LinkFangirl01: That is actually quite flattering that you would check for an update so often, I'm trying, but I do have a lot of other things going on for the moment, finishing up my college now. So yeah, I'm trying. Also it's nice to have someone to shout out, everyone else is too shy to put a name out there they all just 'anonymous' or 'reviewer'. But it's okay, everyone is really encouraging and that makes me want to write even more
Author's note: Bike is still down (/_-) But School is almost over :D So mixed feelings, I wrote the last chapter while tired and not entirely in my right mind, glad to see it worked out anyway.
Chapter 16: Confrontation
"Adamai, I know you're mad," Seraphin said "But this is neither the time nor the place."
"This is the only Time and place!" Adamai yelled angrily "Here before the gods, before those whose peer he's become!"
"I do not understand your words dragon," Serpahin said
"Nor do I." Goultard echoed followed by several of the gods.
"The dragons and the eliatropes were Our parents' first children," Sram said "There was not a point where you were not our peers. You have lost memories now, you are younger and less experienced than us, but that does not make you less than you were."
"We are not gods," Adamai said "We never were, nor did we wish to be, but that is the past now."
"Adamai," Yugo said near tears "I am sorry for my actions, can't we just be brother's again?"
"Borthers!" Adamai shouted angrily "You want us to be brothers? You should have thought of that when your brother warned you about your actions! You chose water over blood Yugo, you want me to just take that blow in stride?!"
Yugo jerked backwards, it was as if those words were a physical blow that had slammed into his gut and brought him to his knees. He didn't know what to say, what to do, Adamai was right, he had chosen to help his friend over his brother. He did what he thought was right at the time, he had managed to save the world, though he almost destroyed it. He never thought that he had hurt Adamai so much, and now that he felt his brother's pain, he could only gape silently.
"Dragon," Seraphin said "What do want here? We are in council, why do you interrupt?"
"None of you are aware?" Adamai said "He almost destroyed the world!"
"But he didn't," Goultard said "Given a choice between definite destruction and possible salvation, he chose possible salvation. He took action rather that wallow in inaction!"
"As loath as I am to admit it," Enutrof said "Goultard is correct."
"You're words may touch a warmer heart." Adamai said angrily "But mine is cold now, and it demands recompense."
Adamai, I –" Yugo began before being cut off
"Enough!" Adamai said "I don't want to hear you apologies or your excuses, You have no right to ask for my forgiveness!" Adamai's eyes were tearing up "Do you realize how long I waited for you? Grougaloragran would tell me stories, stories of the brother I had, that somewhere out in the world that brother was growing up like me, that one day when he was ready he would come and find us. He told me that that brother would save the world one day, that he was wise and had a big heart, that he placed others before himself. I loved you before I met you, and threw all that aside like trash!"
Adamai composed himself and took a fighting stance "I will not trust the world to you again," he said "If I must cripple you to ensure that fate, I will." His emotion seemed to disappear just as it was when he had fought him before at Percedal's house.
"I don't want to fight you Adamai," Yugo said "You are my brother and I love you, but… What was I supposed to do?" He yelled "Tell me! If I had done nothing the world would have been destroyed anyway!" Yugo was clearly ravaged by his own emotions, but Adamai didn't care. He lept forward and attacked. But the attack never landed, Seraphin stood in front of Yugo catching Adamai's strike and holding the dragon's fist in his hand, a golden glow surrounded him.
"Let him go Seraphin," Yugo said "This is not your fight."
"This is a fool's fight!" Sadida said angrily "It is clear Yugo regrets his actions, young Adamai, can you not accept that and forgive?"
"No," Adamai replied emotionlessly "I cannot."
"This is a fight between Elitrope and Dragon," Sacrier said stoically "We should not interfere anymore that the aetherian should."
"Very well," Serphin said releasing Adamai's arm. "get this foolishness out of your system."
Ecaflip stood "A new arena would suit the two of you better," She said snapping her fingers, the floating island they stood on moved breaking into pieces and joined by others until it created a large flat plain. The god's seats rose like bleachers in the distance to watch. Another snap and Seraphin was whisked to the stands with the other gods.
Yugo looked around, he was not happy with any of this. "We already fought Adamai, you won, can't we leave it at that?"
"No," Adamai said, just as cold and emotionless as before "We cannot."
Adamai glowed purple and rushed forward at enough speed to break the sound barrier and slammed his fist into Yugo only to strike a glowing blue shield summoned by his brother at the last moment. The shockwave was felt by seraphin and the others in the stands.
"And so history repeats itself" Ecaflip said sagely.
Lucian felt a shiver up his spine, Elely stopped. "Something wrong Luci?" She asked
Lucian frowned "Stop calling me that." He said
"But it's fun!" Elely said innocently
"I think it's cute." Cleophee said
Lucian felt a tingle in his cheeks as they turned pink "Wha- What's that supposed to mean?" he said scratching his cheek with his finger and smiling nervously.
Cleophee winked at him and turned to face forward again.
"Cleophee thinks Lucian is cute," Elely said giggling, Which just made Lucian more nervous, the red headed girl seemed to be enjoying this.
Cleophee's hand pressed down on Elely's head ruffling her hair "I said his nickname was cute," She said "Don't go getting ahead of yourself."
Elely giggled "I can feel what you feel." This time Cleophee turned pink in the cheeks, she had forgotten that detail from when Yugo had fought Adamai before. This didn't help Lucian feel any better, he was too young for this, why couldn't he grow up like a normal child? Elely enjoyed it far too much.
Footsteps could be heard behind them, frantic footsteps. Elely turned "It's Amalia, she is heavily distressed."
Amalia came running around the corner, she saw Cleo and stopped, breathing heavily.
"Cleophee!" She said
"What is it Amalia?"Cleophee said worried
"It's Adamai!" Amalia said "He's angry, he forced Ush to take him to the Ecaflip dimension so he could confront Yugo, I think he means to kill him!"
"What!?" Lucian yelled "That can't be right!"
"I tried to stop him, but Ush insisted I leave them be." Amalia said franticly "He said there was nothing I would be able to do."
"He's right," Cleophee said "Adamai is a lot more powerful than you, and he's angry and willing to use that power now."
"We should do something," Amalia said "Where's Dally?"
"With Eva." Cleo answered "I think he's still recovering from the thrashing Seraphin gave him."
"Never there when you need him, always there when you don't." Amalia huffed
"Don't talk about my daddy that way!" Elely said angrily.
"Dad isn't like that," Flopin said.
"You two are adorable," Cleo said "But they're right, you shouldn't be so hard on him, it can't be easy for him, being thrust into Godhood like he has been."
"Just like Yugo," Lucian said "I think I understand now why he likes Dally's company so much, they're the same."
"Yes they are," Amalia said sighing "They are the ones who stood on the front lines when everyone else was to afraid to fight… even me. We have to help him!"
"All right," Cleo said, "Let's go see Percedal."
"Yay!" Elely said "Daddy!"
Chibi stared off into space for a moment. "Someone is fighting again." He said. Echo had explain his powers to him and he was beginning to get used to seeing beyond his sight.
"Who?" Amalia asked
"Yugo and Adamai," Chibi said "Jack is fighting dark guys."
"I don't think we can help Jack," Cleophee said "He flew off into the sky somewhere,"
"But we need to stop Adamai," Amalia said "If he does this, he'll regret it for the rest of his life! And Yugo…"
"We know," Cleophee said putting her had on the sadida princess' shoulder. "Where are they?"
"The ecaflip dimension," Amalia answered
Cleophee scrunched up her face, how were they supposed to get there? Joris and company were in Bonta and Ush seemed unlikely to let them in. Assuming he hadn't already left for the Ecaflip dimension himself.
"We should talk to Lady Echo," Chibi said "She wants to help us."
"How do you know that?" Lucian asked bewildered.
"She just said so," Chibi said, his speech had in fact improved over the last couple weeks he was almost perfect.
"She says she's where we teleported when we got here," Chibi said "What does teleport mean?"
"It's when you go from one place to another instantly," Cleophee said
"Like when Yugo uses those blue things?" Chibi asked
"Yes," Cleophee said "Exactly like that."
"So, Where we met her?" Chibi asked
"Yes!" Amalia said "Let's go!"
"Are you sure we can trust her?" Lucian asked "Yugo seemed rather put off by her earlier."
"Well if Otomai's right," Amalia began "Which he usually is, then she is a demigod, and our best shot at opening a portal to the Ecaflip dimension."
"Alright," Lucian consented "Let's go then."
The group began towards the entrance, Amalia wanted to run, but cleophee insisted on a fast walk for the sake of the children.
"I can run real fast!" Flopin said puffing out his little chest in pride
"Not as fast as me!" Elely yelled back
"Can too!" Flopin said "I can run as fast as an arrow!"
The two's argument became background chatter as the group slowly approached their destination.
"You really think I'm cute?" Lucian asked cleophee, his face turning red.
The cra's face blared bright red and her eyes turned towards Amalia, who thankfully was staring off into space thinking of her own beloved no doubt.
"I said you're kind of cute," Cleophee said quietly and quickly "an innocent cute, like a child."
Lucian didn't know that much about courting or romantic emotions, he had only been told a few stories by kindly old men and women he had encountered on his travels. He hadn't even been sure he was capable of feeling them until now, and he wasn't sure what to do with them now that they had surfaced. He knew he should be more concerned about the God-King's battle with his unforgiving brother but he somehow couldn't bring himself to think too much about that. He turned and faced forward and away from Cleophee, he'd have to sort all this stuff out later, if what she actually felt matched what she said he was getting way ahead of himself anyway.
"I can go faster than both of you." Chibi said flatly as though it was an indisputable fact.
"No way!" Elely said "You're too dinky and your legs are shorter than mine!"
"Well, I think I can go faster," Chibi said "If I can just…" The white haired Eliatrope furrowed his brow in concentration and put his hands out in front of him grunting with effort. He waved his hands in a circle like his big brother Yugo did, and with a rush of energy leaving his little body a blue circle emerged in front of him, a portal, just like big brother's. The little prophet smiled happily, then he pushed his other hand out and grunted some more and another portal opened on the other side of Flopin and Elely, Chibi laughed and jumped into the one in front of him emerging from the other with a big smile on his face. His smile remained plastered on as his eyes closed and he wobbled falling backwards.
"Chibi!" Cleophee said rushing forward and catching the little boy's body before it hit the ground. The smile beginning to fade as his muscles relaxed.
Chibi blinked his eyes open a moment later "Wow," He said "That made me really tired somehow."
Elely and flopin just stared, they had never seen anyone else use portals before, only Yugo. If he could figure those out, he would be faster than them.
Elely huffed "You're not faster than me," She said "You can't stay awake long enough to win a race!"
"But I think he really is faster Elely," Flopin said "Even if he can't go as far."
"It doesn't count if you can't win a race stupid." Elely said sticking her tongue out at her brother.
"I'm not stupid!" Flopin said his face turning red with anger "Momma says I'm really smart!"
"Enough!" Amalia said coming back to the present from her previous reverie "This bickering is unbecoming the children of a god!" She shoulted in annoyance "We need to get to Lady Echo so we can get to the Ecapflip Dimension and save Yugo!"
Cleophee nodded.
"No need," Lady Echo's voice rung in their ears "I have come to you, now let us put an end to my newest disciple's foolishness before he puts an end to hope."
The group turned to face the voice, Echo stood regal as ever, in her hand she held some kind of tiny gem.
Jack and Rip grabbed their partners at the same moment and tossed them into a nearby asteroid field beating a hasty retreat to join them. The glow around Kain grew in brightness and intensity and he screamed profanities at the heavens.
"Paxus…" He uttered angrily.
"That's not good." Jack said quickly
"What's not good?" The Great Dragon aked, "We deflect it like any spell."
"Aetherians and Immortals rarely utter their spells aloud," Jack said "But when they do, it boosts their power a hundred fold!"
"Tenebrea!" Kain shouted as he thrust his hands forward touching at the heels like and open maw. All the blue energy that surrounded him consolidated and condensed itself into a tiny black orb with a blue outline in his hand. "Die!" the orb left his hands moving rapidly towards the Immortals.
Jacks hands and arms glowed red and Rip's glow condensed around his hammer "Armis Lumari!" They yelled at the same time.
Red energy mixed with yellow and spread creating a bronze shield around the four. The blue orb smashed into this shield exploding on contact, Jack and Rip strained to keep the shield intact against the onslaught, finally the pressure subsided and the shield came down, Rip breathing heavily.
Without warning a scythe appeared around the blonde's neck, mortis floating behind him at the end of its handle. Rip's eyes went wide and looked to Jack with fear, neither could stop the strike in time.
"May you find peace in death's sweet embrace." Mortis uttered.
Rip grit his teeth and closed his eyes, he didn't want his new friends to see the terror they held. The blow did not come, rather he felt the scythe turn to dust around his neck, Mortis never attacked with his dust, though he could, he always finished his prey with a complete scythe.
Rip opened his eyes and turned his head, three blue energy spears pierced Mortis' body, the aetherian was lifting his hand from one of his wounds, red liquid ran down it.
"Blood," Mortis said in awe "You drew blood…"
Before the confused aetherian could recover The Great Dragon charged wielding a sword made of Stasis slamming it into the death bringer's side. Mortis' armor deflected the blow away from his vitals but the momentum carried the sword downward and into the aetherian's thigh. The blade drew more blood cutting deep into the leg, Mortis screamed in pain and swung his arm backhanding The Great Dragon and sending him into an asteroid. The stasis blade dissipated and Mortis returned to Kain's side. He didn't turn to dust as he usually did, he disappeared in a flash and reappeared where he pleased.
His eyes flashed with anger "Insignificant insects!" he yelled as his wounds regenerated, his hands ripping the spears from his chest and stomach.
"That's really not good." Rip said frantically "He never shows emotion, but he's pissed now. Jack I can't fire off Armis Lumari repeatedly like you, I need time to recharge."
"Burn to cinders, insects!" Mortis yelled summoning fire from his palms, he refined it into a jet of flame that rushed towards Rip and jack.
"Ardent Aegis!" Eliatrope yelled a large green shield shape forming before the immortals
"Stasis barrier!" The Great Dragon followed adding a large purple shield to the mix. The flames collided with the shields, but did not break them, both Eliatrope and the Great dragon grunted with effort as Mortis made it a mission to break their barriers. Rip noticed that both seemed to have tendrils of energy feeding them, seemingly coming from nowhere. He knew better though, that energy came from the universe itself.
"No wonder they're so powerful," Rip said in awe, "I've never actually seen that before."
"They are a rare occurance," Jack said "Creator Deities… it's been a long time since I've seen one in action." Jack turned his attention back to the battle "Alright enough gawking rip, let's take the fight to them!"
"Yes!" Rip said enthusiastically.
The two zipped off in separate dimensions, Jack taking on Mortis while Rip attacked Kain.
"Solar wind!" Jack uttered gathering a maelstrom of power that rushed forwards and smashed into a surprised Mortis.
Rip raised his hammer to the heavens "I call upon the power of Thor!" he said "Lighting Storm!" bringing his hammer down at though slamming it into something invisible. A volley of yellow lighting bolts barraged Kain as the aetherian attempted to block them, several of them broke through his defenses and pierced his flesh burning and electrocuting him, though the damage was minimal overall.
Mortis was forced to stop his fire, and with that the Creator Deities joined the fray, now aware that their attacks were effective against their enemies they attacked relentlessly, Eliatrope providing portals for the Great Dragon to warp through slashing at Kain and mortis as the Azure goddess hurled spears from afar. Combined with the Immortal's power they were steadily wearing the enemy down.
"Crepitus Tenebrus!" Kain yelled, rip backed off quickly and the Dragon followed suit, Eliatrope summoned a large portal in front of her to catch any incoming attacks. The measure's were not enough. A sphere of dark energy expanded outwards from Kain, atomizing everything in it's path, disintegrating anything big enough to be seen and blocking out the light of every star on the other side of Kain's barrier. The power rushed out quickly reaching a zenith and holding before rapidly imploding in on itself causing a gravitational pull that forced all not powerful or heavy enough to resist it inward like a black hole.
"We aren't done yet… insects." Kain said with a smirk "Hey Mortis!" he called out.
"What do you desire Grey Clan?" Martis answered.
"Don't kill that red headed bastard," Kain said "I want to see to it he reaches death's cold grasp myself."
"So be it then," Mortis replied "I shall send the other lights to her embrace."
Author's note: Again I feel like this took too long… Five days, is that really how long my last one took, geeze, I hope I never do that again. You are all so encouraging and I'm glad you've chosen to join me on this adventure. Until next time, au revoir!