So we're close to the end! I'm sure you guys are looking forward to a break as well.
Enjoy!
"Foolish boy!" Luke gritted his teeth as another explosion tore him from the ground and tossed him around like a rag doll. "Just who the hell do you think you are?! I am the Goddess of Chaos! You're nothing!"
Luke felt she was right the more he hit the ground.
He struggled to his knees, but his body threatened to stop him. Although his attempts had been valiant, Eris was wasting her time at this point. Not that Luke cared, though. As long as he could stop her long enough for the others to alter the future, he didn't care. He heard Eris approaching him, and he looked up to find her staring down at him.
"Answer me, maggot." She hissed. "Who do you think you are?" Luke watched her before he chuckled.
"I'm just a guy." he replied. "Nothing special."
"Well you've got that right, you dumbass. Not like your sister, you aren't." Luke stared up at Eris as the woman glared at him. "A shame, too. The plan could've been reworked on the fly had you been the same as her."
"What are you on about?" Luke asked, spitting out blood. "Why are you after my sister?" Eris laughed coldly.
"I am getting so sick and tired of you asking questions your own father should've answered." She spat. "You want to know, boy?" Allow me to inform you." Eris bent down and got right in Luke's face. "Your sister is an Etherious. The last awoken one of earth."
"...What?" Luke asked, confused. Etherious? Awoken?
"Your sister inherited a very special ability from your father. A power he spent almost seventeen years looking for a way to seal away forever. Unfortunately, he impregnated your mother before he left and thus, your sister was given the Etherious gene." Luke stared at Eris as the woman explained this to him, his stomach churning violently.
He was brought back to his fight with Nashi as she glared at him like an animal descending on it's wounded prey.
His eyes widened. Had that...?
"And We, the Olympians, spent years making a plan for her so we could utilize her strength..." Eris gritted her teeth and grabbed Luke by the throat. "We waited seventeen years for her to awaken! Seventeen! And then Kronos fucked up and he had to wait another twenty! I'm done waiting! She's OURS!" The woman's hand caused an explosion that sent Luke flying. He landed hard and groaned in pain, struggling to stand. Eris stormed over in anger.
"Not even the Oracle could find that bitch..." She hissed, seething with rage. "We risked so much with Kronos and he nearly ended us! We should've just gone with Hades' plan from the start!"
"What are you talking about?" Luke demanded. "Start making some sense!" Eris kicked his stomach, and a small explosion sent him back to the ground.
"Don't speak to me." She growled. "You're in the way. We've waited thirty seven years for Nashi to become strong enough, and I'm not waiting another fucking second! We don't have the time!" Eris kicked him again, and Luke was sent flying. He rolled through the debris, but he didn't bother trying to stand. It hurt to much. All he did was reach for his keys weakly.
"Open...Gate of the...Ram...Aries." The spell was said weakly, but soon the fluffy spirit appeared and looked around in confusion.
"Luke?" She asked timidly, before spotting him lying in a heap next to her. "Luke?! What happened?!"
"Aries..." He hissed. "We ain't doing so hot."
"Are you okay?! Do you need help?!"
"You are the help." He said weakly, making Aries gulp and look over her shoulder towards Eris, who regarded them coldly. "She's the enemy. I don't expect you to beat her..." Luke groaned and gripped his throat as pain seared across him. "Just...Hold her off. Please." Aries looked terrified, but she nodded and slowly stood.
"I'll do my best, Luke." She whispered. "I'm sorry but, please don't expect much." Luke watched painfully as the spirit and Eris squared off, and the woman rolled her eyes.
"The amount of foolhardiness astonishes me. Come, goat. Let me see what your made of."
Nashi sprinted as fast as her legs could carry her towards the Domus Flau. She could tell from the amount of unconscious or dead soldiers her friends had torn a path through the area, but she payed none of them any mind. She was focused solely on regulating her breathing and making sure she got to the arena as quickly as possible. Rounding another corner, Nashi spotted a patrol of Olympian soldiers.
"Ares said she went this way! Find her!"
"Fuck..." Nashi hissed as she overheard this. She didn't have time to deal with these idiots! She had to make it to the Domus Flau. Looking around quickly, Nashi ducked into the destroyed remains of a house and hoped for the best. She heard the men approaching her, and she held her breath as they got closer and closer. She could see them walking right past her without a care in the world, and soon enough they were gone. Nashi slowly got up from her hiding spot and checked the area, before laughing weakly.
"Idiots...All of them." She said, before running in the direction of the Domus Flau once more. The explosions she heard in the distance only spurred her to run even faster.
It disturbed her gravely that the explosions seemed solely one sided.
Elise could barely move at this point. Nemesis power was something she'd never expected to experience on this scale. How was it that the woman was so powerful.
"I should've expected as much." She heard Nemesis say. "You've lost your touch over the years. Where's the woman that hacked Kronos to pieces in a blind rage?"
Elise, too, would like to know where that woman had gone. But she knew very well the answer. She'd died.
Elise had spent the majority of the years since she'd killed Kronos not really doing much work with her magic. She took the occasional job, but for the most part she really didn't do anything too strenuous like in her youth. She knew she might not be able to keep up with Nemesis, but for it to be this bad, she knew she had to step it up.
But at the same time, she knew it barely mattered what happened to her. As long as the others made it to the Domus Flau. Elise struggled to her feet and laughed.
"Had I known you and your kind were this powerful...I might have gone after you sooner." Nemesis shook her head.
"I'm not even one of the Twelve." She said. "The Twelve big players in the Olympians...Are like nothing you've ever seen before." Elise had a sneaking suspicion this was the case. If the Olympians were as big of a threat as she'd always assumed they were, Nemesis being a major players would be disappointing to say the least.
"Not like that matters now." Elise said. Nemesis raised an eyebrow.
"No?" She asked. "Tell me, Elise Redfox, what was life like for you twenty years ago?" Elise didn't have a hard time coming up with that, she remembered that day vividly.
"The others left for the arena without because I locked myself in my room." She stated flatly. The Phantom Dove incident no longer bothered her very much. "And that was the last time I saw them until now."
"Hm, yes. And why did you lock yourself away again?"
"I was raped by members of Phantom Dove."
"Hm. And who controlled that guild?"
"The..." Elise's eyes widened at this. She'd finally realized what Nemesis was on about. How had she not realized? Nemesis nodded.
"Exactly. The Olympians caused you and your friends a lot of pain twenty years ago if I recall. So what do you think is going to happen when your friends return to then? Did you think things would change? Did you think they'd stop because of a single mishap? No. We'll keep coming no matter what timeline it is." Elise stared down at the ground as she contemplated this. She knew Nemesis was right. They wouldn't stop coming, they wouldn't stop trying.
They wanted one thing and one thing only. And they'd get it no matter what time they were in.
"Well, you've made your point." Elise said, standing up. "But I think we should finish things up here, no?" Nemesis glowed with dark red energy, and Elise tensed up as the woman cracked her neck.
"Yes, we do." The woman struck Elise, and another vicious looking mark formed on her stomach as she slid backwards, trying to hold in the cry of pain she felt in her throat.
"This is crazy." She murmured as Nemesis reached her again and delivered a strike so powerful Elise was thrown to her back, spread eagle on the road. Nemesis walked up to her and regarded her like one would an insect.
"I really should finish up here." She stated flatly. "Eris hasn't contacted me to brag, so I assume she'd fucking up. I really should go and deal with that." The woman bent down ,grabbed Elise by her collar, and reared a fist back that was coated in the same dark red magic as before. Elise stared at the fist, waiting for it strike.
So you could imagine her surprise when Nemesis dropped Elise, stumbling forward before falling into the ditch near them with a grunt of pain. Elise sat up painfully and looked over the side of the road down at the Goddess, who was rubbing her head. Elise turned and looked down the road, and her eyes widened.
"K-Keita?" She asked weakly, staring at her husband. The Shadow Dragon walked towards her with a small smile on his face.
"Looking good, honey." He said, bending down and offering her a hand up. She took it and stood weakly, shaking a bit. "You okay?" He asked. Elise shrugged.
"Been better." She replied. "How did you get here?"
"Remember the Cross-Crocus footrace?" He asked. "Shadows can move pretty fast. Plus the second the news reports said they saw a snake caring a blonde man towards the city while another woman squared off with someone on the road, Lucy and Levy wouldn't let me hear the end of it until I came." Elise had the sneaking suspicion Lucy nor her mother really had to do that much convincing.
"Good thing you got here." She said. "The others should be almost there, honestly." Keita nodded, and both turned as Nemesis crawled out of the ditch and dusted herself off, narrowing her eyes at Keita.
"Ah, Keita Cheney." She said. "Saving his useless wife. How poetic."
"I suppose." Keita reply. "And you are?"
"Does it matter?" Nemesis asked. "I think that it will not matter soon enough." Keita nodded.
"True enough." He then looked over at Elise. "What do you say, honey? One last time?" Elise smiled at him, nodding.
"One last time." Together, the two of them turned and launched themselves at Nemesis, who glowed dark red.
Once Nashi had finally reached the Domus Flau and stepped inside, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She'd made it. She ran inside and navigated it as best she could, looking for her way up into the arena itself. She soon found it, and ran up it.
"Guys!" She shouted, catching her friends attention. "I'm here!" They smiled as she approached.
"Done with Eris already?" Damien asked. Nashi shook her head.
"Luke is holding her off." She said.
"Huh?" Nashi looked past her friends to find Kaida looking up at her from her seat on the ground. "He's fighting her alone?" Nashi nodded weakly.
"He wouldn't take no for an answer." She whispered. "But he'll be okay, I'm sure of it." Kaida didn't look very sure, but Nashi had no time to wonder. She turned to Ultear, who seemed to be rattling off numbers under her breath. "You ready Ul?"
"...Yeah." The woman replied. "Take your positions, everyone. Let's get the hell out of here." Everyone nodded and moved into the positions they'd had when Kronos sent them back, and waited as Ultear continued to rattle of the numbers.
"You good?" Simon asked her, but she looked unsure.
"It's a really long decimal." She replied. "But I've got it. Ready Nashi?"
"When you are." She replied. Ultear outstretched her hands, and sure enough the mist and sphere formed around her once again. Her friends recreated trying to free her, and then the magic turned red as it started to screech. Nashi covered her ears and waited for it to be over, and soon, it ended.
And they started to fade away.
"Well, let's pray Macbeth got it right." Drake said. Nashi nodded, and looked over at the others, but formed in confusion.
"Guys?" She asked, everyone looking over at her. "Where did Kaida go?" Everyone followed her finger, but the takeover wizard had disappeared. Probably for the best, just in case she got caught up n the attack.
"Well," Drake said as they all faded away. "Here we go." Nashi nodded.
As she lost sight of her friends, a blinded white flash appeared.
Luke watched as Scorpio, took, got torn through. He'd run out of spirits, and out of magic.
"Done?" Eris asked, but Luke didn't reply. He didn't really have the strength after trying every gate. "Fool. You used up so much magic doing that." Luke looked up to find Eris aiming an open palm at him, the multicolored magic ready to tear him apart. He couldn't do anything to stop her, so he closed his eyes and waited.
Luke nearly through up as he was jerked from his position on the ground and into the air. He looked up in confusion, and turned to find a purple snake carrying him through the sky.
"Kai...da?" He asked weakly. Her voice chuckled inside his head.
"You idiot." She said. "Taking her on by yourself." Luke managed a weak chuckle at this.
"I'm sorry." He said. "Did the others...?"
Luke was stunned as a blinding white light made him cover his eyes. Kaida groaned and did her best to look away.
There's your answer" Luke looked up and as he did so, the blinding white light moved away from the Domus Flau and towards them. It was a blinding white wave of pure magic power. He chuckled as it engulfed them.
"Good luck sis...You'll need it."
Elise covered her eyes as a white light threatened to burn her eyesight away. She could hear Nemesis chuckle.
"Looks like we failed." She said, also covering her eyes. "Oh well. Not like we won't get her anyway." Elise looked over towards Keita, and he looked at her.
"Looks like this is it." He said. "See you in the next timeline, Elise." Elise nodded as tears escaped her eyes.
"Yeah..." She replied. "I love you, Keita." Keita nodded as the wave engulfed them.
"I love you too."
Zeus watched as the white wave of magic, originating from the Domus Flau, encompassed the entirety of the city and continued to explode outwards.
"They've done it." He said. "The future is changed." The other man in the room laughed.
"Appears so." Hades replied. "I assume that means that my old plan will be used?" Zeus grew apprehensive at this, but nodded.
"If it comes down to it." He said.
"You know it will." Zeus looked out the window as the wave of magic soared towards them.
"I wish you the best, Nashi Dragneel. For soon, it will all come to an end. For better or for worse."
And with that, the entirety of Earthland was covered by the white glow, and the future altered.
But was it truly for the better?
One more chapter, guys! I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!