Chapter 21
All That I Am
Approaching the dark red sphere, I felt a strange feeling. Seeing the very landscape distort before my eyes, I then sensed a very sinister energy from the sphere. The energy itself felt very similar to both Gloom and the Silent Core combined but even worse. "Wait, could this be-?", I asked. "Why, it is.", a voice said behind me. I turned around to see a young girl with short blonde hair in a bob cut and green eyes wearing a yellow blouse and a dark green miniskirt with long black stockings and white boots. "Wait, cousin Gareth?", I asked the girl. "So you remember me at least, cousin.", Gareth said. "So, what is the dark red sphere?", I asked. "Oh, that is pure Gloom, the holy and radiant power that purified many people and unleashed what they truly were.", Gareth said, a maniacal look in her eyes. As I nervously looked at the sphere, Gareth then said, "It sure is a shame that you were corrupted by the Infinity Core. If you weren't, then maybe you would have remembered your purpose a lot sooner.". "What purpose?", I asked. "Oh, you know. The purpose of a Sovereign.", Gareth said as she leaned in uncomfortably for a kiss.
Finding myself in a strange temple, I then saw a golden sword stuck in a stone. "Haha. Very funny.", I said. "Oh? It's not like you to resist Excalibur.", Valentino said as he walked out of the shadows. "Is that what this sword is?", I asked. "Why, yes.", Vox said. "Regardless, what would someone like you know? I mean, it's not like you're experienced with swords that select their user. Even if you were to draw Excalibur, it's not like you could use its power anyway. After all, you don't seem like someone a holy sword would choose to use it.", Velvette said. "First time?", I asked. As I saw the Vees leave, I turned my attention to the sword. Feeling a strangely calming radiance from the sword, I then saw the sword itself glow with a blinding golden light, forcing me to cover my eyes. As the light faded, I then found myself in a strange chamber where I saw a girl with long grey hair with a hair tuft and piercing green eyes sitting on a chair. Walking closer to her, I saw that her face looked shockingly like Artoria's. I also noticed that she was wearing a long black dress with a dark grey dressing gown. Suddenly, she turned to look at me, her sullen expression lighting up considerably. As she rushed up to me, she said, "Oh, Jack, it's true! You really have returned to us!". "Wait, who are you again?", I asked. "Oh, my name is Gray. Only you should know who I am.", she said, her voice having a Welsh accent. As she embraced me, she then looked at me tenderly in my eyes with an equally maniacal look like Gareth.
Suddenly, I then found myself in the main lobby of the Happy Hotel. "Wait, why am I back here?", I thought. "You really do need to give in to the darkness and embrace your true nature. It's not healthy to keep denying who you are.", Husk said. "Take it from me in particular. I used to keep denying that I was a Saiyan but it wasn't until I faced Frieza that I embraced my heritage as one.", Goku said. "And you're saying that I need to embrace the darkness?", I said, nervously looking at my right hand. "Yeah.", Husk said, also looking at my right hand. "It still hasn't awakened, Husk. It's a losing battle trying to get him to awaken it too.", Goku said. "Maybe so, but we can still try.", Husk said. I then walked off, finding myself in a strange chamber. As I looked around the room, I smelled the strong sense of perfume; much like Cecilia's house, the perfume was giving me a headache. "Don't leave us like you did before.", Charlie said behind me. Turning around to face her, I asked, "Wait, what do you mean by before?", I asked. "Don't you mind. You just focus on giving in to the darkness and embracing your true nature.", Charlie said as she tenderly embraced and kissed me.
All of a sudden, I found myself back on Ouranos Island facing the white Chaos Emerald. Something was causing my ability to use Chaos Control to malfunction, resulting in me finding myself in strange places without any recollection of it. Looking at the Chaos Emerald closely, I noticed energy that looked a lot like Gloom surrounding it. Getting out the purple Emerald, I noticed that the power of Gloom was not surrounding it, causing me to wonder if maybe the Gloom was responsible. "It's connected, isn't it?", Sage asked. "It has to be. I mean, the Gloom has to be affecting the Emeralds somehow. Maybe because they're not in alignment, it's causing the power of Chaos Control to warp out of control, at least for me, anyway.", I said. "Alright, that's enough speculation for now.", a voice said behind me. I turned around to see a man with long red hair and golden eyes wearing a white shirt and dark blue trousers with silver boots holding a bow that looked a bit like a harp. "Let me guess, you're Tristan, right?", I said to the man. "That is correct.", Tristan said. Looking at the white Emerald, Tristan then said, "It would be very unwise for you to keep using Chaos Control whilst you're still untouched by the Gloom. You are the only flesh and blood being in Aionios to not fall to the Gloom, instead being a victim of the profane Infinity Core rather than the sacred Silent Core.". Noticing a nauseously bright aura around Tristan, I gathered dark energy around myself and summoned Zantetsuken to my right hand.
Rushing at Tristan, I then unleashed a furious volley of slashes that Tristan dodged. Retaliating, Tristan the plucked the strings of his bow, summoning blue bolts of magic that I parried. Unleashing a steel counter, I then unleashed a large beam of darkness that Tristan countered with a beam of light. Not to be done, I unleashed the power of the Negative Speed Force causing me to speed up considerably; seeing Tristan smirk at this, I fired a volley of dark magic blasts before following up with a slash from Zantetsuken that mutated into three separate slashes. Firing several blasts of magic from his bow, Tristan then fired a powerful blue arrow that I just managed to dodge and retaliate with a flash of steel. I followed this up with several beams of darkness that I fired from Zantetsuken and various blasts of darkness that Tristan just managed to keep up with. Angry, I then unleashed a strange black and dark red mist from my right hand that seemed to weaken Tristan much to his peculiar delight. "Yes! That's it! Unleash the power of darkness!", he said with a strange joy. Growling with anger, I called down a dark red meteor brimming with darkness and electricity. I then burst the energy within the meteor and threw the energy at Tristan whilst shaping it into the form of a sword. As Tristan was repelled by the energy, he laughed, saying, "That is the power of a true Sovereign! Just embrace your true nature and that will be all!".
As my rage subsided, I dismissed Zantetsuken. Wondering what had come over me, I then panted very heavily. "You still haven't properly embraced the darkness within yourself. That's why you're feeling so tired.", Sage said. "Maybe so.", I said. Walking out of the vault, I caught the sight of a man with short and spiky purple hair parted to the left and purple eyes wearing white and golden armour and holding a golden sword much like Excalibur. Approaching him, I felt a strange sense of fear. Wondering why I was so unnaturally scared, I then saw the man turn to look at me. "Can I help you?", I asked. "No, but I can help you.", the man said. "What do you mean?", I asked. "Incidentally, my name is Lancelot, the Knight of the Lake and the father of Mash Kyrielight.", the man said. "You're Mash's dad?!", I asked. "That is correct.", Lancelot said. As he looked at the surroundings, Lancelot then said, "So, this is Ouranos Island?". "Yeah. The Starfall Islands consist of an archipelago of 5 islands- Kronos Island, Ares Island, Chaos Island, Rhea Island and Ouranos Island. This is Ouranos Island, the final one.", I explained. "I see.", Lancelot said before walking off. Trying to follow him, I then found myself facing the Happy Hotel again. Walking inside, I found that the hotel was deathly empty.
Wondering why I kept going back to the hotel, I then saw a passage leading to a secret tunnel underground. Following the route, I then found myself in a strange throne room with a book lying on the main throne and a tapestry depicting a great battle between Odin and YHVH with Odin flanked by the other 7 Eikons and a strange walking castle, not to mention Ifrit and a strange being with four arms. "Witness the tapestry, O profaned Dominant and despair.", a voice said behind me. I turned around to see a gaunt pale skinned humanoid with white hair and black contours around his eyes, which had darkened scleras and no eyelids. He had four arms and his body looked like it was covered in purple crystals. "Who are you?", I asked. "We are known as Ultima.", the man said. "And what does this tapestry represent?", I asked. "It represents Ifrit leading the Eikons in our battle with the Supreme Being, YHVH. Ifrit, incidentally, is our chosen vessel.", Ultima said. "And you chose Clive for this destiny, is that right?", I asked. "No. The person we chose…is you, Mythos.", Ultima said, pointing at me. "You chose me to become your vessel?", I asked. "We admit though that your awakening as the Dominant of Odin was much unexpected. Because of that, we tasked Clive with the goal of transferring his Eikon, Ifrit, to you that you may fulfil your destiny as the Sovereign, Mythos. To that end, we had you unsuccessfully participate in the Sword Demon Tournament to awaken your fighting spirit and get you to give in to the darkness and embrace your true nature. It was because of your trauma that you were unable to do so.", Ultima said.
Looking at the tapestry, I then heard Ultima say, "But as the power of 8 Eikons shall not suffice to properly power you, we created 9 Eikons- Phoenix, Garuda, Ramuh, Titan, Bahamut, Shiva, Odin, Leviathan and Alexander. They are the keys that shall awaken you as the Ruler of All Things, Mythos.", Ultima said before he vanished. "Weird.", I said before I walked through a door only to find myself in a strange bedroom. As I stared at the bed, I wondered what Ultima had said about the Eikons only for Hanabi to then come through the door wearing a pink crop top and pink shorts. "Oh, Jack! I'm so happy!", Hanabi said as she leapt into my arms. "What are you happy about?", I asked. "Why, the fact that you returned to us and was chosen for a great destiny.", Hanabi said, looking into my eyes tenderly. I then found myself in the lobby of the Happy Hotel again only to see Mash sipping a glass of fruit juice that looked a lot like red wine. Putting the glass down, Mash then looked into my eyes, saying, "It seems our Lord Ultima still requires you to become the Dominant of Ifrit so you can properly become the Sovereign. Can't you see? Ifrit's flames call for you alone, Jack. Not Clive, not anyone else.". Before I could respond, Mash then got up and left. I then suddenly felt a strange earthquake sound outside; rushing out the hotel, I saw a strange passage that I walked down, entering a strange arena where Iori was waiting for me.
The story continues in the next chapter.