Chapter 12

Coming Undone

Pouring herself some tea, Mio sighed. "What's eating you, Mimi?", Sena asked. "It's just I don't think that some of our friends don't really appreciate the Endless Now we created. I thought that when we trapped them here in Cyber Space that they would realise the sacrifices we Ouroboros made for them, but no, some people just feel they have to resist us.", Mio replied. "Still though, who'd have thought the key would be able to defeat a Titan?", Sena asked. "You're right, it is impressive.", Mio replied. Entering the kitchen, Eunie said, "By the way, I believe we may have found the red and blue Chaos Emeralds.". "We have?", Mio replied, perking up. "Yeah. Our sensors have narrowed the emeralds down to the Keves Castle Region in Orbus Calaglia, hiding within Keves Castle's Ring Vault.", Taion said, entering in from the pantry. "Oh, Taion, that's great news!", Mio said happily.

Relaxing in the monastery's lounge, Sonic helped himself to a chilli hotdog whilst Naomi read the newspaper whilst drinking her coffee. Looking to break the awkward silence that had pervaded the room, Sonic said, "So, you and Yuito, you doing it?". "What do you mean?", Naomi asked, not even glancing up from her cookie lathered in the brown liquid that was coffee. "You know, marriage and starting a family? Having kids?", Sonic asked. "Well we're still a bit too young to consider that. We're still 16 after all.", Naomi replied, taking a bite into the cookie. "Just curious is all.", Sonic said. Walking into the lounge from the kitchen, Mio then said, "Sonic, did you fight the Titans on the Starfall Islands?". "Yeah, I did.", Sonic said. "Well, it seems that due to YHVH messing around with the timeline, the Titans seem to have come back.", Mio explained. "You're joking.", Sonic said, incredulous. "It's OK though; we've found another with the ability to kill Titans. He is the key and will soon grant us what we desire.", Mio said. "That's good to know.", Sonic said. "Not to bring down the mood, but we can use the emeralds to break out of Cyber Space, can't we?", Naomi asked. "I think we can.", Taion replied. "I can see why you're concerned though. The Titans are still very powerful foes.", Lucina said. "I just hope that the key can help us get out of this virtual prison.", Shadow said curtly.

Meanwhile in the audience chamber, Seteth slammed his foot down. "That's impossible, not to mention absolutely unethical!", he shouted in protest. "Seteth, I don't believe I asked for your opinion. We need the Titans destroyed and access to all seven Chaos Emeralds for the key to perform his duties to us to the best of his ability.", Byleth said. "But still, Your Majesty, Jack's still a human being and he deserves to know the truth of what we have in store for him. Please, Your Majesty!", Seteth pleaded. "His Majesty is correct, Seteth. Jack doesn't need to know that he will be sacrificed upon us collecting the seven Emeralds and him destroying the final Titan on Ouranos Island.", Sumia said. "Wow. You too?", Seteth said, absolutely disgusted. "Your daughter Flayn, or to be more exact, Saint Cethleann also understands her purpose is to act as the Maiden of the Chaos Emeralds and oversee the sacrifice. I'd do the same, especially if the Divine One's life was at stake.", Lapis said. "Seteth's right. The plan to sacrifice Jack and have him become the key to evacuate us out of Cyber Space is unethical; if anything, letting him know about the plan is common courtesy at minimum.", Clive said. "I agree too.", Akira replied.

Meanwhile, I entered a strange mechanical corridor like the one in Keves Castle only to re-emerge in the Sovereign Empire capital of Gralea. "Wait, wasn't I in Fodlan just a minute ago?", I asked. A voice behind me said, "Ah, but you never left us in the first place.". Turning around apprehensively, I spied a man with spiky white hair and red eyes with red facial markings wearing a black leather half shirt and black leather trousers with black and crimson shoes. He was also holding a pair of serrated twin swords. "Incidentally, who might you be?", I asked. "Oh, where are my manners? I am Haseo, the Terror of Death.", the man said. "Edgy nickname.", I replied. "By the way, have you seen a PKer named Tri-Edge?", Haseo asked aggressively. "No, I don't think so.", I replied. "By the way,", I asked, "what do you mean when you said I'd never left the Sovereign Empire?". "Oh, you will realise eventually.", Haseo said with a wicked smirk. "Well, that's not cryptic at all.", I said. "After all, you are the key. Congrats on defeating the first Titan though.", Haseo said before mysteriously disappearing in a flurry of red pixels. I then found myself in what seemed to be a bombed-out modern city where I saw a man with black hair covering his left eye and grey eyes wearing a brown coat, a black jumper and grey trousers as well as a red bracelet on his right wrist holding a giant sword that looked like a chainsaw. He was accompanied by a woman with black hair styled in a bob cut and red eyes wearing a black half shirt, a green miniskirt and green gloves holding a giant mechanical sniper rifle and a man with dark skin, blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a blue and yellow hooded jacket, a yellow shirt and black trousers holding an even bigger sword. "Well, guys, what do you think?", the black-haired man said. "Well, Lindow, our world is coming undone but we can still hunt Aragami until the world ends.", the woman said with a very seductive voice. "I think so too, Sakuya.", Lindow said. "Don't forget that we need the seven Chaos Emeralds and all four Titans destroyed first before we can even think of saving Nintentopia.", the blonde-haired man said with a very arrogant voice that reminded me vaguely of Haseo. "Wow, Soma, I didn't expect you to be such a sourpuss.", Sakuya said to the blonde-haired man. "I'm not being a sourpuss, I'm just reminding you that we cannot escape from Cyber Space just yet.", Soma replied aggressively.

Before I could introduce myself to the three, I then found myself in an expansive desert with sand and ruins everywhere I could see. "OK, who's warping me all over the world?", I asked. As if to answer my question, I found myself face to face with a man with short brown hair in a ponytail and brown eyes wearing a black coat with black feathers. "And who are you?", I asked. "I am sorry I did not get to contact you earlier. I am Anders.", the man said. "No surname?", I asked. "Oh, I do have a surname, I've just been using a codename for so long that I've likely forgotten my real name.", Anders said. "Anyway, why am I being warped to completely random locations?", I asked. "Well, I can explain that, but it's going to take a while.", Anders said. "Please. I need to know.", I said. "Well, OK then. Before you were born when Nintentopia was created, 20 relics came into being crafted by the Architects. 7 of them were known as the Legendary Hero Relics whilst the other 13 were known as the Legendary Weapons. For the relics, they were called the Swordsman Relic, Warrior Relic, Lancer Relic, Brawler Relic, Archer Relic, Duellist Relic and the Mage Relic; people wielding them became known as the 7 Class Heroes.", Anders explained. "I remember a voice telling me in the Leicester Space Centre that I was the Thirteenth Mage Hero. Maybe it's due to that orange sphere I found in my world.", I said. "Now, for the Legendary Weapons, 13 were forged in the Legendary Sword, Legendary Axe, Legendary Lance, Legendary Gauntlets, Legendary Whip, Legendary Staff, Legendary Chakrams, Legendary Fans, Legendary Bow, Legendary Dagger, Legendary Mace, Legendary Rod and Legendary Scythe. These weapons are indeed usable by the Legendary Heroes but were instead meant to go to 13 random warriors known as the Warriors of Darkness; meanwhile the Seven Legendary Heroes are known as the Warriors of Light.", Anders continued. "That's funny to me because one world I think considers the Axe and Scythe to be Vassal Weapons rather than Legendary Weapons. Still, quite interesting though.", I said. "Wait, what world is this?", Anders asked. "I don't know. Apparently, it's a world that also calls the Vassal Weapons as Seven Star Weapons. You know, from The Rising of the Shield Hero.", I said. "OK. Now related to the Architects are the worlds of the Chosen- 13 companies people know in your world as Nintendo, SEGA, Sony, Microsoft, Konami, Capcom, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Square-Enix, Arc System Works, Falcom, Idea Factory and Koei Tecmo. The Chosen consist of the various franchises they created. The main reason you've been warped to strange locations is because as a Warrior of Light your duty is to stop the Chosen and four of their chosen Apostles before they help the divine invader YHVH create a world without freewill.", Anders continued yet again. "To be honest, I'd rather live with freewill than without it.", I replied. Anders chuckled. Composing himself, he then said, "Of course, the reason why they're calling you the key is because you have the power to stop and kill YHVH when they do not- well, to be more accurate, it's less that they can't kill YHVH and more that they lack the necessary power to do so. You possess that power- the power of the Godslayer- and as a result it is thus your duty to stop YHVH before he destroys everything.". "And I suspect that the reason they're trying to piggyback off of me is because they also have the power of the Godslayer but it isn't mature enough. Is that right?", I said. "Correct you are. The Chosen do possess the power of the Godslayer as well but as you said, the power within them isn't mature enough to properly stand up to YHVH. For that matter, the power of the Godslayer also exists in the rest of the Multiverse's peoples but like the Chosen, all of them except you lack the maturity needed to fell a divine being.", Anders said. "But why am I being warped away periodically?", I asked. "Well, that is because you're not the only person to be using Cyber Space. You were so terribly injured in your last run-in with the Chosen; afterwards, you were placed in a digital simulation to allow your body and mind to heal before being returned to the world you were originally taken from. However, YHVH wouldn't allow that and sent one of His angels to turn what was supposed to heal you into a nightmare prison; at this, the Chosen and their enemies, sensing danger, logged themselves into Cyber Space to guard and protect you only to lose themselves in the simulation. Because of this, several other people, myself included went into Cyber Space to get them out, resulting in the digital realm being pushed to its breaking point. You being warped all over the place is Cyber Space's way of keeping you safe from the Chosen. That is to say you can't escape, but doing so will be quite difficult.", Anders revealed much to my shock. "So I'm stuck in this world for the time being?", I asked. "Seems that way.", Anders said.

In the meantime, Eggman met with Ardyn. "So, Chancellor, what is it you wanted to discuss?", the bad doctor asked. "Mike, we have been in contact with Moebius. They claim to have found the location of the red and blue Chaos Emeralds.", Ardyn replied. "Wait, they have? In that case, where are they?", Eggman asked. "Well, the red Chaos Emerald is in Keves Castle's Ring Vault whilst the blue Chaos Emerald is in Agnus Castle's Ring Vault.", Ardyn said. "But didn't this chapter state that both emeralds are in Keves Castle's Ring Vault?", Eggman asked. "Well, that's what's called a retcon.", Ardyn said. "I see.", Eggman said. "About how to retrieve them, what with our dismal luck with the cyan, silver, purple and yellow Chaos Emeralds still in Garreg Mach, I say we attack with our forces and sweep the castles for the Emeralds.", Ardyn said. "That's a terrible idea, splitting the Sovereign Empire's forces in two and having all of the Imperial Army attack two countries whilst having Ravus attack a monastery in a vain attempt to get four emeralds, especially a monastery defended by twelve Emblems. That would be suicide!", Eggman said. "I'm sorry, but your opinions have been vetoed. By the way, your Egg Army should be sufficient to help Ravus get the four Emeralds in Garreg Mach's Ring Vault.", Ardyn replied. "But you don't understand- that horrid little hedgehog is also there and he's a certified destroyer of my robots. Even Metal Sonic is still undergoing repairs and I built him to kill that hedgehog.", Eggman said before leaving Ardyn's office. Seeing Terumi, Eggman said, "No luck. Seems we're going to have to participate in the chancellor's foolish ambitions whether we like it or not.". "Still though, your name is Mike? I thought it was Ivo Robotnik.", Terumi said. "I adopted the name Ivo Robotnik after my mother Ivona Robotnika to appeal to the scientific community without being laughed at. I was legally born Michael "Mike" Eggman, son of Deem Eggman and Ivona Robotnika and grandson of Gerald Robotnik.", Eggman explained. "Still though,", Terumi said with a smug grin, "seems like we'll be out of this Cyber Space dump soon.". "Remember, we still need the Titans destroyed. But then our key can do that for us.", Eggman said. The two were then seen by Lysithea, who happily ran over to them. "Lady Lysithea, how are you feeling?", Terumi asked. "Super.", Lysithea said happily. "Doctor Maruki treating you well?", Eggman said, looking at the crotch area of Lysithea's gown. "He sure is.", Lysithea said. "Good. Remember that those who slither in the dark had no business doing what they did to you. Violating your sacrosanct innocence as a child, subjecting you to pain both in the womb and your early childhood, cutting and mutilating you with steel, robbing you of the pleasure of being an innocent girl, even what the High Commander did to get you on our side, they had no reason to do that at all.", Terumi said. "That's oddly compassionate of you, Terumi.", Eggman remarked. "Well, I try.", Terumi replied.

As I travelled through the expansive desert, I reflected on what Anders said- namely that Cyber Space was trying to protect me as best it could and that I was the only one who could properly kill YHVH. Noticing a robotic sumo wrestler, I ran towards it only for a strange black and dark red energy to pulse through my body, causing me to scream in pain as the energy formed into black and crimson electricity covering my hands. "You are the key. Be empowered with this technique.", a voice rang in my head. "There's that voice again.", I thought. I watched in horror as the dark energy coalesced into makeshift boxing gloves before disappearing; as this was happening, I received a strange vision of the big Titan I defeated (apparently named Giganto) unleashing a strange onslaught of haymakers and stomps against several angelic monstrosities. The energy faded, leaving me panting heavily. Off in the distance, I saw a small figure with short but swirly white hair and red eyes wearing a black cloak and black shoes. I rushed off to the figure only to be accosted by a giant mechanical dragon; I fired up my Tao mandalas ready to fight it only for the voice in my head to say, "You are not ready. Return when the time is right."; I was confused by this but I had no ability to fight back. As the dragon flew away, I approached the figure who then teleported straight to me; much to my surprise, she eyed me curiously before stating, "Identity confirmed: Jack Sebastian Arnold. Age: 18. Nationality: British.". "Who are you? Can I help you?", I asked. The figure replied, "Designation: Sage. Creator: Dr. Eggman.". "Nice to meet you, Sage. Mind telling me what that giant robot dragon was?", I asked. "That 'thing' is a Titan and the guardian of Mahag Saar. You are no match for its might…yet.", Sage replied. "So what do I have to do to stand a chance?", I asked. "You must unlock the full power of your Semblance. With only the power to manipulate the four universal elements alone, you shall surely fail.", Sage replied. I noticed that her voice also seemed off, like it was being filtered through computer hardware. Before Sage could properly elaborate, I saw get warped away.

Noticing a strange portal where Sage was, I walked through and found myself in a snowy wasteland and in front of a strange cathedral. Walking inside, I grasped my head in pain, witnessing a vision of a white avian dragon fighting against a black dragon that also looked a bit like a cobra. The vision gave way to another one, this time of me facing a large group of people, Noah, Mio, Eunie, Taion, Lanz and Sena among them. I watched as the past version of me channelled a dark power which formed into dark scythe which dissipated as Eunie shot me in the chest, causing me to fall into the river below. Returning to the cathedral, I then heard a cool voice behind me saying, "Remembering anything yet?". I turned around to see Blanc behind me sporting a smart suit of red armour with a purple core not entirely dissimilar to the armour that Goldmary was wearing. Accompanying her was a man with spiky blonde hair and red eyes wearing a suit of golden armour. "Come on, Consul, it's not like he'll remember anything yet if he keeps seeing extremely vague visions without any real context behind them.", the man said. "I know, Gilgamesh, but some direction is always preferable to no direction at all.", Blanc said to the man. "Wait, you're Moebius too?", I asked. "That's right. I am Consul B whilst Goldmary is Consul G.", Blanc replied, smiling. "And do Neptune, Noire and Vert know that you're Moebius?", I asked. "I don't think they do. But still, it seems like you're starting to remember us, so that's good.", Blanc said. "You do realise that he may not remember what you want him to?", Gilgamesh asked. "I do. But then again, he's starting to remember anyway.", Blanc said. "Remembering what?", I asked. "Never you mind.", Blanc said. Finding myself in the hospital ward again, I then saw Ivy. "Ivy, Goldmary's a Consul. Just thought I'd tell you so you knew.", I said. "Oh, I've already known that.", Ivy replied. "How so?", I asked. "Because I'm a Consul myself. Consul I specifically.", Ivy replied, giving a vacant smile. Suddenly, my body tensed up. "Wait, does that mean that I have Moebius DNA inside of me?", I asked. "Oh, Heavens no.", Ivy said. "Oh, good.", I replied. "Not that your body would accept Moebius DNA anyway, given how it tended to always reject the Flame Clocks that my friend Y attempted to install into you, even Flame Clocks attuned to your DNA specifically.", Ivy continued.

Suddenly, I found myself in front of a mysterious mechanical door in an underground catacomb. I walked toward the door as it began to automatically unlock, ready for anything.

The story continues in the next chapter.