Hey guys what's up?
Parradox here!
Another chapter of your fav reaper doing what he does best!
Which I myself don't know...
Anyway:
Enjoy!
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To live is legendary…
Most people only exist…
The reason for living is to find your gift…
The purpose for living is to then give that gift away…
Everything has a meaning, be it big or small, short or tall; don't ever doubt the significance of a single person… regardless of how minuscule they might be.
Omnia means everything…
Remember that now!
Chapter Eight
Narrowly avoiding a bolt of lightning to the face, Ryan burst across the Great Wall of China at mach speeds.
A flash of violet to his right informed him that he needed to duck; he slid along the ground as a hailstorm of bullets whizzed over his head.
"Mother Nature Sacred Art: Holy Nova!"
Ryan's eyes flashed black as he was forced to stop the punch, lest it destroy one of the wonders of the world.
"God dammit guys! I'm not the enemy here!" yelled Ryan as he narrowly fended off Paradox and Max.
"The innocent don't run or fight" said Knowledge as he wrapped Ryan in a layer of chains.
Golden light lit up the surroundings as the chains exploded.
"Grim Reaper Sacred Art: Shadow Skull Flash Bang!"
The endless council screamed in pain as their eyes were burnt out of their heads.
Ryan knew they would heal.
He needed to find some answers and fighting his former friends was not going to present them…
Dashing off in a trail of black energy, he made a direct route for the one place that might know something.
One Hour Later
Breathing deeply, the entity of death moved silently through the castle, aware of the dozens of eyes locked on him.
Pushing open the grand hall doors his eyes fell on the figure sitting on the throne before him.
"Your majesty" he said with a bow.
The king sniffed the air, before adjusting the bandages around his eyes.
"Ryan? Ryan Blackworth?" guessed the king hesitantly.
"It's been a while… Gasper" said Ryan softly.
The half-vampire gave a small smile, before frowning.
"Word is you killed Le Fay… I know you didn't because Walter told me she committed suicide but…" he stopped suddenly.
"Something's gone wrong with the endless council, I don't know what yet but they're acting far different than usual" explained Ryan.
Gasper hummed to himself for a moment clicking his neck as he did.
The cowardly young cross gender bending bishop that Ryan knew long ago was gone, in his place was a battle hardened vampire king, Ryan would have been very impressed had the world not been falling apart.
The silver haired king's hand made its way gently up to his face.
"When was the cross species magic bill created again?" asked Gasper quietly.
"One year after… you know" Ryan trailed off awkwardly but Gasper understood.
Scratching his short beard, Gasper breathed deeply.
"I lost my eyes a year after you left, a creature made of black lightning tore them from my skull, took my forbidden balor view with them" explained Gasper as he adjusted his bandages again.
"I'm sorry… I know how much your sacred gear meant to you" said Ryan honestly.
"It's fine, it actually taught me how to be independent… I left Rias and became a vampire king so I can't complain" chuckled Gasper.
Ryan thought for a moment.
"What did this creature look like? Any distinguishing features?" asked the entity curiously.
"Well it was fast I'll tell you that, I only saw its after trail before my left eye was ripped out, it got me by the throat; could have killed me if it wanted to but instead it just glared at me with unblinking black eyes and stabbed out my other eye" explained Gasper as he recalled the night it happened.
"I see… I mean, I don't see… I mean, I get what you're saying" stammered Ryan quickly.
"Don't worry, I've actually grown quite significantly as a result of this" said Gasper with a smile.
"But now you've got an army of some of the most powerful magical creatures at your disposal… if they wanted your power gone then they should have killed you, it doesn't make any sense… unless they wanted you alive for something" muttered Ryan.
A gust of wind flew through the throne room, the faint scent of lemons filling Ryan's nostrils.
"I'm sorry Ryan… but you need to be bought in for questioning" mumbled Gasper.
"I understand Gasper… you can come out now" said Ryan as he watched the vampire walk out of the throne room.
Eight figures emerged from the shadows.
"Jason, Lime, Walter, Mary, Johnathan, Roberto, Alexander, Bobbi… I bought you back from the dead and this is how you repay me?" laughed Ryan sadly as he addressed each of his former reapers.
"Stand down Blackworth, you're a wanted man" ordered Johnathan as he drew two boomerangs.
Ryan didn't answer; he simply sat down and crossed his legs.
"You're strong John, yet without your reaper gifts, you are but an ordinary human" noted Ryan as he spun on his butt to face the Australian.
"Would you murder someone else who was once close to you?" spat the Aussie in disgust.
And with those words the truth dawned on him like one giant tidal wave. He quickly found his voice.
"I assume the endless, four great powers, Gremory, Sitri and heavenly dragons are setting up a containment barrier as we speak" muttered Ryan as he felt the familiar pulse of endless magic wrap around the castle in a massive barrier.
"There is no escape Ryan, turn yourself in or we will use force" stated Alexander, his four golden angel wings bursting forth from his back.
Roberto's devil wings sprung forward.
Bobbi's ears popped up, three chi orbs circling her frame.
Lime held her parasol tightly.
Jason aimed a rather nasty looking sniper rifle at him.
The only one who had yet to move was Walter, he looked almost ashamed to be there doing what he was doing.
"Walter? Not going to tell them what really happened?" asked Ryan curiously.
"Be what it may Ryan, you still need to be bought in for questioning as to why you did what you did all those years back, you may have been my master before and for that I give my thanks; but now I stand alongside your ex-reapers, ready to take you in" whispered the gray haired man as he held his cane out before him.
A grin broke out across Ryan's face.
"One devil, one angel, one animal person and five humans versus the living embodiment of death… it'd be funny if the world wasn't falling to shit" chuckled Ryan as his scythe materialized beside him.
The ex-reapers tightened their grips on their weapons, looking for any sudden movements.
The endless council had banked on Ryan not being able to hurt his former students.
They were correct but that's not why he surrendered…
"I surrender" said the entity as he threw his scythe towards Lime, "I assume you have anti-magic handcuffs or something equally as ridiculous"
Everyone looked stunned before Alexander took the initiative and cautiously approached.
Ryan held out his hands, still sitting with his legs crossed.
"Ryan Blackworth, for the alleged murder of the second Pendragon child Le Fay Eclipse Pendragon, I place you under arrest" stated the angel as he clamped the magic draining cuffs around his wrists.
The joker quickly pulled the entity to his feet, nodding to Lime.
"We got him…" the words were out of her mouth for less than second before a white bolt raced in, smashing Ryan in the side of the face, rocketing him into the far wall before driving a spear through the side of his stomach.
"Good to see you again Eva, how are the eyes?" laughed Ryan as he groaned with pain, the holy light burning his flesh.
"Don't use that name you fucking son of a bitch!" screamed his partner as she punched him in the face, each word followed by another strike.
Blood streamed from his nose yet he never cried out once.
"That's enough Life!" yelled Knowledge as he came up behind the enraged entity.
Life backed off before wrenching her spear from his body.
"Forgot how much that thing hurts" muttered Ryan as he collapsed to his knees.
He became aware of three figures standing before him.
"How could you…" whispered Dream, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Dream, Paradox, Pandora… you're all looking well" stated Ryan as he got to his feet.
A swift slap from Pandora was all he received before the space entity walked off.
Paradox looked at him rather oddly, as if unsure of if he was really seeing the right thing.
"Something's not right here" noted Paradox as a small flash of blue raced across his eyes.
The other endless turned to face the small boy.
"You're just paranoid little blue, we got the bastard so let's get going" said Max as he patted him on the back.
"Richard of York gave battle in vain" said Ryan clearly.
"Oh this is just great! The great grim reaper has finally cracked!" laughed Max loudly.
Knowledge seemed to be thinking something over.
"I remember this; it's a memory trick correct? It helps you remember the colors of the rainbow…"
As soon as the he muttered the word rainbow the room was filled with blue lightning as Paradox rendered the whole council unconscious save for Ryan himself.
"About damn time kid, thought you would never snap out of it" chuckled Ryan as he picked the cuffs off of him.
"Sorry, the shields on my thoughts had to be stronger since the virus would have spotted otherwise" groaned Paradox as he rubbed his head gently.
For all those currently wondering what in the actual fuck is going on…
A bit of backstory perhaps?
It began with the sins, but then, everything bad does thus far…
Needing a break from their negative influence, Ryan asked Paradox to become a temporary host for the seven deadly sins.
Needless to say Ryan got the break he'd been looking for but Paradox got sick… and when the living embodiment of time itself gets sick, it doesn't get a regular cold virus; it gets a very deadly time virus.
Said virus fed off of Paradox's magic and speed until it became its own sentient being with a will and a hunger for energy.
Ryan however, caught onto the virus before it could consume Paradox entirely.
Utilizing his own time based magic, he scattered the virus throughout time and bound it to his own soul so that no one else would be affected by its negative influence.
In order to protect Paradox and help him regain his magic, Ryan placed a set of mental blocks on his younger brother before placing a few key words throughout various points in the time stream.
Yet it wasn't enough, the virus appeared at Ryan and Le Fay's wedding, killing most of the magical creatures there.
Using the combined powers of the world's remaining entities, Walter was sent back in order to fix the ordeal.
He informed the past Ryan of what was to come, yet due to the virus being released in the future, it could now travel freely in the times stream and began to chip away at the fabric of time and space.
Ryan knew that the only way to stop it was for Paradox to regain his power, yet he was in a time where the virus had only just been removed and was completely drained.
He had to someone delay the virus for long enough that Paradox could regenerate his magic.
That came in the form of a black hole…
By offering up Paradox as bait, Ryan was able to use the intense gravitational force of the biggest black hole in the universe to trap the virus long enough to let the time stream run its course and get Paradox's magic back.
The only problem was that the damage the virus had wrought had messed up the stream and made massive altercations to the normality of time itself.
Various time streams were now overlapping and the virus was almost free of the black hole.
"I do believe Max would say in a time like this: "Well we're screwed" noted Ryan as the two entities stood atop a skyscraper, overlooking New York City.
"Time is unravelling around us big brother, nothing is what it is supposed to be" stated Paradox as he watched time streams begin to spill across into others.
The ancient pyramids crushing the London eye was a wonder to witness.
Much like the Wright brothers flying over the Pentagon.
Ryan looked to see his sibling in pain, not physically, but the emotional pain of having to watch yourself fall to pieces… without yourself falling to pieces.
"This isn't your fault Paradox, I made you sick" said Ryan as he hugged the sobbing entity.
"No… I should have been stronger" whimpered Paradox as he wrapped his arms around the reaper.
"Oh how pathetic!"
Ryan held Paradox close as he saw a young teenage girl with raven hair standing across the rooftop from them.
"The virus I assume" said Ryan with a flash of anger.
"More or less, it seems you entities like to take the forms of humans… no idea why but I thought I might humor you before killing you both" said the virus, her eyes shining wildly, feeding off the time madness around them.
"Do you have a name perhaps? I'd like to call you something other than the virus before I end your miserable existence" growled the reaper.
"You can call me Chaos… I like the sound of that!" she said happily, a wide smile adorning her face.
"Very well Miss. Chaos, here's how this goes. I kill you, you die and time goes back to the way it was" said Ryan as he released Paradox gently.
"Oh? And how do you suppose that's going to happen? Paradox is a wreak and you're nowhere near fast enough to take me on" said Chaos manically.
The wind dropped for a moment and pure silence filled the world.
"Do you know what sets the original eight endless apart from every other entity in the world?" asked Ryan as he clicked his neck.
"You're pretty powerful? I dunno?" guessed Chaos with a shrug.
"Our limiters" answered Ryan simply.
Paradox's eyes widened and he looked at his brother in shock.
"We can't Ryan…" he whispered softly.
"We must, to save everyone we care about… we must" said Ryan back.
"Oh do tell!" said Chaos, thoroughly intrigued.
"Life has her wreath, Love has her tattoo, Rage has his sarcasm, Knowledge has his chained books, Fear has his fearsome appearance, I have my gloves and the twins have their childish appearance. If you take these away then we become able to destroy planets, invoke our madness and end all life on earth" explained Ryan as he pulled off his gloves, "And since the other six endless have been absorbed into the time stream, there are only two left and since we're both removing our limiters… there's no problem"
Paradox glowed for a second before aging to a twenty one year old male; he grew taller, more muscular and lost every bit of the childish demeanor which he had come to know.
Chaos looked nervous as black and blue lightning sparked around the two entities, a bone white skull mask appearing on Death's face.
"Time to die Chaos" whispered Death.
Chaos burst off in a hypersonic boom, Death and Time directly on her tail.
"Time Sacred Art: Shattering Wave, Dimension Pulse!"
Chaos screamed in pain as time waves tore through her body sending the three of them too the Jurassic era.
The two endless wove through the legs of giant creatures as they drew up alongside the virus.
"REAPER CHOP!"
Death lept high into the air and crushed Chaos through the center of the planet, the force of his strike causing the Earth to explode before they were warped to another time.
"This isn't working brother… we need another approach" said Paradox as the two endless telepathically communicated with one another.
"Agreed, although I'm not sure how we're meant to subdue her without destroying the universe" said Death with a furrowed brow.
"I have a plan, but you need to become Ryan again… his soul and humanity will be our saving grace, trust me Death" said Paradox seriously.
"Very well" sighed Death as his gloves materialized around his hands again.
"Now Ryan, you must stay very calm because what is about to happen will hurt you more than anything you have ever felt" explained Paradox sadly.
"I trust you Paradox, do what you have to do" said Ryan as he lept at the virus, grabbing her by the wrist.
"ENDLESS FINAL ART: EXTINCTION"
Ryan's eyes widened in fear.
"PARADOX NO!"
"Be safe brother" whispered the boy as he died.
Somewhere, everywhere and nowhere at all
Ryan sat, well actually he stood, but in reality he did nothing and he also did everything… all at the same time, if time even existed.
Due to Paradox sacrificing himself, the laws of time, space, love, rage, fear, knowledge all collapsed and became none existent.
Ryan now simply was…
He was everything if there was anything to be.
He was everywhere if there was anywhere to be.
Normal physical laws evaporate with the deaths of the time and space entities, this is how it was always meant to be, in the end of course.
With the other seven endless members gone, there was no reason for Ryan to exist anymore.
He had done his role as death, he had reaped souls and sent them on their way to the next life, yet as he stood (floated, sat, lay, hovered) there in the black inkiness of nothing, he couldn't help but fell incomplete… like something was missing.
"Well duh! You're not ready to die yet"
A hand appeared his hand, and then his body and then his clothes.
"Alright then… how is this happening, I shouldn't be able to see myself since I technically don't exist" said the reaper in surprise.
"You're a real idiot aren't you?"
Ryan turned to see young teenage girl standing before him, she had a pair of jeans and black tee-shirt on. Her blonde hair made its way down to her hips and was in messy bunch on the top of her head.
"And you are?" asked Ryan curiously.
"Oh… my apologies, I am entity of everything; anything you hear, touch, taste, smell or think is me" explained the girl with a small bow, "My name is Omnia which is basically Latin for everything"
"So you're another endless?" guessed Ryan curiously.
"Not quite, you see; I'm the most powerful entity yet I have no real power, no sacred arts, and no magic I can use to cause harm; yet I can never be killed and I won't ever die as long as you're alive" said the girl with wide grin.
"So you're everything… yet you only die when I die?" asked Ryan in confusion.
"Exactly, without something to justify my existence… I die, plain and simple!" said Omnia with a nod.
"So it could be anyone in reality?" questioned Ryan.
"Exactly, it just happens to be you which when you think about it is the only way this should end, you were always meant to be the last one so I don't know why I'm surprised" said the girl with a smile.
"But everyone I know is gone, what am I meant to do?" asked Ryan sadly, his heart aching at the memories of all his friends who he would never see again.
"Don't worry… this whole thing can easily be fixed" said Omnia with a wink.
"How so?" asked Ryan in excitement.
"Simple silly, this whole thing began when you got Paradox sick by accident right?" asked Omnia.
"Yeah… so I just go back and stop myself from doing that" guessed Ryan with a raised eyebrow.
"Not quite, here is the universe if that happened" said Omnia as she gestured to a pulsating orb of light.
It showed the world in a near apocalyptic state, Ryan himself sitting atop a throne made of the skulls of the endless council members, Le Fay draped across his leg like some kind of mind slave.
"Oh my god" whispered Ryan.
"Indeed, if you stop yourself from giving up the sins then you will become the thing you fear most and bring the world to its knees; however there are other timelines… all I'm saying is that from this point on, you will decide exactly what happens. I will send you to a single point in time and then the rest is up to you" explained Omnia with a wink.
Ryan thought for a moment before whispering it to the entity.
"Thank you Omnia, will I remember you?" asked the reaper curiously as she raised her hands.
"Of course… I would never take the memories of the man I love" she said with a giggle.
"WAIT WHAT!?" yelled Ryan in confusion but he was already gone.
Sometime In The Past
"Hey Lele, I need to ask you something"
"Huh? What is it honey?"
"I don't think we should get married"
"Oh… why's that?"
"You're only sixteen and although I love you so much, I don't think tying yourself to me is the proper way to spend your life"
"Hmm… I suppose so, but then when?"
"Well, I know you're strong so what about we take some time apart? You travel around with the Khaos brigade and we meet up every once awhile to see how we both are"
"That sounds like a wonderful idea! I love you Ryan!"
"I love you to Le Fay and I would never do anything to hurt you"
"Ryan… did something happen?"
"No… nothing at all…"
"Good work reaper, I'm glad you could fix things… but you're challengers are far from over"
Ryan Blackworth looked into the sky, a single figure waved to him before scattering onto the wind, as if she were never really there.
And as he watched Le Fay go to break the news to everyone, he knew that he was still very much alive.
"Thank you Omnia… I'll see you again one day" he whispered before letting out a small breath of black flames.
"Huh… that hasn't happened for a very long time"
A/N: VOLUME FINALE!
Yes everyone, this is the last chapter of volume two however don't be sad because volume three is very much in the works and it will be focusing far more heavily on the actually cast of Highschool DXD instead of the endless.
And I will hopefully be adding in a few new faces from the cannon who haven't had a lot of script time.
Once again: thank you all so much for putting up with my bullshit for so long, I couldn't have come this far without each and everyone of you.
Leave a review, PM, follow and fav and as always:
My name is Parradox and thanks so much for reading.
See you when I see you!
Bye!