Til Death Do Us Part
Chan and Cassie were awed by the look of surrender on Anomaly's face. The woman's mind was blank. Eris smiled, yet her eyes indicated something else to Chan. She failed to maintain the smile as she looked at all of them. She sobbed before dropping to her knees. The sound of the woman's cries woke Anomaly from her state. Havik's laughter was beginning to drown her out.
"She's done the unthinkable!" he shouted. "She's truly embraced chaos!"
"What does he mean?" Chan asked.
"Chan," Cassie frighteningly called out.
"I couldn't protect you!" she cried. "I thought I could keep you both safe, but I was wrong. I can't choose my destiny without accepting yours. I'm sorry." The gravitational pull of the realm began to loosen, much to Chan and Cassie's confusion.
"Are you sacrificing us?" Cassie questioned.
"This is the only way we can stop Armageddon AND Anomaly!" she shouted. "Anomaly is needed to end Armageddon. Armageddon is needed to end Anomaly. If we can't stop both, we can't stop either of them. The only way to save the realms is for both of you to die here." She looks directly to Cassie. She charges toward the girl, who prepares to defend herself. Instead, Cassie was met with a strong embrace from the woman, who rubbed her face across Cassie's chest. "You weren't suppose to be apart of this. And that's what hurts the most."
The earth beneath them rocked. Loud, distorted sounds boomed throughout the skies. The stars began to change color by the minute. From yellow, to orange, to red, before entering supernova. The exploding stars formed numerous black holes across the sky.
"Chaos has spread around us. Can you feel it?" Eris spoke as if at peace for the first time in centuries. She could smile for herself again. She'd always wished for death. And now, that time had come. Anomaly raised herself to her feet. With a quiet chant, she reached forward.
"Embrace it, Eris. I will just have to find another way." Anomaly opens a portal and runs through. However, she was pulled away by Eris before Chan closed the portal shut. Eris strikes the woman with the full might of her fists, though it didn't do much to the woman. Anomaly continued to try opening new portals, but Eris and Chan continued to force them shut. One of the portals closed on her hand, preventing her from opening any more until her hand would regenerate. That proved rather difficult for her as her chi was slowly being drained by the black hole. She conjures her fire as best she could, but the flames were extinguishing faster than they could be created. Chan began experiencing the same set back as he fought back. His physical blows were failing to harm the woman as he expected. Eris noticed this change as well.
"Our life force!" Eris yelled. "We've used too much in so little time!"
"The souls within me should've been enough," Anomaly said to herself. She was still unaware that even they were being pulled apart from her. The hole grew bigger and stronger. Large pieces of the planet were being pulled away. Eris tackles Anomaly to the ground and wails against the woman's face. Flashes of green light emerged from each strike. The woman cried in anger as the only thing on her mind was Chan and Cassie's safety. Anomaly couldn't push the woman off as her strength was beginning to fail her. Eris gripped the collar of Anomaly's outfit and lifted the woman from the ground. Her hands began to glow dark red before tossing Anomaly forward. She creates a dark ball of energy and slams it against he ground. The projectile proceeds to bounce around the environment before striking Anomaly from behind. Though not enough to slay the woman, it kept her occupied long enough to not focus solely on healing the wounds. She continued this and before long, she had four balls of energy bouncing along the environment. Without her chi to help, Anomaly struggled to dodge the attacks. As two of the projectile approached her, she strained out more of her chi to use shadow walk. The projectiles miss and one of them slams against Cassie. Eris dispersed the energy before running to Cassie. However, the pull of the black forced her to a halt. Cassie's body started to levitate, and she used her power to plant her feet to the ground. The gravitational pull didn't seem to affect her as much as the others, but her lack of control with her powers was still evident by her inability to assist them against Anomaly.
"Cassie!" she shouted. Anomaly summoned her naginata and twirled the weapon before directing the blade toward Eris.
"Instead of worrying about her, shouldn't you be worried about yourself?" Anomaly said as she charged toward the woman. As she got closer to the woman, Anomaly hears a loud cracking noise beneath her feet. The pull of the black holes grew stronger and forced her to stop in her tracks as well.
"Chan!" Cassie cried out. Chan immediately turned to the girl. He grew sick as bits of her skin started to peel. As he reached out to the girl, a small rock bounced on his palm. As he grabbed the stone, he looked at Eris, who simply nods. Chan uses the stone combined with his own power to create a portal to Outworld. Cassie uses her powers as best as she could to force herself through the portal.
"Cass!" he called out. Cassie turned for him for a slight moment. Chan's face slumped down before he decided to toss the stone through the portal. Cassie, realizing what he had done, stopped in her tracks, trying to fight the gravity attempting to pull them all apart.
"I can't save you!" she cried.
"You don't belong here!" he responded.
"I know," she muttered. With one last push, the girl finally made it to the other side of the portal. She grabs the stone and forces the portal shut before Anomaly could reach it.
"No. NO!" Anomaly snapped. She turned to the others as their chi began to fail them as it did her. Eris and Havik laugh hysterically in the face of the sorceress. Before long, only Eris could be heard. "You find this amusing? Do you not realize how you've doomed us all?" she cried. "I've planned everything so perfectly. So many years of training. So many years of research, So many years of planning. The lives I've taken. The lives of those counting on me. Failure. I've brought nothing but failure!"
"Do you feel it, Aisa? The darkness? The despair? This is what you've caused us all, but you're too self-centered to see it."
"I'm the only one who can stop Armageddon. We won't die here. Can't you see that you fool?"
"I am not the fool, Aisa. The visions you've seen are products of chaos through the DreamRealm. Your futures aren't determined by destiny. It is your own hearts and fears of the things to come that have sparked them. Look around. Does this all seem familiar to you?"
"The darkness we saw as the One Being loomed over us," Chan said. The shaolin yelled in anguish until his body was no more.
"Your body being torn away as I...as you…" Anomaly points to Eris.
"You've finally figured it out," Eris completed. "I gave you both your visions. It is only through death that the two of you could see this future. And it is through death that the realms will continue to have one."
"Do you fear me that much? I have done nothing to you, Eris. I extended my hand to you for centuries when you were captured by Havik. Why is it that you hate my so much, just as Delia did."
"After everything I've said. After all you've seen, You still don't get it, do you?" Eris chuckled. She shook her head as best as she could. "You're not the one Delia was afraid of. I am!"
Anomaly release one final yelp before being completely sucked into the black hole. Eris laugh as the blush on her face became more vibrant. She attempted to create one final vision for herself. She needed to know how the story would end for Chan. Yet, all she could see was darkness. She reached further into the future, yet the future she sought had no end. She smiles before being instantly pulled into the black hole as it closed.
End of Chapter 26?
On Earthrealm, beneath Mount Asama, lies an underground ruin guarded by a Golden Dragon. The beast's presence seemed to attract a few of Outworld's warriors. Leading them was Rain.
"Are you the Guardian Dragon, Orin?" Rain asked. Orin's dagger-like stare was the only answer he needed. Rain ordered the warriors to search around the ruins.
"You have no right to be here," the dragon said as the base in his voice shook the ruins.
"That is where you are wrong, Dragon!" Rain yelled. "I know what my Father is planning. My real father. To leave me out of the competition is insulting."
"What do you seek to do about it?" Orin asked.
"Get rid of the competition," Rain confirmed before spouting a stream of water from his hands toward Taven's pillar. However, a barrier of light deflects the stream away, causing part of the earth above to come down atop of it. The man inside the pillar bursts through, frantically looking around the area. The brightness of the magma blinded him until his vision dimmed down. He takes a few steps forward, barely able to hold his composure.
"Orin? What happened? Where am I?" he asked.
"You were encased in stone to protect you from opposing forces such as those here. You were to remain until I received the signal to awaken you. You are not in Edenia anymore. You are in Earthrealm."
"What?" he questioned. He looked over to the men. "But those men—they wear Edenian armor."
"The Edenia you knew is no more," Orin confirmed. "They are now residents of Outworld."
"We rule a new Edenia now. One that I shall claim. And then, I will take Blazes power," he responds.
"Who are you?" Taven asked.
"I am your brother."
(Delay was due to having no electricity yesterday)
We have officially reached the halfway point of the story as well as the end of this arc. This is the point where I will HIGHLY encourage you all to read the other stories throughout the hiatus period as a lot of past unresolved plot lines will begin to converge into the second half of this story. For the next arc, I would at least recommend Anomaly, Rise/Rebirth of the Shirai Ryu, and Redemption as they directly tie into the upcoming chapters. Once we reach the final chapter of the next arc, however, I recommend finishing the other stories (including In the Dark & A Woman of Wonder). The next chapter should be released within two to three weeks as I take another break.
(Upcoming-The Lowest Planes)