Chapter 52
Lost in a Dream
Walking through the portal, I found myself in a strange European town. Noticing how eerily empty the town was, I then saw a newspaper clipping on the ground. As I walked closer to it, I then found myself on the terrace of Prison Island. "Brings back memories, huh?", Dante asked behind me. Turning to face him, I noticed that he was wearing the crimson and purple armour of a Consul. "Let me guess, Z turned you into a Consul too.", I said. "Actually, the third generation of Moebius onwards are people Z just transferred parts of his power into. They're not real Consuls at all.", Dante said. "Then, you mean Lapis isn't dead?", I asked. "Exactamundo.", Dante said. Looking at the cracked sky, Dante then said, "But still, did you break the Nightmare Void already?". "I did. Not even you can spend your life flittering away in Cyber Space forever. Besides, you entered to save me from the punishment YHVH had inflicted on me anyway; after all, YHVH created the Nightmare Void purely to imprison me, an innocent for a crime I didn't commit. Now that thing is dead, the Nightmare Void has no reason to exist anymore.", I said, forming a sphere of dark energy in my left hand which I then fired at the green sky, cracking it even more. "Why? Why destroy the only reality we've known?", Dante asked. "This isn't your reality. It never was.", I said. "Wait, what?", Dante asked. The Nightmare Void was created as my prison. I know that because I was connected to the Cyber Space server that Eggman put me in when Mastema interfered and transformed the Dream Cradle into the Nightmare Void. You entered Cyber Space after Alphen cut a hole into it with the Blazing Sword only for you to lose yourselves when you entered. Since then, you forgot your purpose and believed that you had been living in Cyber Space for your whole lives.", I said.
After taking a moment to digest what I had told him, Dante then asked, "So why did Cyber Space manifest as places from your past anyway back in the prologue?". "Well, if it's anything like what Sonic experienced during his adventures on the Starfall Islands, maybe Cyber Space had detected that it was time for me to finally leave at long last and thus created familiar territory for me to travel through to help me escape. Either that or it decided to help me actually recover and thus created familiar territory to aid with that.", I replied. Suddenly, I found myself in front of Destinea Cathedral again; steeling my resolve, I entered the cathedral only to find it completely empty. As I searched the cathedral for any sign of life, I then found myself in a strange chamber with a giant purple orb at the far end. As a strange sense of dread came over me, I then found myself drawn to the orb, sensing a sinister presence from it. I then had a strange vision, this time of Lapis kneeling before Alphen and Shionne. "Dame Lapis, do you vow to fight for all that is evil and untrue?", Alphen asked. "I vow, Your Majesty.", Lapis said. "And do you vow to fight for all that is unholy and sinful?", Alphen asked. "I vow, Your Majesty.", Lapis said. "And finally, do you vow to pledge yourself to the Ascension Project and the Endless Now?", Alphen asked. "I vow, Your Majesty.", Lapis said. "Dame Lapis, you may rise and become a Knight of the Consuls now.", Shionne said. Getting up, Lapis respectfully curtseyed and left the room. Once she was out of earshot, Alphen said, "Now, if only Jack could realise that she is his wife Ototachibana-hime reborn, then maybe he would be able to prolong the Endless Now and become the Brave Hero of Yamato that he once was.", smiling. The vision then led to another, this time of a dark knight armed with Zantetsuken fighting against a transformed Dante. The vision then faded, leaving me even more confused than before. "Have you finally remembered, my love?", Lapis asked behind me.
Turning to face her, I asked Lapis, "Wait, who were we?". Calmly walking over to me and caressing my cheek, she said, "Why, we were husband and wife- the heroic Yamato Takeru and his beloved Ototachibana-hime. We were separated in death, only for us to reunited when you came to Aionios. And now, the time has come for us to once again rule Aionios as we once did before.". "And let me guess, that involves perpetuating the Endless Now so Aionios is forever trapped?", I asked. "That is correct, dear.", Lapis said, promptly kissing me. I then found myself in a strange arena with Clive facing me again. "What now, Mythos?", I asked him. "Don't call me that!", Clive said, angry. Suddenly, another violent storm of dark energy surged within me, the energy turning into a storm of dark red electricity. "Wait, you still can't control Odin's power?", Clive asked in bewilderment. Angered at this, I rushed at Clive, forming Zantetsuken in my right hand. Dodging my attack, Clive then said, "You can fight the darkness! Don't let it win!". "I don't actually want to.", I said as the darkness overtook me, promptly bursting out of control yet again. As a look of horror appeared on Clive's face, I then burst the darkness, the power itself twisting and warping. As my eyes turned red, I smiled as I then walked towards Clive. "No! Go away!", Clive said in fear only for me to say, "What's the problem, Mythos? I thought you wanted to see this from me.". "You are a monster!", Clive said; angered at this, I then unleashed an even greater surge of dark energy, now with red cyber energy in the mix. Suddenly, I keeled over in pain as the surge of energy warped even further. "NO! You will not hold me back now! I will enact my revenge!", I snarled, jerking myself up as the dark energy burst even further.
Horrified, Clive then unleashed a giant burst of flame, only for the fireball to be dispelled by the darkness. Angered, I then burst the dark energy around me a final time, my body itself disappearing into and turning into the dark energy I was releasing, only to reform into the form of a dark knight clad in obsidian and crimson armour, Zantetsuken in my right hand. "Wait, are you-?", Clive asked in horror. "Yes, Mythos. I am the Demon King, Jack Sebastian Arnold. I am the Sovereign Victorious, not Yuito. And I am the one to rule Aionios- no, all of Creation; the Ruler of All Things.", I replied before unleashing a violent onslaught. Narrowly dodging my attacks, Clive then unleashed a giant tornado which I promptly dispelled with a single slash before I retaliated with a furious flurry of slashes which I followed with a violent downwards slash which Clive just managed to parry only for me to unleash a fast flash of steel. Frustrated, I then dispelled the "armour" I was clad in and unleashed a giant volley of punches, claw swipes and dark magic blasts, making sure to aim the attacks at Clive's vital areas, causing Clive to reel in pain. "How are you so strong?", Clive asked. "That's simple, Mythos. I abandoned all that made me weak.", I replied. "What made you 'weak'?", Clive asked. "That's right. By my humanity I was made weak and by rescinding it have I ascended to the realm of divinity as the Sovereign. And by rescinding my humanity am I made whole again.", I said. "Is that it? That's the reason you killed all those innocent Sin Eaters and destroyed the Flood of Light?", Clive asked. "Come on, all of us knew that the Sin Eaters were killing more people than was truly sustainable and that the Flood of Light was destroying the whole Multiverse. I did what was necessary to protect the whole of reality and the only way to do so was by destroying the Sin Eaters and the Flood of Light.", I said. "That just sounds like delusion to me.", Clive said. "No, what's delusion is thinking that bowing and kowtowing to a tyrant is the only way to stop him from conquering you. To resist a tyrant, you must fight!", I shouted.
Angered, Clive then unleashed a giant fireball at me, which I countered with a concentrated beam of water. Frustrated and desperate, Clive charged up a mighty blizzard which I countered via a giant gust of flame. "You're still holding back. Why?", Clive asked. "What do you mean? Why am I holding-?", I asked before I grasped my head in pain. "Wait, did Mio place a geas on you?!", Clive asked, even more horrified than before. "Why would Mio place a geas on me if-?", I asked back before realising what I remembered back in Calaglia before I fought Sanctus; that glow in Mio's eyes wasn't just a regular glow but her placing a geas on me. "Jack, Mio placed a geas on you upon noticing that you were unwilling to succeed Alphen as the Sovereign. The geas's purpose was to allow you to cope with the abuse that YHVH had inflicted on you and make sure you were able to control your powers, but somewhere along the line something went wrong, causing you to lose control of your powers even further. I knew you were scared of using Odin's powers and that fear caused you to lose control of them, but somehow, the geas which was meant to allow you to control your powers actually ended up malfunctioning, making the problem even worse. And it doesn't just extend to Odin's powers, either; indeed, the geas combined with your fear meant you were unable to control your powers as both a Reaper and a Sovereign, not to mention the rather…special power you received that allowed you to fight against Moebius- the power of Ouroboros. When you entered Cyber Space, you even forgot about your Reaper and Ouroboros powers too though I blame the injury you received after you fell from Prison Island for that.", Clive explained. "Wait, you're saying that the geas I received was actually weakening me?", I asked. "That's right. Not to mention, the geas itself was actually multiplying your fear exponentially, meaning that what was bad for most people was especially the worst for you. But the time has come for your geas to break so you can become the Sovereign and lead Aionios to glory. Besides, it's also not fair on you to keep suffering the way you are; no matter what you may think, it is time for your nightmare to end. Apologies in advance.", Clive replied before rushing at me.
Steeling myself, I then froze in complete shock as Clive grabbed my head. As dark energy surged out of me, my eyes then widened in fear as Clive said, "Mind Eater, break now!". Clive then jumped back as dark energy consumed me; I screamed in pain as I felt the geas Mio placed on me break, the surge of energy itself accompanied by the Crest of the Sovereign appearing in my right eye and the symbol of a snake biting the tail of another snake with the other snake biting the other snake's tail appearing in my left eye. "That's it! Embrace the darkness, Jack! Become the Sovereign!", Clive said, a wicked smile on his face. Forming a scythe in my right hand and gripping it, I then bellowed, "BEGONE!", as my eyes turned red and the surge of darkness stabilised. His smile growing wider, Clive then semi-primed as fire burst from his body, his left arm turning demonic. As if in response, I then unleashed a burst of darkness as I semi-primed, my clothes turning into an obsidian suit of armour. I then rushed at Clive, unleashing a furious onslaught as I slashed forward with my scythe. "Yes, that's it!", Clive said as he unleashed a fiery attack himself consisting of sword slashes, blasts of fire and punches from his left hand. Angered, I then unleashed a giant storm of dark energy, the energy itself turning into a giant tornado. As I deactivated my Sovereign and Ouroboros powers, I then smiled as I finally lost control of myself.
As I lost control, I sensed the dark energy around me burst uncontrollably. "This is my normal. My nature.", I said as the dark energy turned into a crimson aura that surrounded me. "If that is the case, then come at me!", Clive said. Taking him up on his request, I then rushed towards Clive, unleashing an even more furious onslaught of scythe slashes and punches, claw swipes and blasts of dark magic from my demonic left arm which Clive just barely kept with. To better retaliate against my furious assault, Clive then gathered a giant sphere of fire around him, with the fire bursting to reveal Ifrit Risen, now visibly corrupted by Gloom- the fire the Super Eikon releasing being dark red for instance. Taking a deep breath, I dismissed the scythe in my right hand before I saw the black knight I saw in Vigrid walk beside me. "No escape, eh? It's OK though- I'm done running from you, Odin.", I said to the knight. "Good. It's time for you to embrace your true nature too.", the knight said. "I was a fool to ever believe I was human. I was never human to begin with- I was a therion and a Dominant the entire time.", I said, looking at my demonic left arm. At this, the black knight turned into red energy that then made itself inside me.
Turning to face Ifrit Risen, I then said, "Now, let the darkness burn within you. No, let it burn without! Come to me, Odin!", letting the energy within me burst. Steeling myself, I then let myself be consumed by the darkness, the energy priming me into Odin. Summoning Zantetsuken to my right hand, I then gripped the sword tight, causing a well of dark energy to surge from it. Gathering the dark energy, I then swung the sword, unleashing a razor sharp beam of darkness. As Ifrit Risen just managed to dodge the attack, I then felt my Sovereign and Ouroboros powers suddenly activate again. Immediately turning back to normal, I then felt the dark energy within me surge, causing my eyes to turn red and the dark aura around me to uncontrollably burst. "You can do it! Give yourself over to the darkness!", Clive said through Ifrit Risen. Angered at his words, I summoned Zantetsuken to my hand and stabbed myself in the stomach. "Heavy chain that does move my bones around!", I wheezed as I stabbed Zantetsuken deeper into my body, with a white and golden glow exiting my body from the area where I stabbed myself. The glow itself formed into the vague shape of a human which I quickly stabbed with a short burst of dark energy, shattering it into pieces. Suddenly, the darkness that I was unleashing completely consumed me, promptly unleashing itself and turning me into a giant pillar of dark red energy that disappeared to reveal Odin, much to Clive's delight. "Yes! You've finally done it! You've awakened as the Sovereign at last!", Clive excitedly said through Ifrit Risen. Forming a dark scythe in my right hand, I roared as the Crest of the Sovereign appeared in my right eye and the Crest of Ouroboros appeared in my left. Gripping my scythe tight, I then commanded Sleipnir to charge towards Ifrit Risen, ready to destroy the virtual prison I was trapped in and escape.
Meanwhile, the core of the Nightmare Void had shattered.
The story continues in the next chapter.