Devils

The land of nowhere. It was like the same dark realm the two warriors landed on recently. It's not known where this land is located. Havik was the only one to find the portal leading to the realm. And as far as Eris knew, he was the only one to know the way out. It was up to her to do the same. Chan used his power to create small flares around them. The lights didn't reflect the colors of the ground or the environment around them, much to the dismay of the shaolin. Eris used her chi to read the presence of those around them. She couldn't feel any of them. Chan increased the radius of his flares to see if he could detect anything else. Eris shakes her head.

"I don't detect anyone around here. Its no use increasing our field of view right now," Eris determined.

The two wandered aimlessly, seeking the location of the Nowhere's portal. However, it seemed as if they were heading...nowhere. Chan's eye caught a shadow swiftly moving across a flare on his left. Eris seemed to ignore it, either out of fear or ignorance. Chan stopped moving, hoping she'd do the same.

"Why did you stop?" she asked.

"Did you not see that?"

"I'm use to Havik's tricks just as I'm use to Anomaly's. If I cannot sense their chi, they are not here." Eris increased the field of her chi. This time, she could detect dozens of demons coming toward them. Chan quickly used his chi to sense the field close to his own proximity. Eris continued to keep hers spread out. Though she wasn't a real warrior, she felt her abilities could still exceed that of the demons approaching them. Chan swings against the beasts, barely able to hold them back. He's quickly overrun as he doubles back. He bumps into Eris, realizing there was nowhere to run. Eris grits her teeth and shrinks the range of her chi to surround the two. With the thrust of her palms against one of the demons' chest, he was able to push forward a small forcefield to detour the route of the demons. She looks to Chan as he hops in the air with a spinning kick to knock down those behind them.

"Release those flares!" Eris shouted.

"Without them, we won't be able to see," he tells her.

"It doesn't help for only one of us to have the chi to use our power," she contested.

"We're useless if—"

"Chan!" she shouts. The boy looks up to her before she quickly stares into his eyes. "You will see what I see. I was sense what you don't." She looks back and immediately, Chan used a front kick, quickly knocking the demon away from Eris. He then released his flares, sending them all into total darkness. Eris opens her chi a bit more. The swarms were larger now. Chan conjures a flurry of dark spheres before using them to pierce the demons. Eris tries to control some of the demons, but found their eyes to be shut. She frowned before creating a new barrier to detour the enemies.

"How many of these guys are there?" Chan questioned.

"There is no number," she responded. "Leave if you need to."

"I'm not leaving you behind!" Chan said. Hearing his words made her blush. She dropped the barriers and joined the shaolin in the fight. The two were able to pick off enough demons to create a small mound for them to stand on. Chan summons a portal to send them deep beyond the horde in front of him. As they arrive at the end, they continue to pick them off.

Hours passed. They continued fighting. The horde didn't let up, and neither did they. However, the pain of the constant fighting was starting to weigh on Chan. He created numerous portals to attempt to force the enemies to the back of the horde, but it barely made a difference for them. The tedium finally caught up to Chan as his foot missed the demon. He was knocked to the ground and was in the midst of a stampede.

"NO!" Eris saw the group of demons atop of the boy and immediately charged through them. The euphoria of love strengthen her body, allowing her to force the demons away from Chan. She picks him up and uses her powers to conjure a portal towards the back of the horde again. She noticed that the bodies were gone. Just as she thought, none of the demons were actually dying. She realized what was happening now. Everything was specific to her.

Chan was wheezing as his body was starting to give out. Tears fell down to her chin. She laid the boy down and turned to the swarm. The girl ran into the horde, striking them down with her bare hands. One by one, she didn't give up. She kept the swarms away from Chan. Time continued to pass. Hours turned into days. Days turned into weeks. The girl never let up. Neither did the swarm. She still could not understand why the trial had not ended. Chan continued to drive her, but she worried for what would happen if she made a fatal mistake like he did.

She looked around, still distressed by the horde. She wanted to curl up and die. She realized...that was exactly what she wanted to do. She loved Chan. She wanted to keep him alive. She also wanted to control her own destiny. ALL of her destiny. She wanted to embrace chaos. She dropped her guard and fell back with her arms spread out. The demons picked apart at her body. She screamed in agony, causing Chan to wake up. He flinched in pain as he jolted forward. The boy did what he could to force himself to his feet. The swarm behind him was coming. Eris barely held on to the pain. Chan could see it too. He didn't know what more he could do for her. The demons seemed to ignore him as they focused on her. As her chest opened, he could see her perfectly beating heart. Something about it seemed...calm. He received a new vision. However, unlike before, it was a vision of the past. He remembered his friend, Kira, and her drive to save Earthrealm. He remembered...Tesla's Theory of Immortality. He pushed through the demons as he made his way to Eris. He grabbed the girl by the remains of her arms and embraced her. She smiled, and her heart raced faster. If he was to save her, he too would have to embrace chaos as she did. He pulled her chest toward his face, and devoured her heart.

Cassie returns to Havik's spire, finding Anomaly standing beside the cleric. Cassie mugged the woman and reached for her waist, only to remember her weapon was gone. Anomaly smirked. She made a rude gesture toward the girl. Cassie started smiling before folding her arms. Havik leapt to his feet with joy. Cassie nodded toward the man.

"She's done it!" he said. "And so quickly. To think the boy would actually have such an impact on the trial."

"Like I said, we're pretty hard to kill," Cassie boasted before staring at Anomaly with a devilish smile. "And you're gonna die here."

"Child, I cannot die," Anomaly said bluntly. "Has Chan not told you already? Our visions are truth. We WILL be two of the final six at the pyramid. Like it or not, you will perish before I will."

"Now now," a voice called behind Cassie. "There is no need for us to argue." Behind her walked Eris in a new attire. She wore a silk, hooded robe. Her hair was silver. The view shook Anomaly as she saw the familiarity of the woman. Eris noticed and laughed. "So you've taken notice huh?" she asked.

"There is no way in h—"

"No, there is always a way as long as you will it," Eris corrected. "I am not the one you think I am. No need to be alarmed by that. But I am the original you were inspired to create."

"What you're saying makes no sense!" Anomaly shouted in frustration.

"That is the draw of Chaos," Havik says.

"I think I finally understand," Chan says as he comes from behind her. His eyes looked dull as if he'd been awake for days—maybe weeks. Cassie did not understand what happened. She could tell, however, that he was visibly exhausted by the ordeal.

"We finally have the key to stopping Armageddon," Eris exclaimed. "It's just as we wanted all along, Aisa." Eris raised her hands into the air. She held the Chaos Realm's Kamidogu in the palm of her hands.

"How did she win?" Anomaly questioned as she gave a deathly stare toward Havik. The Cleric shook his head.

"She embraced true chaos," Havik stated bluntly. "Despite the tampering I did to weaken her chances, it seems her love for Chan was not enough to keep her going."

"NO!" Anomaly stated firmly. "You failed to stop her," Anomaly said as she summoned her tonfas from the ground.

"No, you underestimated the power of chaos!" Havik shouts. He swings his mace toward the witch. She was prepared, however, and used the shadow walk technique to phase through the attack. She quickly positioned her weapon across the man's neck before pulling the weapons back. The severed head of the cleric rolled between her legs before being stopped by Eris's foot. The woman stared at Anomaly with contempt. Before Anomaly could rush her, Chan leapt in her way. The boy did as best as he could against the sorceress, but in his current state, she still overpowered him. Cassie tries to help, but something stops her from proceeding forward. It was like a wall of some kind obstructing her path.

"Why can't I be useful for once!" Cassie shouts.

"You are useful, Cassandra Cage," Eris comments. Cassie looks to the woman. "You always have been. I do not know what actions you took to bring us to this point, but without your interference, the three of us could not have reached this point."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Suddenly, the sound of shattered glass put a halt to everyone's actions. Chan and Anomaly snapped their heads toward Eris. Demonic laughter erupted from Havik's severed head. Anomaly dropped her weapons and fell to her knees. She stared in disbelief as she counted the broken shards of the Chaos realm Kamidogu atop of Eris's boots. Eris drops the remaining halves of the Kamidogu to the ground before inhaling the magical essence emitting from the relic.

"Do you see it now love?" Eris cheered as she stretched her hands toward Chan and Cassie. "We won! We finally won."

End of Chapter 25

So to explained the reason for the change in releasing, the fight in the nowhere was a struggle to write. Eris is not a true fighter, so writing the fight scene in the nowhere was tough to properly explain as she would not know enough about hand-to-hand combat like Chan. This was not to be Chan's fight, and I wanted to make sure that was also clear in the story. I decided to reread past chapters to see if there were some way to solve that point, and I was reminded of the Euphoria state I'd already written for her. Another save was my mention of her having better control of the state and the remaining feelings she would still have for chan due to its effects. And thus, we have a completed fight in the Nowhere. Everything else was pretty much in tact. This can also be combined with some real life things that occurred out of nowhere again. Thankfully, there is one chapter left that is pretty much done aside from the opening portion of the scene. I cannot wait to showcase this next chapter as it caps off the end of this arc as well as the first half of the story.

(Upcoming—Til Death Do Us Part)