning their descent down the mountain.
"I hear there's a town near the base.", Taito said.
"Do you think our friends went there?", Chiyo asked excitedly.
"How am I supposed to know?", Taito shrugged. "It's a good place to start though."
Sakaki smiled. She was very glad Taito had decided to join them. She was very proud of Chiyo for talking with such sense to the man. That girl was certainly beyond her age; a true prodigy.
"We'll find you a good place to stay, Taito-san! I'm sure that if I introduced you to my parents, they'd let you stay with us!", Chiyo giggled.
Taito smiled. He hadn't smiled in such a way in all his years. In fact, he no longer felt controlled or distant. His feelings meant something; they simply didn't have to be pushed to the rear of his mind.
Chiyo pointed upward a moment later.
"Wow! It looks like it's getting light out again."
Indeed, the night-like sky seemed to have dissipated and was replaced by a bright, sunny, blue sky.
"I wonder what happened?", Sakaki mused.
"Solar eclipse, maybe?", Chiyo suggested.
"Maybe-", Taito's voice was cut off by a deep grunt.
Kaede also let out a high pitched squeal.
This caused the other two girls to turn and see the two rapidly convulsing on the forest floor. Each one cried out in pain as if their heartstrings were being pulled directly from them.
"AHH! GYAAHH!", Kaede cried. Sakaki tended to the girl as she squirmed.
Taito also writhed in pain and Chiyo knelt to asses the situation.
"What's wrong? What's wrong!?", Chiyo cried, looking for any signs of wounds on the man's body.
"Kaede! Kaede!?", Sakaki called to the girl.
Chiyo was the first to notice the next horrific portion. Her young eyes will never forget the scene.
Taito's flesh began to peel. Falling off in blood strips, it left his face and hands a mess of fatty tissue and blood which seeped.
"TAITO! TAITO!", Chiyo shook the man's shoulders feebly as she wept tears over his dissolving body.
Sakaki had seen the same scene with Kaede. Her body fell to pieces in bloody, horrible chunks. She wanted to hide her eyes but she could not close them, the tears were coming too strongly.
"Kaede...", she wept over the body which was now little more than a mass of jelly-like consistency.
Together, the two girls wept in each other's arms.
'My daughter...'
'My friend...'
'Why must fate be so cruel sometimes...?'
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Yeah, sad chapter (! Don't fret though, this isn't the end!