It was the time of the great battle, the one that would determine the fate of Yuki… and numerous other souls.
For Krishna-Kripa… it felt like the final exam.
Gone was the inexperienced Cadet with terrible health. He was now entering this battle as the God-given son of Kazami Yuuka and Toyosatomimi no Miko. and as one of the many Servants of Krishna.
The greenette let his gaze wander one last time over the team, committing them all to Memory.
There was Mukhara Devi Dasi, the ancient imperial Prince of Japan and the best sculptor in Mayapur, and his God sister/ bio-mother.
Radha-Shyamasundara Devi dasi was adjusting her combat boots, she looked like a feline of war, and she knew it…
Her Original name used to be Kaenbou Rin, the hell's traffic accident. A sin-sack-eating Kasha who happened to be best friends with an uber-powerful Hell raven. And one of the four who ate his mother's disease riddle limbs.
She was his aunt and loved him the same way his mother loved him, if not more.
Both were servants of Krishna, hell, his Mother was senior to Radha in this regard… and he was senior to his mother if one could calculate his previous life also.
He could see Nozomi, the fairy queen going over her arsenal of illegal slugs, death rounds, scatter shots and whatever else she got that could kill a 'god'. Lady Danu was by her side, her hand never leaving Nozomi's back, the mother of the tua te daanan was obviously boosting her with more ancient magic.
The mother of Dagda caught Krishna-Kripa's gaze and inclined her head in respect.
The Devotional greenette answered in kind, giving respect to the personification of the sacred River Danu.
Then there was Gaston, a self-important jerk at first, crumbling under the pressure of his Family name and the sacred order that rested heavily on his shoulder. Having to restore honour to his family after the suicide of his elder brother Navarre.
Realy, there had been so much on Gaston's shoulder, no wonder he acted like a prick after being thrown in a place he'd only heard horror stories about. And the place his dear older brother had lost his life too.
On the side, looking like Nemesis and Kartikeya are about to go to war, Odin and Issachar were psyching themselves up. And Kripa may have overheard the snake talk about avenging Flynn.
Mukhara had told him that, while it wouldn't bring the departed one back, the act itself would free the aggressor's soul from the Karmic burden he had incurred.
huh.
There was the angel, Mai and her boss. Merkabah. The two angels now wore coverings instead of being practically nacked, and for Mai's case, begging to be used by unscrupulous men.
No, No girls begged to be raped by her clothes, but the exploiters had a way to make girls believe that confidence in once beauty meant to expose as much as possible while flirting with as many humans as they could to find mister right.
This, of course, would lead them to many heartbreak and unwanted situations. To both parties, in most cases.
'And this is why, once I'm out of this hell hole, I'm picking back my bookbag!' Krishna-Kripa vowed.
It was like Nikari had told him once when the despair of their situation had made the young boy spiral down into a depressive episode.
"How did I survive for this long? Simple, Nanashi. I give myself a goal. It may not be something achievable now, and it may never happen. But I keep this goal with me, like sunbathing on the bank of the ocean, feeling the wind, eating an apple… how about you, Nanashi?"
At that time, Nanashi had no idea what he wanted to do once Flynn lifted the dome off and freed everyone.
He never knew what the sun was, he only saw it in pictures and videos, he never felt the gentle breeze, and for him, an apple was candy, not a fruit.
And… Nanashi never wanted to have this hope, since he knew he would die…
He didn't want to have something so dear and fragile break when he ceased to exist.
But Krishna-Kripa was different.
He knew he was not this dirty body filled with blood, pus, stool, urine, semen and worms. He was not the turbulent mind that kept proposing different ways for him to enjoy his dead senses. He was the spirit soul animating this body made of dead matter. He was birthless… all were birthless by nature and deathless also.
And he knew that his long-term goal in life was to serve his Guru and to spear the holy names of the Lord of Krishna in all towns and villages. And to Save Yuki.
To give him a second chance to Practice Bhakti and to get out of his material hell in this lifetime.
And for Kripa, it was the chance to keep serving his Guru and Srila-Prabhupada, to take up the result of the Brhat-Mrindanga, the sacred book and hit the streets.
The reason for all suffering was for a want of real knowledge and a concrete goal other than having the least amount of debt at the time of death.
And Kripa would use however long he had to live with this body to preach, to outreach and teach.
He would be a Guru, a mentor, just as what Gauranga wanted.
And maybe, just Maybe, with Yuki-kun at his side.
He returned his attention to his mother.
Ready?" Mukhara asked as she readjusted her fighting limbs made of high-density carbon weaves and ancient magic.
The needlepoint all made a sound of agreement, some even going as far as saying 'Haribol' and Gauranga!
"Alright, let's end this!
~0~
The room they entered reeked of death and stall air, no lights were open, for all the sconce had been ripped away from the wall. Plunging everything in Tokyo's natural darkness.
And, as it turned out, this type of darkness was something Kripa's eyes could not pierce.
But while his eyes were unusable, his ears and nose were all opened.
There was a heaviness to the air, and the smell of blood and death was cloying his nose. Krishna-Kripa was not a stranger to dead bodies, but considering that this was… used to be Flynn's blood?
He could remember the last time he had seen the Samurai of hope in person, Krishna had been right beside Kripa, his glance of Mercy touching everyone on the bar, including Flynn.
The Samurai of hope looked ragged, same as his lovely companion, but steel-like resolve animated his body, and it was clear that nothing short of complete destruction would stop him.
It was the eye of a man who had faced death often enough to be on first-name basis with them, and who could lift a mountain by sheer force of determination.
And yet, despite being so young. Flynn's eyes were as old as Nikari's and Kripa's adopted dad, even older still… and yet still held a warmth that was almost paternal in nature.
It gave Kripa the impression that the Samurai of hope was, at his core, a gentle and noble soul thrown into a horrible post-apocalyptic war.
"Radha, have you located the body?" Mukhara broke the smothering silence, her quiet voice sounding too loud in the darkness.
"I did."
"Did you-"
There was a sound of metal being crushed… and this sound caused the room to be flooded with industrial light, blinding everyone and causing the False-Vasudeva to cackle.
"Gotcha!" The fake said playfully. "You thought you could fool me again, creature of darkness?"
"Nah, not really," Radha spoke dismissively as the sound of tiny chimes filled the air, and Akrishna grunted in pain. "Was just waiting for you to make your move."
It seemed her bullet pattern was just what they needed to turn off the damn floodlight, and soon, they could see again.
Or they would've, if not still blinded and having lost whatever night vision they had gained.
But, this may as well be the Lord's Arrangement, for they were unable to see the Dangling body of Flynn, … but they could certainly perceive the writing darkness snake around the room, the last surviving flood light providing enough sight for them all to see what had been the fate of poor Yukimaru.
His body was limp, held up only by what could only be Nyarlathotep… or part of it, at least. Despite his bronze colour, his skin had taken an ashen tone, his clothes were rumpled and covered with red blood, dust and whatever else it managed to pick. The admirably nice fedora had been discarded… and tendrils of Darkness wrote out of his mouth, forming the mockery of a head covered with a featureless white mask.
Dribbling from Yuki's lips was a greenish-yellow liquid.
His blood.
"Ah… if it isn't you guys, I was starting to worry you would never reach my little party." It spoke as he swayed left and right. "And how are you Shesha? I can barely feel you now that your link to me has been broken."
"There's no fraternity lost between us, Demon!" Issachar hissed as he took a more snake-like appearance. "I never wanted to be a part of this. I never wanted to be the fake Shesha!"
"Oh? But didn't you desire power?"
"I SPIT ON THE POWER YOU HAVE GIVEN TO ME AND WILL GLADLY GO TO HELL KNOWING I REFUSED YOU UNTIL MY DYING BREATH!" Issachar screeched as he opened his maw inhuman wide, ready to strike down the abomination.
Nyarlathotep chuckled as she slithered faster than quicksilver away from the lunge, Yuki's limp body getting dragged along with it.
"And how about you? Odin? I thought you wanted to have the Gods in their rightful place? To merge with me… to rejoin your wife and son."
Lighting arced from Odin's Lance. " I thought it was what I wanted, but I have accepted the fact that things cannot return to how they were… and that I certainly cannot allow you to proceed, oh false God!"
He struck one mask, and the thing broke with a haunting wail, releasing the persona that had been locked away in its dept.
Huzzah! Keep going! A voice spoke, and Gaston was startled.
"Navarre?"
Nyalatothep took this opportunity to strike at the Crusader, who expertly diverted the strike, sending his own volley. Backed by the angels and Toad with his anti tank rifle, the black and oily tentacles could not reach him without being burned away by the glaring effulgence of Merkebha's sacred flame.
No longer with his back against the wall, The oni masked girl went to his back and slashed the main dark root that was writhing from Yuki's mouth. But the moment the hyper-sharp blade touched the demon's oil and smoke body, Nyarlatothep struck her away with the but lance… the same one that had drained out Flynn's life air.
The young girl gasped as she was thrown against the wall, but being trained to be a weapon, the broken bones she gained were but a mere inconvenience at best. She once again merged with the shadows, and the daughter of Yuriko once again resumed her offensive.
Meanwhile, as the first group of fighters were keeping the final version of Legion occupied, Mukhara, Kripa and Radha were by Flynn's body.
While having a Harinama Sankirtana in such an impure place was not the best, they also knew that Harinama-Prabhu was not affected by the location, the state of the chanters, the time or the circumstances, it was the eternally pure mantra, and this Mantra, God manifested in sound, was key to their victory.
"Mom… what should I do?" Kripa asked, having preloaded a light attack from the diamond, ready to dispatch when Nyarly would inevitably notice the Sacred duet going on.
"Protect us… and chant as loud as you can. Mukhara spoke as she planted a kiss on her son's forehead. "Everything will be fine, Krishna. You've got the Lord's blessing… and no matter what will happen, it's never the end…"
Then Radha did the same. "K.K, I'm stupidly proud of you-"
"Radha~" The Dryad blushed at the praise.
"We gonna get this shit, and we gonna get him Good," Radha whispered as she patted Kripa's shoulder. "Well… Krishna will teach this guy a lesson he won't forget, we just need to have faith."
"Enough talking, we have to start now," Mukhara whispered harshly over the din of the terrible battle going on, manifesting a two-headed clay drum.
A Mridanga.
Sitting on the floor in the basement, Yuki sat cross leagues on a zabuton, a Mrdanga resting in his lap as he learned how to play.
Kripa shook his head, Yuki never got to test his skills… having been kidnapped soon after.
'He'll get the chance to sing and dance again, even if his voice is crap.' the dryad resolutely thought as he positioned himself between the abomination and the two Kritanias.
Kshatranis were fearsome warriors and a host of sinful living (or, falsely living) creatures had fallen under their claws and shaku.
But this… this was not made of gross matter like water, earth and fire, not, Nyarlatotehp's sinful body consisted of shadows, sound and wind. And yet, he would still act as if his body was active on a physical plane, the same as with lower vibratory bodies.
And this was the reason why Mukhara and Radha were having a Kirtana, for giving this beast entry to swarga would only have King Indra withholding rain over a demon in heaven, and being Vaishnavi's the trick to send Demoniac soul in hell was not possible anymore. And Since Rahda was but a simple corps lunger, she was not in a position to do it, even with her divine upgrade.
But they had the Holy names, and they knew it would be more effective then whatever fighting skills they had.
Mercy above all, even if it meant removing the Jiva from his heavily conditioned body used to cause harm.
"nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine"
"Namaste Saravsate-deve, Gaura-vani pracharine
Nirvishesha-shuniyavadi, Pascatiat desha taiine!"
"Jaya Sri-Krishna-Chaitania, Prabhu Nitiananda, Sri Advaita, Gadadhara, Srivasadi Gaura bhatka-Vrinda!"
Mukhara began the chant, and immediately Nyarlathotep reacted.
With a wail of pure fury, He lunged at the Duo, whose eyes were closed as they called out to The Lord's perfect servant and the master under whose feet all masters take shelter.
Krishna-Kripa blocked the tentacle and severed it, his holy shovel going through it like a knife through warm butter.
Holy shovel
God gave him this shovel!
It was a sacred weapon imbued with Sri-krishna's light and mercy!
'Oh, this is gonna be so fun.' Krishna-Kripa taught with a feral grin.
This asshole had been causing pain and misery for so long… and he'd dared to desecrate the Holy Name of Krishna and Maule, one of Krishna's dear devotees, using his sacred body so callously!
"Oh.. you're going down," Kripa growled as he slashed away at the tar-like substance, crushing masks under his grips and overall being a nuisance for the crawling Chaos.
"You know what? I think I remember you." Kripa addresses Nyarlathotep. "When I was Aegis, I went to the bottom of the abyss of time, trying to find Yuki-kun… because I knew he wasn't dead!" He hissed as he took flight, getting right in Nyarlathotep's face. "You made that fake, Yuki, didn't you? Thank you for teaching me all about detachment, buddy, but next time, Erebus,… but you know what? That was a steaming pile of bullshit from the very start. The only way to defeat death is to do surrender to Bhagavan Sri-Krishna and not murder His servant, and fuking don't blaspheme Krishna, the supreme personality of Godhead! In front of me" He once again grabbed a white mask, breaking it. "You stole the body of a Vaishnava, took over it and used it to blaspheme our lord and master, the loved filled and sweetest of all! And for this! For the sin of blaspheming a Vaishnava Devotee of the Lord and the Lord himself! Yamaraja's waiting for you, Nyarly dear~"
"Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare."
" And I will drag you and your fallen Master myself!"
~0~
Inside Nyarlathotep, the battle raged on, but the two combatants were starting to feel the strain, especially now that the corrupted Persona had awoken and were actively fighting back, led by the crawling Chaos himself.
"How come it got harder?" Nyx asked as she bashed the face of a Jack Frost in. "I thought it would get easier.
"The dying fish always fights harder when he realizes that he will die," Thana-Navarre spoke as a way to explain as he dodges the flame of a sort of dragon. "Consider these to be Nyarlathotep's death throes."
A bunch of screeching fairy-type persona covered Nyx… and Mara crushed her with his girth.
Only to be split in half by the night mother's swords, and the fairies blown away by her wings.
She stood for a bit until she fell on her knee. "I… I hope this won't keep up for too long. I'm not used to fighting for this long." She admitted that the whole fight was draining her faster than she would like.
"Then, rest. Oh, beloved." The Samourai spoke heroically as he stood in front of his fiancee (if the dead could even do that.) his sword poised and ready. "I will do the rest."
For her part, Nyx was definitely falling in love with this chivalrous youth.
'I'm sorry, Yuki-kun. But my unsteady heart has been taken by another man.' She thought as she reminisced on how this came to be… one may think it to be the most inappropriate time but…
She couldn't help it… as she rested a bit in the middle of the chaotic battlefield.
She was death personified, the herald of the entropy and the bringer of the fall!
But this had been but a role to play. For Nyx held no love nor hatred for the living…
No, wait…
Nyx actually loved the living, and thus would protect them during the night. But the moment those living would thirst for the sweet embrace of death… then Erebus would answer…
Of course, this was but a role, a role that had been given to her by the man in the wheelchair after this… one performance.
This once performance when he was outed as being a seropositive queer… and thus, he could never participate in the wonderful german aria that was the magical flute, and he would never perform the greatest Aria Mozart had blessed the world with, one that was a master Piece in vocal range and the most dangerous for any singers.
No… instead, his replacement, a bitch of a girl had ousted him, jealous of his… of her talent.
Rioji knew… he knew that he didn't have long to live. He didn't have much money to pay his rent, and no one wanted to hire him, theather was his very life, but now that he was ousted… as gay and sick…
He went to the Moonlight bridge on the night of the premier, his favourite scarf dramatically playing in the wind as he chose his time of death.
Midnight… on a full moon night.
In the middle of the bridge, he sang his Aria with all of his strength and ability, abandoning all fear that he would ruin his vocal chord for good.
It's not like he would live long enough to regret it.
He jumped from the bridge, it was a depressed person's wet dream.
The barriers were nonexistent, and the drop was fatal.
On those forums talking about the futility of life and how all, upon death would return to the collective consciousness, many had spoken about this bridge… many in their last post.
And thus, on this perfect night, with the perfect moon and song. Mochizuki Ryoji jumped…
And got his pretty yellow scarf stuck on one of the rafters prolonging his agony until he could move no more.
And what should have been the end… was but the beginning of his hell.
He was out of his broken body, but unable to move on.
And he had to watch his corpse slowly putrefy, drying in hot weather and dripping the sludge that used to be his organs down at the bottom of the bridge, where many bones remain.
But… well, it could have been worse… well, not really since the only sense he had was that of sight and hearing. And he was still hungry and his depression never left him.
But at least there was a community of ghosts at the bottom, most of them were rather sympathetic. One Hijiri-san showed him how to go to the ghost planet when dawn appeared.
But… even on this planet, no one was happy or free of their mental agony. Save for the king and his wife who watched over their subject with pity.
Not that Riyuji would blame them, for their state truly was pathetic.
Eventually, Rioji decided to remain on the earthly sphere (turns out, the earth was both flat and round depending on where you stood.) right beside his corpse, waiting for when he was supposed to die.
And then, one day.
He met Stephan.
Stephan had a deal…
He took it, and he forgot everything, becoming both Nyx and Thanatos…
Then Ryuji… fell in love with the beautiful student with blue hair and the aroma of sweet death.
He never complained, and he was so compliant with everything he did.
But in hindsight, Yuki-kun wasn't really in for it… he just didn't care.
The boy didn't know what consent was, he just went along with it…
Then Rioji remembered who he was… and broke up with his sweet Yuki-kun…
Begging him to be killed, that it would be easier for everyone.
Rioji knew what death was, and hopefully, that would be it, the game would end…
Yuki refused, proclaiming his love for the taller young man.
Rioji remembered… he remembered when he Kissed Yuki one last time, letting himself believe that he truly did love him, before throwing the young man in the wall and storming out… before remembering that he didn't need to walk.
The next time he saw his Yuki, he was surrounded by friends, and Aigis was radiating a fury only his mother could generate…
Oh, he knew the two were an item, they were more than mere friends. And Yuki didn't care if she was a robot.
In the back of the Nyx-avatar's mind, she thought it absolutely ridiculous that he would date something that could not make life…
But then again, Aigis had been protecting Yuki for a long time.
Maybe… was this love? Something illogical that pushed someone to serve and show affection without any desire for remuneration?
It was… a beautiful lie.
They had fought, and after a while, Nyx felt pushed to leave the hopeless fight and call the fall, Erebus.
And thus, she did. Leaving everything behind as she went to perform her true duty, unable to bear the suffering of the living entities.
To bring everything to death, the sweet relief from all suffering.
What she didn't expect was to see her Yuki on the moon, all alone…
And then… he summoned a persona, the Universe.
In her heart, she knew that Yuki would die after that, performing the greatest of sacrifices, and to become the Seal… her seal between herself and Erebus.
But… this was not what had happened.
Instead of the universe, a being whose body glowed with blackish-blue darkness appeared with big round eyes devoid of lids, and a bright red smile that reached those two unblinking orbs.
He had no arms, and yet, his reach was unlimited. He had no legs, and yet he was the fastest. And he had no eye lid, for he saw no bad qualities in his tiny parts and parcels.
And yet… he had unlimited arms, unlimited legs, heads, eyes, trunk, chest, hands, and fingers… He was everywhere, He was everything.
He was water, he was wind, he was fire, earth and sound.
He was good qualities and bad, he was the nurturing mother and the seed-giving father, he was the punishment and the judge, jury and executioner, he was living, he was dead, he was the shark, the lions and tigers, he was the elephant Airavata and the numerous avatars. He was the priest, the prayer and sacrifice and the enjoyer of the sacrifice…
He was the all-destroying time…
He was the Universe.
It was only later when she had been once again locked away in Yuki's sea of soul, only able to peek through his eyes that the Night Mother realized just what this was…
It was God… Jagannath.
The Universe was God… and God also made the universe.
God existed outside the universe as an impersonal light that gave life to everything, supporting all other Universes by its mere presence.
He was also in everyone's heart as the super soul, the neutral arbiter who guided all to their faith, the watcher who gazed without attachment as the conditioned souls entangled themselves in numerous reactions through their misguided actions.
And he was Krishna who played in Goloka Vrindavan with his numberless friend and cows in a place beyond mundane logic, death and time.
In other words…
Yuki had managed to summon God: Jagannath!
And there was no good reason for Nyx to still be, well, present, for lack of a better word. Since whomever the Lord would kill would immediately attain impersonal liberation. What the Buddhist pend so long achieving through harsh austerity and the negation of the self.
And yet, there she was, witnessing everything Yuki would see, and noting how happier he was now that he had joined the Bhakti-cult.
A sweet cult that cultivated Love of Godhead, love and compassion. A Cult that gave guidance, and yet let Natural expression of this love and love manifest.
There was both guidance and freedom, support, and some tough love.
She had seen all the good, and the individuals acting on lower pulsions.
And yet, despite everything, Yuki grew, he smiled more, he would chant, he would dance, and he would happily clean the pots and pans…
That was until the Chinese hermit stole him away, making her sweetheart die momentarily, turning him into the Chinese zombie of an ancient Japanese poet, Miyako Yoshika.
She had seen the witch have her… fun with the zombified boy… and even dared to show some genuine affection to the kidnaped youth.
Then… she saw this weird-haired He-she dump their wrath upon her Yuki, cutting off all of his limbs.
'Oh, don't worry, Taisho-chan. I can always sew her back, nothing to worry about… now, show me what you want to do to this Buddhist witch." the Chinese hermit purred as she ran her filthy hands all over the angry regent standing over the chopped-up body of Yuki…
Yuki, who never forgot the Hare Krishna Prayer, and would always recite it, and sometime, would recite the Bhagavad-Gita of other assorted prayers.
He always had this affinity for Sanskrit, for him, the words, the accent then the pronunciation came naturally, he could even read Devanagari as if he had learned it for decades.
Then, one day… Miko committed suicide.
It came out of nowhere. One day, she was the prideful, boastful, charismatic prince who would one day take over Gensokyo and usher forth a religious revolution, and the next?
She was gone.
The only clues as to what had happened were her golden slippers, left at the edge of the ever-serene Sanzu…
And Miss Onozuka had confirmed that, indeed, Miko had entered the Sazu, never to come out again.
Needless to say, it had reshaped the political scene for a bit, until Reimu had beaten the tar out of everyone, demanding for things to return to peace, otherwise, no more political and religious parties would be left.
Things calmed downs, and a few more incidents happened.
Seiga kept playing with Yuki as if he was a doll. And yet... there were signs that she cared for him... or Yoshika.
Still, the blue-haired Hermit was... Problematic.
Then Seiga manipulated a Human protecting goddess by the name of Keiki, making the naive yet powerful being try to establish a safe place in hell for the sinful souls to live in, destroying the natural habitats of many animal-like shinigamis and hell citizens until three of them, the three Matriarch, sent their agent to bring Hakurai Reimu on the case to get rid of the concrete jungle.
This had earned Seiga the dubious honour of being the first-ever exiled Gensokyien, cursed to wander around the mundane world with only Yoshika at the side... since no one but Kaku knew how to take care of her, and Yoshika (Yuki.) was unable to take any decision without her.
And thus, they once again live outside, in Tokyo.
And would you believe Nyx if she were to tell you that she was ecstatic and deeply relieved to know that the Fall had been prevented? And that no Dark Hour existed anymore?
A few more years passed... and they met Shoutoku-san. But the prince had changed, a lot.
She had lost all of her limbs, Somehow (Karma was a good bitch that day.) wearing the ugliest, gaudiest pair of glasses Ryoji had the misfortune of seeing and wore a wooden necklace!
She, the ancient emperor of Japan, she who went on China's face and told them all that they were relevant, she whose wealth was near infinite, she who wore the costliest of silk on a daily basis, now floated around looking like a commoner. A commoner with this... admittedly attractive U-shaped mark adorning her forehead.
And glowing with joy and bliss...
so much bliss.
And that smile.
It was clear that whatever had happened to the Ancient prince had given her what everyone was looking for.
Real, unending happiness… Bhati.
Somehow… The terrible regent, despite having dismembered Yuki in a fit of rage, had joined the ranks of the Hare Krishnas.
It was… extremely merciful on God's part, and Nyx could not help but wonder if He could also extend this same mercy to her and Yuki again.
But despite the lack of Limb, Toyosato-san looked like the sun itself, and not only that, but she was also glowing with motherhood...
and Seiga had noticed.
Nyx could only watch in dread as the sinful hermit waited, planned, and lusted after Miko's unborn child.
Then Miko, now Mukhara, once again left Japan. Causing Seiga to curse a storm since she had yet to figure out how to get out of the country and the numerous Hermitages that formed a veritable barrier around the island.
More then a year came and went, and Seiga became obsessed with Mukhara's unborn child, especially when she heard that the 'father, was none other then the sleeping terror herself, Audrey's mother and she whom all feared.
Kazami Yuuka.
For her part, Nyx could only pray that the shinigami would kill the disgusting woman and finally rid the world of her presence, or for Mukhara to never return to Japan.
But... the ancient prince. (if She even was who she claimed she was.) returned... something about reclaiming the throne and booting out the old clown that ran the country turning it into a geriatric state with no growth and no birth.
And the Bitch made her move.
In a moment of inattention, the wicked hermit poisoned the baby...
What happened next had been all too horrific for words, and even as Ryoji, he had not dared watch out of his Yukimaru's eyes.
He only knew that Yuki purposefully dropped the nameless baby boy as they flew above the city, hoping to give the child an easy out.
Otherwise, the baby would have no other chance at freedom.
The next thing she knew, Seiga saved the child, slapped Yuki... and then noticed something.
Another hermitage.
Long story short, the blue-haired hermit had managed to sense the entrance of Stephens's place of play and sneaked into it...
or, more precisely, they had willingly walked into a trap.
Now, Seiga was an admittedly powerful hermit, able to perform feats of great magic and even some acts of necromancy...
But she was not... she was definitely not at the power level of Stephen, who could easily rewrite a person to fit his finicky whims...
and thus... Seiga became Lilith, Yuki became Krishna, and Krishna-Kripa became Nanashi, the nameless orphan found by none other than his old and definitely ex-best friend.
The fifteen years that passed had been the most boring and heartbreaking.
Ryoji finally managed to speak to his Yuki again, Apologizing about how he had thrown him against the far wall for their breakup. About the Tall, the trick, the hatred...
about how he had failed to save him...but as the years passed, Erebus, Nyarlatothep was steadily oozing out of the seal and polluting Yuki's sea of souls... until even the boy from the stars was drowning and breaking.
In Ryoji's arms...
In essence, he had seen his last love die...
and yet somehow...
'Somehow, God gave me a second chance, and I shall not squander it.' The avatar of Nyx thought as she steeled her resolve just in lime to wrap her expansive wings around Navarre, shielding him with her midnight gown just as the core of all those personas burst forth..
He looked like a man whose face had melted into a form reminiscent of a butterfly and a mask, his hair was a slick as tar, upon his body, numerous personas were shackled. Amon Ra, Anthemis, Prometheus, Messiah, Izanagi-no-Ookami, Lucifer... were amongst them, all hanging like Flynn had.
The beast beyond mere words roared... and the two heralds of death were violently pushed back... before being dragged in...
tied to Messiah.
~0~
On the outside battlefield, things went from a romp in the park to... the boss's second wind.
It had started when Nozomi had shot the multi-mask bastard in its main mask. Stunning him and letting her get another instant death bullet in...
Krishna-Kripa cheered as he kept shooting mask after mask with his elemental bullets, thanking Manabu for drilling in him how to figure out an elemental weakness as fast as possible.
Gaston and Ken were absolutely slaughtering the beast, the two spear wielders working like a well-oiled machine, Ken having called his demons to the field for extra support.
In the air, Mai and Merkebha were lighting the sky with their truly divine lights, their form Shining in the sacred glow of the fake sun after Kripa had Gloriously blown out the ceiling with a well-paced master spark, trusting his Krishna that he would not drop the whole celestial fault on their head.
The red-faced leader of all ghosts (Zhong Khui, his name was Zhong Khui, why did Kripa keep forgetting the guy's name despite remembering his old dead name.) controlled whatever was breaking free from the Utsuro, essentially evacuating them to somewhere safe, for the time being.
It was chaotic, it was loud and dusty. Kripa both loved and hated it.
Suddenly, Yuki screamed in sheer pain, the sound defining...
and for Mukhara and Radha... it proved to be too much, for the Kasha returned to her original form and Mukhara dropped to the ground, her ears bleeding.
"MOM! NO!" Krishna-Kripa screamed as he saw everything fall apart.
Without the Lord's holy Kirtana keeping the beast at bay, Nyarlathotep could now fully manifest.
There were... no words to describe the abomination save that the mere view of IT was enough to make one fear losing his individuality and sanity as they got sucked in the Maelstrom of unfortunate souls.
Kripa hear, over the din that was Nyarlatotwehpt myriads of tortured Persona, the scream of his friends and ally, and from the corner of his eyes, he caught Nozomi level her shotgun to what they hoped was Nyarly's core and shot her last death round, praying to Sri-Arjuna and Sri-Rama that it would hit the intended target.
but instead of hitting its intended target... it struck Yuki's heart, causing his chest to burst open like a red lotus. His eyes flashed open with agonizing clarity, one last time before death removed whatever spark of life and consciousness that was left in him.
Krishna-Kripa had never screamed louder in his entire life, not even seeing Manbunu and Nikari get killed in front of his eyes nor his mother being crushed by Shesha had caused him this type of visceral pain then this...
The crushing failure was such that he'd lost all strength, forgetting even his master spark.
How was he supposed to cast this powerful spell fueled by love when the ones he loved were dead?
And how could he vaporize the beast when he'd failed his Krishan, the ultimate object of love?
'Krishna... I failed..." He fell to his knees. 'I'm sorry Yuki-kun... I'm sorry Krishna... I did my best.' He closed his eyes as he felt true despair run him over.
Nyarlathotep gave this ghoulish grin and, now that he was once again one with Nyx, unleashed the Fall...
and all went silent.