Chapter 37
No Rest for the Wicked
Coming to, I found myself in a strange dimension with weird monoliths in the distance. The sky was a strange black. "Welcome, Mythos. Welcome home.", Ultima's voice said. "Where are you, Ultima?", I asked. "Welcome to our realm, designed to give you time to reflect.", Ultima's voice said. "What do you mean by reflect?", I asked, answered by a deafening silence. Shrugging, my shoulders, I walked forward. Arriving at the first monolith, I saw a depiction of two worlds fusing. "Our story begins with the worlds Bionis and Alrest. Created by a phase experiment using a device called the Zohar, two worlds were created. In both worlds, people were the offspring of beings called Titans. After many years separate, both worlds merged into a world named Aionios.", Arashi's voice said as the mural on the monolith disappeared. As I arrived at the second monolith, I heard Dohalim's voice say, "When Aionios was formed, a terrible war was fought on it. The inhabitants of the Bionis formed a kingdom named Keves specialising in technology and mobile weapons and the inhabitants of Alrest formed a kingdom named Agnus specialising in magic and autonomous weapons. Eventually, a group of six heroes named the Ouroboros consisting of Noah, Mio, Eunie, Taion, Lanz and Sena would end the war by killing the instigator- a Moebius named Z. This resulted in an easy peace but it was not to last.", as the mural there depicting a battlefield disappeared.
Subsequently arriving at the third monolith, I heard Ovan's voice say, "The peace of Aionios once thought to be eternal was shattered when the being YHVH cast a spell on it. He was irate that not everyone in the Multiverse was worshipping him specifically and thus cast a spell to fuse Aionios with every world in the Multiverse- that is to say, Aionios would absorb every world until only it remained. However, not every world proved to be temporally compatible with each other and the fusion of times and spaces mutually incompatible with each other caused several paradoxes to occur. In response to this, the being Ultima created 9 Eikons – Phoenix, Garuda, Ramuh, Titan, Bahamut, Shiva, Odin, Leviathan and Alexander – and an infernal conduit for all of them named Ifrit. The Dominant of Ifrit would be named the Mythos and absorb all the 9 Eikons' powers alongside that of Ultima himself and would be subsequently tasked with ending Aionios's existence. Doing so would also reverse the effects of the spell that YHVH cast, undoing the fusion and restoring the worlds to their proper dimensions and time periods.", as a mural depicting Ifrit disappeared. Walking over to the fourth monolith, I then heard Lindow's voice say, "Of course, that was the original plan for the Mythos. Over time, as Aionios fused the worlds together, the purpose of the Mythos became forgotten and was subsequently superseded by the role of the Sovereign, a king with an equal disposition to all four types of Dahnan astral energy- fire, earth, air and water. Those four elements would come easily from Phoenix, Titan, Garuda and Leviathan respectively and the other five elements needed for the Sovereign would come from Bahamut, Odin, Ramuh, Shiva and Alexander. The Sovereign, alongside ruling over Aionios, would also be YHVH's vessel and thus need the power of all 9 Eikons to be accepted as the Ruler of All Things. Don't you see? That is your purpose- to rule.", as a mural depicting the Renas Alma disappeared. "So how does the Renas Alma come into all this?", I asked. "Well, the Crown Contest, used to determine the next Sovereign would be used to gather energy into 5 Master Cores- one of fire, one of light, one of earth, one of air and one of water. They would then be fused with the final Master Core of darkness and be combined into the Renas Alma which would be presented to the Sovereign alongside the sword Dein Nomos, both being used to crown the Sovereign as the next ruler of Aionios. Currently, the Sovereign is Alphen.", Sophitia's voice said. "Wait, I was brought to Aionios to rule it?", I asked. "Is that not what gods do?", Law's voice asked. Suddenly, I then saw a bright light that covered me.
As the light faded, I looked around me, finding that I was in a strange purple chamber. "Am I in Origin?", I asked. "Are you? Yes, you are in Origin.", Kirito said as he walked down a staircase. After a brief yet awkward silence, Kirito then said, "Well, are you ready to atone now? I know I am.". "Atone for what?", I asked, forming Gram in my right hand. "You know, refusing to do your duty and rule over Aionios.", Kirito said as he drew his swords- one of them black, one of them green. "My conscience is clear anyway so I have no need to atone. You however can go right ahead and die.", I said, rushing at him. "Ooh, so edgy.", Kirito said, unleashing a brutal slash with both swords that I narrowly dodged. I then unleashed a furious counter that Kirito dodged, only for him to unleash a counter that I dodged easily, countering with a blast of darkness in the shape of one of the Black Beast's heads. Blocking the blast, Kirito then warped behind me and attacked only for me to instinctively block the attack, countering with a blast of dark red electricity. I then followed up with a furious onslaught that Kirito only just managed to block. Suddenly, a strong sense of rage came over me, causing my attack speed to greatly increase. "No way.", Kirito said as I promptly unleashed a giant blast of darkness, breaking his guard. "Come on, Jack! Is hatred literally all you have?!", he asked. "Shut up and die.", I said as I prepared to unleash a violent slash only to be stopped by a strange purple blast of energy that I narrowly dodged.
Looking at the staircase, I saw that the blast had been unleashed by Shiden. "You little-!", I snarled. "You have no business with nearly killing one of the Sovereign's vassals.", Shiden said. "I am your Sovereign, though.", I said. "Are you? Or are you just lying to yourself like you always do?", Shiden asked. "What is that supposed to mean?", I asked. "Still, you have sinned by refusing to fulfil your purpose and you must be punished for it.", Shiden said before walking off. "Get back here!", I said, chasing after him. As I ran, I felt the Negative Speed Force gather around me, increasing my speed exponentially. The red lightning then formed into a cocoon around me as black and dark red energy promptly leaked out, also empowering me. Screaming with rage, I slashed forward with Gram, breaking through a crystal barrier. Noticing a very empty room before me, I then saw several Mors and Dragon Tooth Warriors appear. I then slashed through them, leaving none alive. Continuing on, I then saw my surroundings twist and distort behind my eyes; undeterred, I then found myself in a strange throne room. "Wait, this couldn't be-? No, it couldn't.", I said. "Oh, but it is. This is the throne room meant for the Sovereign and the Maiden. When you were brought through to Aionios, the plan was for you to be reunited with your ever so beloved Brynhild and for the two of you to rule Aionios forever. Failing that, other choices for the Maiden included Morgan, Arcueid and even Hanabi. But no, you just had to choose Framme to become the Maiden, ruining our best laid plans.", Mio said. "And because you chose Framme, that also meant we had to reconfigure the Ring of the Sovereign and the Ring of the Maiden so someone like her could use the latter. If you chose Morgan, Arcueid or even Hanabi, they would have been able to easily synchronise with the Ring of the Maiden; but you chose Framme, meaning the Ring of the Maiden will likely no longer work as intended.", Diamant said. As I looked at the thrones, I then felt a horrid presence behind me.
Turning around, I saw that there was a giant wall of black and dark red fire. Walking through the wall, I then found myself in a very strange stone battlefield where Dantes was waiting. "OK, this is your final chance to give in. What you did by refusing to rule over the Multiverse was very irresponsible and absolutely ruined Chaldea's attempt to establish an eternal kingdom.", he said, rushing at me. Dodging his attack, I then found myself in a strange black and dark red void. "Where am I now? Am I still in Origin?", I asked. "Why do you keep resisting? Did YHVH really beat your will out of you?", Tager's voice asked. "What do you mean?", I asked before I saw a blindingly white flash of light. As the light cleared, I then found myself in a strange room, with me sitting in a chair. "You cannot proceed any further until you confess your past to us. Now, what did YHVH do to you?", Mio's voice said. "OK, you win. When I was a baby, YHVH arrested me and imprisoned me in the Raft off the coast of Antarctica and had several of his creations beat me up. When I was 5, I was unfairly tried in The Hague for war crimes I never committed and promptly enslaved. One of the conditions of my sentence was for me to be paraded naked through the streets at the start of each month. Of course, I didn't take kindly to this so I learned how to hack and crash computer systems in an attempt to escape my torment. When I was 15, the government outright abandoned me, essentially freeing me from my slavery but also leaving me to fend for myself. And fend for myself I did.", I said. "And what did YHVH also do to you when you were still in his employ, so to speak?", Lanz's voice asked. "Well, he tortured, tormented and traumatised me with nightmares when I was alone in my cell in the Raft.", I said. At this, I saw another blinding flash, only for me to find myself in a purple mechanical corridor. "You see? Now you've bared your soul to us, you can now advance and claim your birthright.", Fiore's voice said.
Walking down the corridor, I then felt a strong surge of hatred well up inside me, coating my body in the red electricity of the Negative Speed Force. Grunting in pain, I ran forward, the power forcibly dismissing Gram. As the energy faded, I noticed that the corridor looked very red, strangely. Arriving at a strange room, I saw a giant purple crystal covered by dark energy. Absorbing it into my demonic left arm, I then heard Husk's voice say, "Isn't it beautiful? This is the Void Crystal- the final crystal needed for you to master Niten Ichiryu. Go on, break it.". Before I had a chance to, I then found myself facing a giant door adorned with Alvis, Pyra and Malos's Core Crystals. "Are these-?", I asked before Pyra said, "That's correct. These are the three Core Crystals used to rebirth one world into Bionis and Alrest- the Ontos, Pneuma and Logos cores. Incidentally, I possess the Pneuma core, Malos possesses the Logos core and Alvis possesses the Ontos core. That makes us the three Aegises.". "Since you possess the True Monado, that makes you the master of the Ontos core. And when you make contracts with us, that will give you rightful ownership of the Sword of the End and the Firelight Swords that Noah and Rex currently possess.", Malos said. Suddenly, the door opened, only for me to find myself in a strange chamber with the Waxing Moon Vessel. Walking towards it, a strange thought raced through my mind. "Could I claim it now?", I thought. "And now you come to the Waxing Moon Vessel. But you are not ready to claim it as you have not awakened yet. Do it. Give in to the darkness and embrace your true nature.", Shiki's voice said as I saw Alphen, Shionne, Rinwell, Law, Kisara, Dohalim, Lloyd, Luke, Yuri, Estelle, Rita, Flynn, Fenimore, Velvet, Eleanor, Magilou, Rokurou, Haseo, Atoli, Kuhn, Yata, Sakubo, Pi, Endrance, Ovan, Lindow, Sakuya, Soma, Alisa, Kota, Yuito, Kasane, Hanabi, Luka, Gemma, Tsugumi, Shiden, Kyoka, Arashi, Kagero, Nagi, Fubuki, Karen, Mario, Luigi, Neptune, Nepgear, Noire, Blanc, Vert, Marth, Celica, Sigurd, Leif, Roy, Lyn, Eirika, Ike, Micaiah, Lucina, Corrin, Byleth, Shulk, Fiora, Reyn, Dunban, Sharla, Melia, Riki, Rex, Nia, Vandham, Tora, Zeke, Morag, Noah, Mio, Eunie, Taion, Lanz, Sena, Matthew, A, Nikol, Glimmer, A, Revali, Daruk, Urbosa, Mipha, Zelda, Dante, Vergil, Nero, Chai, Ragna, Jin, Noel, Rachel, Es, Naoto, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Silver, Shadow, Vector, Espio and Charmy entered the room. Noticing a nauseously bright aura covering them, I looked to the Waxing Moon Vessel, seeing that it was starting to distort the area. "That man told me I needed to use the Second Magic. But can I do it?", I thought. "There's no need to keep resisting.", Daruk said as Yumi rushed into the room. "Dame Yumi, the time has come. We need to make Jack realise that his constant running is only hurting him.", Chai said. Reaching out to the Waxing Moon Vessel, I then, "Second Magic, activate!", a dark red aura forming around me. "Wait, what did he just say?", Mipha asked before the scenery abruptly changed, turning from Origin to Spear Pillar.
The story continues in the next chapter.