Chapter 29: Faith

chaos flutters his eyelids and looks around. The sunlight shines down upon him from the sky and seems to focus only on him. The wind slowly blows in from the hole chaos created from his attack and makes the petals dance all around him. It was as if they were telling him to get up and continue forward. He closes his eyes and lets his mind drift about the present. Everything around him seemed so peaceful and tranquil, almost as if the fight between him and Arsenic had never happened. (Guess it's…finally over…) He looks up into the sky and sees a bird fly high into the sky. (I'm so sorry, Arsenic…but this must be done. May your death be a peaceful one, old friend…)

He does a short prayer in remembrance of his comrade and afterwards, slowly gets up only to find out that his whole body was in excruciating pain. He holds his stomach with his hand trying to somewhat comfort the pain but it just seemed to hurt worse. (I must've overdone it with unleashing too much divine power…I'm starting to feel…) He keels over and throws up some of his purple blood. He wipes his mouth of any remaining blood and looks at himself. (This is bad…if I'm already this weak after transforming…will I have enough to carry out my mission?)

He pushes himself up with all his might and slowly moves towards a tree to help hold himself up. He leans his head against his the tree and starts inching forward. (I can't…rest now…I have to push on...for the sake of this universe…without me, she can't do it…)

He takes slow steps to reach the cross-shaped door looming in the distance. It took everything that chaos had in his remaining power to make it. He manages to push it open without falling over. (If I have to face him in this condition…no…I must have faith. This will be the end. I will finish what I started many years ago…)

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Wilhelm takes a look into the Compass and smiles. The thoughts of meeting his old comrade were just over joyous. "So…he's finally coming." He turns around and watches the doors closely, expecting his person in waiting. He notices one of them slowly opening revealing who was on the other side. "Ah, Yeshua…welcome. I'm glad to see that you made it here."

chaos takes a step in the room and slowly walks towards Wilhelm. He stops at the base of the stairs and stands up straight to not show his weak physical condition to Wilhelm. If Wilhelm knew, then he would clearly use that to his advantage. "Wilhelm… you truly intend to stop me?"

"Why, of course, Yeshua," Wilhelm turns around to face two circular metal discs circling around a teal cube slowly. A golden arch seems to support both of these objects with some kind of gravity bending material. It is radiating a power that seemed to soothe yet at the same time give a sense of foreboding should anyone use it. "Zarathustra's Door...the Door of Divinity...I will not let you open it."

"Do you really seek eternal recurrence that badly?" chaos stands up and starts emitting the same power he used to defeat Arsenic. The pain that he had felt before disappeared but chaos knew that this would be it. All that mattered now was the mission. "You sent all of the Aeons to stop us just for your own satisfaction? To end an eternal cycle only to have it start again?" Memories of Arsenic start flooding into his mind. "You know the Aeons' duties as well as I do…the duty to protect the Sovereign and bring them no harm!"

"Of course I was aware of that." Wilhelm raises one arm and a rainbow orb of power starts emerging from the very fabric of reality. "They knew what it meant when Zarathustra's Door was opened. They wanted to prevent such a future and vowed their lives to stop you and your friends…" Wilhelm takes a step forward. "I still don't get why you would walk the path of destruction if you know what awaits us on the other side, Yeshua."

chaos looks down and clenches his fists. "Even if that's the case, we have no right to control these humans. They have developed into something more than we could ever hope for. They've learned to take a step forward into the unknown. We should let them follow their own path instead of forging it for them."

"Yeshua…you've grown fond of them? Even though they were the ones who unleashed the Gnosis upon this world? They were so foolish as to open Pandora's box to overcome their fears and grow in power. Their desires for their own self-satisfaction are what caused this entire ordeal. They deserve eternal recurrence for what they've done." The rainbow orb stops growing in power and continues to spin slowly in Wilhelm's hand.

"As long as possibilities exist, there is always hope for the future." chaos starts walking forward on each step, gathering more power to transform. Each step he treaded upon seemed to bring chaos' beliefs into the light, closer to his goal. "Until they take the next step, they can never hope to achieve the things they desire…whether it is for good intentions or evil. But if you stop them before they take that step…" White angelic wings erupt from chaos' back as his entire body also becomes engulfed in a white light. "All you're doing is halting the future that we were meant to protect."

Wilhelm doesn't seem affected by chaos' words of wisdom. He merely smiles. "Yeshua, it is futile to go against me. You know that better than anyone."

"It doesn't matter if you are the Grand Sovereign. Heinlein and I will stop you."

"Looks like he arrived." Wilhelm looks to a door on his right as it opens. A man with long white hair and ruby eyes steps into the room. His clothes are similar to Wilhelm's but his jacket is unbuttoned. His facial features also look similar to Wilhelm, almost as if he was a mirror image. "Welcome, Heinlein. I didn't expect to see you here so soon. Good to see that you're doing well…"

"Heimarene…keep your damn remarks to yourself." Heinlein walks to stand next to chaos. He takes a look at Zarathustra and figures out what chaos is doing. "Yeshua, don't think that I'm helping you for even a second…this is for my own personal gain." Heinlein folds his arms across his chest. "You want to open Zarathustra, hm? That's quite something…even for you with your passive nature." He looks at Wilhelm and his orb of power. "That won't matter to me. I'll finally be able to take my place...Heimarene! Prepare yourself!"

Heinlein starts radiating a similar glow to Wilhelm's rainbow orb. One rainbow wing erupts from the left side of his back. His crimson eyes begin to flash violently as his power continues to grow. Strings of rainbow lights start thrashing around from the intensity of Heinlein's power.

(So…you're not holding back either…) chaos begins to release more of his power, growing two more wings that coincide with his two that he already had. Rings of divine light start swirling around in an orbit as chaos finishes transforming.

"You two intend to go against me anyways, knowing that it is hopeless?" Wilhelm holds his orb up into the air. The orb starts pulsing and emits a powerful shockwave which bring chaos and Heinlein to their knees. "It's…admirable at best."

(Damn him…) Heinlein struggles to get up but the crushing weight of Wilhelm's power is too much to resist.

"The others should be coming soon." Wilhelm turns to look at his Compass. "And so will the key. Soon, it will end."

chaos' looks a little surprised, finally figuring out what Wilhelm planned to do. (No! If that were to happen…)

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Jr. lets out a battle cry and starts spinning his guns as he does so. Ace prepares for gunshots to fire but to his surprise, Jr. doesn't fire any. (Just what is this gunslinger trying to do? Maybe he's out of bullets and plans on beating me with his guns…isn't that inventive?)

Ace reaches into his pockets and pulls out some hand grenades. He scatters them all by throwing them all at the same time. He grins and then fired bullets into each grenade, causing them to explode right in front of Jr. He gets blown back but safely lands on his feet.

"You're going to have to do better than that…" Ace chuckled. "You've still got a long way if you want to be an expert marksman."

Jr. scoffs and then charges forward again. Ace reaches for more grenades as Jr. jumps into the air. Ace fires his bullets and the grenades explode. Smoke filled the area around them and two thuds are heard slamming into the ground.

Blood slowly creeps out of the smoke as it disappears. Jr. and Ace were both lying on the ground. Jr. and Ace both get up and breathe heavily. "If we keep butting heads like this…there will be no victor…" Ace begins.

"No," Jr. says firmly. "It's over."

Ace looks confused for a second but two slash marks appear on his chest in the form of an X and blood starts oozing out. Ace falls down to his knees holding his chest in pain.

Ace coughs and looks at Jr. "So…you've transformed your guns into blades…"

A crimson blade is coming out of the barrel of both of Jr.'s Vaquero guns. They slowly start to disappear when Jr. spins his guns around.

"Red Dragon Blades…" Jr. holsters his guns and puts a hand to his hip. "I just developed this trick because I probably wouldn't have been able to beat you in close range combat."

"I change my mind about you…you are a remarkable gunslinger…partner…" He smiles as he slowly raises a finger at Jr. "Bang." He falls over and doesn't move. He has a smile on his face and his body begins to disappear.

"That was really fun. Let's play again sometimes…" Jr. heads up to the door on the other side of the room and opens it.

On the other side, Ormus soldiers were firing bullets at Albedo who had put up his ethereal shield to block them. The Ormus soldiers were apparently not very bright.

"Have you not realized that your foolish weapons don't work?" Albedo mocks. "Let me show you true power!" He holds out his arm and blasts them with his newfound powers as a Testament.

"Albedo!" Jr. runs over to the bodies of the Ormus soldiers and checks them. They're all dead. He slams his fist into the ground and notices some ammo for their hand guns. "Sorry about this…" He grabs some of their ammo for their hand guns and puts them inside his pocket. He then reloads his guns quickly and gets up to face his younger brother again. "How could you kill them?!"

Albedo laughs manically. "Because it's so easy…"

Jr. starts going into a rage and pulls out his guns. He refrains from firing because of Albedo's shield. (Guess I'll have to use the Red Dragon Blades again…maybe that'll work…)

"Aren't you going to fire?" Albedo spreads out his arms. "It's so easy to hit a fixed target!"

"To hell with it." Jr. runs forward and prepares to use the Red Dragon blades. He slashes wildly but Albedo's shield easily deflects each attack. "Damnit!"

Albedo blows away Jr. with his power and laughs. "You're so amusing, Rubedo! Always trying to go against the odds…"

"Of course!" Jr. spins his guns around and slams his fist into the ground. A huge pillar erupts from beneath Albedo and traps him inside. Jr. runs forward and uses his Red Dragon blade attack again and carves out some parts of the stone. He then jumps into the air and kicks it, breaking the pillar.

The rock crumbles but to Jr.'s surprise, Albedo isn't there. "Turn around, Rubedo."

Jr. does and sees no one.

"Made you look!" Albedo puts his hands over Jr.'s eyes which angers him. He starts activating his Red Dragon mode. He blows away everything around him with his power and turns to face Albedo.

"Stop playing around!"

Albedo holds up his hands. "I mean nothing but the highest regards, my dear Rubedo…" He laughs a little. "You still are a child."

Jr.'s eyes begin to flash red violently. "Albedo!!!"

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MOMO kept her eyes wandering, waiting for Echo to strike. This was going to be quick, and only the one who had the faster attack would win. (He must be going for a sneak attack…but how will he do it? A feint attack?)

Suddenly, a sonic boom erupts from the darkness. MOMO quickly sidesteps to the side and fires an arrow to her right. Another sonic boom comes from the direction that MOMO fired her arrow. MOMO spins around and then fires an arrow up into the air. The arrow disperses into little beams of light which struck every nook and cranny of the dark room.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees something stand out and charges forward. "Sword Fish!" Her punch nails Echo in the gut and sends him crashing into the wall. MOMO quickly readies an arrow and focuses her powers. "You can't escape my sight!" She releases an ice-piercing arrow which freezes Echo on impact. She fires another arrow and it pierces Echo's heart and breaks his icy prison.

MOMO waits for Echo to try and move but he doesn't. He laughs. Blood is coming out of his wound and he does nothing to try and stop it. "For me to be beaten by a little girl…how the mighty have fallen…"

MOMO puts away her bow and runs over to Echo. "Hold on! I'll heal you!"

He holds a hand out to stop MOMO. "It's alright…this is destiny. You have a 'Shining Will' just like he said…" He coughs up a little blood. "You should continue on. Your friends are waiting for you." Echo's hand falls limply to the ground. "I can see…that things are a lot different than they were before…maybe…there is hope…" MOMO's reading of Echo show no more movement and does a silent remorseful prayer in honor of her enemy.

She quickly heads to the door and into the next room. She sees Jr. and Albedo squaring off in power. "Jr.!"

Jr. turns his head to the side a little to see MOMO. "MOMO! Don't get close!"

MOMO holds a hand over her chest, worried about Jr.'s condition. Her readings showed that he was pushing the physical limits of his body, almost to the point of death. "No! This time, I'm going to help you!" She runs forward and stops right outside of the reaches of both powers. The memory of Proto Merkabah comes rushing back to MOMO as she raises her hand to summon up the forgotten power she had gained involuntarily.

A huge explosion suddenly erupted from the interference of MOMO's power and a light of red and purple engulfed the room.

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Elli jumps into the air and lands on a stalagmite near Jin. He holds his left hand up and reveals a sword that Jin had seen before. "The power of light…it truly is a remarkable thing."

Jin finishes sheathing his sword and then went into one of the stances that his Grandfather had taught him. He jumps towards Elli and waits until the last moment to draw his sword. Elli raises his sword to strike but it gets knocked away by Jin's foot. Elli sees the blade come out at the same time and then felt his neck get cut into two.

The dead body falls over into the depths of the stalagmite as Jin swings his sword to rid the blade of blood. He sheathes his sword and then sees a door opening up in one of the stalagmites nearby. He jumps towards it and enters. As soon as he steps into the next room, he is burdened with a heavy force.

"Jin!" Jin turns to see who called out to him…chaos. He notices the wings growing out of chaos' body and smiles. (I guess this explains a lot…)

A door next to Jin opens and almost hits him. Two familiar voices suddenly sound in pain.

"Ah!"

"What the!"

"Shion! Allen!" chaos turns to Wilhelm and continues to struggle against Wilhelm's power. "Heimarene!"

"The star has not yet arrived," Wilhelm moves towards the door and touches it with his other hand. "Nothing will be possible unless she appears."

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"KOS-MOS…" A girl's voice calls. "Wake up."

KOS-MOS' eyes open and analyze the surroundings around her. She was the only one in the room but she knew that there were people watching her. She turned around to see Abel and Nephilim hovering over T-elos' dysfunctional body.

"Well, looks like this is the end." Abel moves his hand towards T-elos and pulls out a spirit. He holds it out to KOS-MOS. "Here. You're going to need this."

"I do not understand." KOS-MOS states. "Ethereal energy unknown."

"It's the other piece of you." Nephilim says. "With it, you'll finally awaken. Don't be afraid...just take it."

KOS-MOS takes a step forward and touches the spirit in Abel's hand. As soon as she does, she feels an intense flood of memories and overrides that throw her systems in through a loop. After a couple of seconds, the transfer was completed.

"How do you feel, Maria?" Abel asks.

The android looks up and reveals her cerulean eyes. She starts moving her arms and legs as if another person had inhabited her body. "...a lot better. Thank you both. I couldn't have been awakened if it weren't for you two as well as KOS-MOS." She turns around and sees the door. She starts walking towards it and feels their presence going alongside her. "Are you coming too?"

"Of course," Abel says, grabbing onto Maria's left hand. "Wouldn't want to miss this."

Nephilim slowly takes Maria's right hand. "The waves shall now overcome."

They all walk into the door of light and confront the path that had been set before them with no hesitation.

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