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Nexus HWR 18.6 Bahamut:
Vistarion
BwwooooOO BwwooooOO BwwooooOO BwwooooOO BwwooooOO BwwooooOO Sirens echoed through the streets of Vistarion, the capital city of the Alvarez Empire. The sirens had been used so rarely that the citizens of the city were running around in a panic. Even when the entire world was shaking from the War of the Saiyan Mountains, the people of Vistarion had been calmer than they were now. Then again, the sirens did not go off for that war. What they would go off for, was an invasion, like the one occurring in their capital at the moment.
"Invel! What's going on?!" Jackal shouted, running out of the huge government building in the northern center of Vistarion where the Spriggans and Tartaros demons gathered in whenever they were all in the city. Jackal had only recently resurrected in the Hell's Core in the National Building's basement. The Tartaros demons were practically immortal because of the Hell's Core, and although Jackal had been incinerated by the late Fire Lord only two weeks before, he had recovered already.
The government building behind him looked bland on the lower floors but had a more castle-like appearance higher up on it. The lower floors were surrounded in white marble pillars too though. Jackal ran between two pillars and down some steps towards a lower platform wrapping around the whole building slightly north of the center of the city. They were on the south side and so facing the city's center itself where the Main Square was and had a giant fountain in it with a statue of their High Lord in the middle. After Jackal called down to their High Lord's Chief of Staff, he froze and stared past the lower platform he was running to and all the way towards the Main Square that Invel and Brandish also looked towards.
Brandish lifted her eyebrows and watched in surprise as the statue of High Lord Spriggan cracked up the middle and started to fall. "Who would be so brazen?" Brandish asked. Her eyebrows narrowed down in anger to see Spriggan's visage cracked and crumbling like it did. "They're about to regret it," she said in a darker tone.
Invel Yura was glaring towards the Main Square himself. He pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose and scanned the streets that they had a good angle of at the middle of the steps that rose to their government building. "If you wish to take part, you should get down there now then," Invel commented to the woman on his right side. The man's grayish-blue hair fell long and was tied in a ponytail that draped over the front of his right shoulder and in front of his chest. He wore a black and dark-blue coat that was buttoned over the front of his white under-armor that he wore to work in case of scenarios just like this. Brandish looked to her left at the man who ran this city's protection, and he explained what he just said, "Several of the other Shields of Spriggan, and multiple Demons of Tartaros, are already there."
"And I'm missing out?!" Jackal exclaimed in frustration. He kept running down the steps but leapt up in the air and dropped past Brandish and Invel onto the lower flight beyond the middle platform that those two were stopped on. Jackal continued running down the steps when he landed, while Brandish took a step down herself.
Brandish was already losing her angered glare as she stared into the middle of the city though where she saw some explosions and bright flashes of light of different colors. She took only a few steps before sighing, It will be over before I get there- Sweat covered Brandish's face. Invel froze behind her. Jackal stopped running down the steps and skid on his heels, nearly falling over as he stared down the steps and onto the road directly past the bottom where a single figure was running their way.
"ZEREF!" That young man screamed before bending his legs and leaping up in the air. His eyes narrowed on the figure near the bottom of the steps who had blond hair that continued up his pointy ears that looked to match his name.
Jackal's hands were pitch black and ended in claws rather than fingers. His lips that curled down when he saw this figure running towards them curled up at the corners so he was smirking instead. "If you want Zeref, you're going to have to go through-" Jackal rose his hands quickly as the figure up in the air curved his arc and sped down rapidly towards him.
The silver-haired figure diving at the Etherious Tartaros demon brought back his right arm with a long black weapon forming in his grasp. At the end of the shaft was a red key-shape, and Riku yelled out as he slashed down at the figure whose right arm glowed bright before he slashed it right back at Riku. BOOOOM! "HAHAHAAaaa!" Jackal cackled while leaping backwards away from the explosion on the steps.
A different figure blurred out of the explosion and flew right past Jackal. "Ah-" Jackal gasped and his body arched backwards. A gash ripped through his side as he dropped to the ground, his eyes rolling back. Riku landed on the steps behind him and never looked back as he sprinted at the next two up the stairs.
Brandish glared furiously down at him. Riku's heart pumped once more, and then, Pop!
Riku stumbled and fell face-first on the steps. Invel stepped forward to the edge of the platform in the middle of the steps. The air around them just started getting colder, but the dark clouds forming above faded as Invel saw his power was unnecessary. "Good work, Brandish," he commented to his comrade who just exploded Riku's heart by making it so large it popped when it pressed against the inside of his ribcage.
"Hmph," Brandish rose a hand and brushed some of her green hair away from her eyes. "What an idiot. Did he really think he could…" Brandish's eyes bulged as did Invel's next to her. The two of them stared down at the collapsed figure on the steps who was lifting back up off of the ground.
Dark wisps pushed off the front of his body and lifted him back to his feet. His chest heaved over, and over, and over, but Brandish could not target the heart she could see pumping again in his chest. "H-How?" Brandish whispered in disbelief, taking a step backwards from the scary figure before them. "Are you a, demon?"
"That weapon is a Keyblade-" Invel started warning his comrade, while at the same time making the sky cover in dark gray clouds.
The temperature around Riku dropped thirty degrees in a second. It started to snow. Visibility dropped. Riku's voice spoke towards the figures in front of him though as the snow started to shroud him from their sight, "The heart is more than just an organ. My heart, is much too powerful for your magic to destroy." A swirl of darkness rose up out of the ground behind Brandish who caught sight of it in the corner of her vision.
Invel had focused his magic on where the man was still standing down the steps a bit from them. He spun though and yelled, "Brandish!" She tried spinning around too, but she froze at the sight of a dark figure that shared her body shape and height. It was pitch black. It had glowing white eyes. It had her bust, her clothes, and even her bob-styled hair, but when it opened its smiling black mouth she saw only pure white inside. The monster's arms wrapped around Brandish who could not focus on it with her magical power, and she screamed as the Heartless that was summoned started pulling her down.
Ice covered the back of the Heartless as Invel stepped towards his comrade. A swirling black portal opened in the air on his right side. He swung his right arm towards that portal and froze the arm sticking out of it, but that was an arm of a Heartless creation which Invel realized a second too late as he saw a flash of red in the corner of his vision. He turned too slowly inwards between him and Brandish to stop the Keyblade that slashed back and forth into them.
The snow stopped falling and whipping around in Invel's created winds. The Chief of Staff of the Alvarez Empire collapsed to his knees. Brandish gasped out in pain and fell forward, and the Heartless that Riku also cut through in his slash broke apart into dark particles. Brandish fell through those dark wisps before hitting the ground. The two of them were panting and wheezing, their visions hazy and bodies weak as they tried turning their heads while laying on the steps. The two of them looked up the stairs and after the dark figure with long spiky silver hair who walked away from them, each step leaving a footprint of darkness behind him.
The two he left behind fell unconscious, leaving Riku alone on the steps that he kept marching up towards the two tall double doors of the front of the government building. He was not alone for long. On either side of the steps, black spheres swirled over the ground and Heartless dropped out of them. They emerged all the way down the steps and made lines of Heartless soldiers to block any attempt for reinforcements. Then, dozens of Heartless emerged around the building too. Out from behind the marble pillars the Heartless stepped. They blocked the doors. They lifted swords or claws and faced the building that Riku marched towards with a pissed look on his face.
I'm tired of waiting around for anyone. If you won't help me save Kairi, Sora. I'll get Ben and Dash to help me instead! Riku marched towards the double doors that got pushed inwards by Large Body Heartless that he made appear behind them. Two fat blue Heartless on either door pushed them forward and out of his way so he did not have to slow down. Riku just held his dark Keyblade down on his right side. It had a sharp point at the end of the key-shaped prongs, and that point dragged on the hard floor as Riku entered into the hall, making a scraping sound echo around the administrative lobby of the National Building that had been cleared of all of Invel's staff.
All the furniture had been moved. That was an easy task for the man who stood ahead of Riku and a bit to the boy's right side. August stood on the far end of the hall with his staff in one hand. Opposite him and also off-centered from the middle of the hall, but on the back left of his High Lord from Riku's point-of-view, was a man adorned in ornamental swords pointed up and around his back. God Serena had a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face, not that August did not also have one as he stared towards the figure who stepped into the room and did not slow even while looking High Lord Spriggan dead in the eyes.
Zeref stood just ahead of his subordinates and in the middle of the hall. He stared across the first floor and at this figure who he had seen before not that long ago. The boy glaring towards him now had bluish-green eyes, though there was a hint of yellow bleeding into them as he marched straight towards Zeref. "You have something that belongs to my friend," Riku growled towards his enemy. "I'm getting it back for him," Riku snarled, slashing his right arm out to the side with his Keyblade in it and then raising that weapon up to the side of his head and pointing the tip towards Spriggan.
"That is why you're here?" Zeref wondered. He sounded surprised to hear Riku say that.
"Among other reasons," Riku replied back to the High Lord. I'm going to pay you back for what your men did to us on the way south from Pyraxas. For what you did to us! Dark wisps rose up around Riku's legs and shaded his face in the color.
"Revenge, huh?" Zeref asked with a tilt back of his head. "Interesting. I accept. I'll face you alone. August, God Serena, go check on the others."
This guy took down several Spriggans and Etherious! God Serena darted his gaze towards his High Lord and nodded quickly at him. He was trying to stay calm, but he could not even feel any magical power coming out of their enemy. He could not sense anything from him except a dark feeling worse than their High Lord's which made his chest feel cold.
"This is the man Eileen mentioned in her report," August brought up in a low voice. "Are you certain about this, Emperor Spriggan?"
"It is fine, August. Go. Check on Brandish. Make sure they are okay." Zeref gave his order again but still did not look to either of his subordinates. August nodded this time though and then tapped his staff on the ground. Both he and God Serena glowed white, and they teleported out of the building rather than try to get around Riku who did not flinch upon seeing them leave.
"I can still feel my subordinates around the city. I appreciate that you did not slaughter them on your way here," Zeref mentioned to his opponent. He started pacing to his right side, and Riku paced to his own right to circle his enemy across the hall from him. The doors that the Heatless had opened slammed shut behind Riku. Riku and Zeref were left alone in the hall. Both could feel the other's presence. Pacing in a circle around the first floor of the executive offices in Vistarion, the two dark figures who had similar black auras exuding off their bodies glared into one another's eyes.
"I'm not you," Riku snarled back towards Zeref. As angry as he was, he tilted his head back and stated in a calmer voice, "I don't slaughter my enemies. I'm here for the Omnitrix. Tell me where it is, and I'll make your death quick at least." Zeref lifted his eyebrows as Riku seemed to contradict himself with that cold statement. Riku's eyes narrowed more at the shorter man, "You're a High Lord. Just because I've spared your men, doesn't mean you'll get the same treatment. I need to eliminate you."
"And you really think you can do that?" Zeref wondered at the teenage boy. "You truly think you have what it takes to end me? If you could, why didn't you back last time we faced each other? Why did you run?"
"Because I didn't want my comrades to see what I would do to you," Riku responded coldly. Zeref tilted his head back while looking closer at this person who actually sounded serious when he said that. "I am the Lord of Darkness. Some of my comrades think you are immortal, but they are wrong. So are you." Zeref's eyes widened a little at Riku's tone suggesting he knew better than any of them. Zeref's eyes shifted to that Keyblade that gave off a strange sensation different from anything else in this world. "You can die. I am about to prove it."
Riku lowered his Keyblade down in front of his body and aimed towards Zeref's chest. "All I offer you is a quick death. Tell me where the Omnitrix is and I will make sure you do not suffer-"
"You could defeat me," Zeref began. "But what would you do about Bahamut?"
Riku stared down the High Lord before him with an unwavering conviction in his gaze. Zeref hummed as he could see how serious Riku was about continuing this fight until the end. Because he saw that conviction though, it made him even more intent on continuing to the person before him claiming to be the 'Lord of Darkness.' "You see, I am the only one who can control Bahamut. That is not speculation; it is an undeniable truth."
What is he talking about? Where even is his dragon right now? Riku wondered. Is he stalling? It's just the two of us in here. Even if others were to come, I could separate us from them again in an instant and he should know that. So, then what he is saying is likely true. "I will destroy your dragon after I finish you," Riku said in a cold, dark voice. "Then I will find Ben's Omnitrix and return it to him."
"Ha, hahaha," Zeref laughed. Riku got unnerved by the sight of the man's face as he laughed. It was a genuine, hearty smile that rose on Zeref's face. The black-haired dark mage had his eyes closed and was laughing in a non-threatening manner. "If only defeating Bahamut were that simple. I- haha, sorry," he steadied his expression and stopped laughing but continued smiling at the taller man before him. "I suspected, wrongly, that you already knew what Bahamut really is. Because of your status, your control over the darkness, your Keyblade which I have only heard about in whispered rumors, I thought you would have known about the Originals' monster."
What the… Riku's eyes widened but then narrowed again fast at the enemy before him. He held his dark Keyblade tighter by the hilt and glared into Zeref's eyes.
Zeref started smirking in a more menacing way, and then he began in a low, almost nostalgic voice. "When I was a young boy, my brother passed away. I spent years studying ways to create magic to bring him back to life. I knew it was forbidden but I chose to ignore all warnings. I came very close in my research, and because of that, I angered the God, Ankhseram." Riku did not like how this story was starting, but he was too hesitant now to attack Zeref without knowing what he was trying to get at. I need to learn about Bahamut. He said, '"Originals." Does he know?
"After incurring Ankhseram's wrath, all of the other students and professors at the academy I studied at died." Zeref's smile dropped and his expression was darker now, as was the air around him. Riku was getting an even worse feeling as Zeref continued, one he could no longer shake to remain calm. "My curse was a cruel one. The more I loved life, the more I took it away. Everyone I got close to, everything I touched, withered away and died."
He doesn't, sound like a villain, Riku thought while staring at the short, dark mage ahead of him. He sounds a victim to the Gods. As so many on this world have been.
"If I wanted to control Ankhseram's curse, I could no longer see life in the same way I had before," Zeref continued. Riku grimaced more because even though that was a phrase that made it sound like Zeref's past self in the story was about to become evil, he did not know how he could blame the mage. It seemed to him that being a good guy in Zeref's case would have been a worse thing for the people around him. Zeref could see the understanding on Riku's face, and he started to smile again, his own dark aura fading away from the air around him. "To my dismay, the curse also turned me into an immortal. I had to face the guilt of killing people every day with no control over it, while also having the privilege of living forever to continue on with my research, to try and resurrect my younger brother." Zeref smirked as he mentioned that again, and he chuckled a few times as he stared into Riku's eyes. "Should I tell you his name, like I told young Benjamin?"
Riku's eyes narrowed more and his breathing started speeding up at how smug Zeref looked after saying that. Zeref turned away though, and he continued while getting back on track with his main point, "This curse is also the only reason I can control Bahamut." A confused look spread on Riku's face, and Zeref continued, "A simple curse, placed on a simple man, with the power to control the most powerful being in all creation. Greater than the Gods themselves."
"What are you talking about?" Riku snapped.
"Bahamut," Zeref said, his smirk growing once again. "It is not a beast from one of the universes the Originals built. Not one of their precious creations. It is from the Originals' own universe."
"How do you know so much about them?" Riku snapped, demanding to know why Zeref was so knowledgable about things he himself did not even know.
"Hmph," Zeref grinned in a more smug way. "Those foolish Gods. I spit at the Originals who created the multiverse." He actually spat to his right, then he started laughing and held his arms out to his sides. "If you can strike me down, do it now! If you have the power!" He yelled it at the air, and Riku stared at him with huge eyes at the audacity of the Black Wizard. "You see?" Zeref asked with his arms outstretched, his head pointed up at the ceiling. "They couldn't kill me. They want to, but they can't." He lowered his head and stared into Riku's eyes with his cold, black ones. "Because the monster in their closet is on a leash that I hold."
"The monster in their closet?" What is he talking about?
"Bahamut is the original dragon. The Beast. The first monster," Zeref chuckled at Riku's reaction. "It is from the Originals' original world. 'How is that possible' you ask? When their first world fell to the, Darkness, so long ago?" Riku's teeth bared as Zeref brought it up, confirming that Zeref knew exactly what he was talking about. "It's still around, because the Originals who escaped took Bahamut with them."
Riku scrunched his face up, then he asked, "Why would they do that?" His arm with his Keyblade in it had lowered a little which Zeref noticed.
The Black Wizard lifted his right hand out with his palm up, and he replied, "Out of fear, of course." Riku still did not get it. That actually seemed like a good reason not to have brought Bahamut along. "You see," Zeref continued. "What the Originals had been afraid of for far longer than the Darkness, was Bahamut. Unlike the Darkness, Bahamut had always been there, always been an evil presence of a monster in their world. When they built universes around it, it would shatter through the barriers. If they tried making a universe disappear with Bahamut inside, it would appear out of nowhere, since dimensions did not exist at that time. So while the Darkness arrived one day and started destroying their world, some of the Originals hoped that it could destroy Bahamut as well. Then however, they learned how the Darkness was getting stronger with each of them it absorbed. Each of them whose lights were turned into darknesses and absorbed into the capital 'D' Darkness made that entity stronger, so what did they think might happen if a monster already so dark, so evil, was absorbed by the Darkness too?"
Riku's eyes grew huge and for the first time since he arrived with the intention of defeating Zeref, he felt unsure of whether he was in the right place. His nerves were shaken, and Zeref continued despite it, or maybe because of it. "They thought it would make the Darkness too powerful, powerful enough to chase and find them in their new universe. So they all worked together and trapped it in a universe, then worked together to transport that universe with them while holding in the beast inside. So afraid that Bahamut's power would be added to the Darkness's, they continued to move it around and battle it. Some of the stronger Originals created hundreds of lower Gods and angels, and the strongest universe they created with the most powerful hierarchy of Gods were given the task of guarding over Bahamut for the eons the Originals were scattered. Bahamut was finally subdued. The Original who created this hierarchy of lower Gods and angels which managed to hold Bahamut realized something, and that was that the power of the Originals was not what was needed to stop Bahamut. Creation and destruction of universes could not hold the beast at bay, but their own creations managed to do it. Then again, even that entire realm of Gods couldn't keep Bahamut down forever."
"How do you know all this?" Riku asked. "You say it like you were there."
"I was told, after I subdued Bahamut myself. The Gods came to me…"
FD + 12
"…but to think, Ankhseram must have survived the fall of the original world," the Original who had come down to speak with Zeref said.
The archangel Raphael floated in midair with black shadowy wings sticking out of his body. He had a human form with dark skin and short black hair on his head, and he wore a suit instead of a white toga like the other five white angels behind him wore. Those angels also all had white wings, and they were not beings from Raphael's own universe. The archangel watched the holy figure he was down there to protect floating in front of Zeref with a careful eye, looking cautiously from his charge to the mage to the dragon beneath the short black-haired wizard.
Zeref had been listening to the Original god for a while now, but at the mention of that name he fell silent. "What did you say?" Zeref asked, his voice low and confused.
Raphael bit down hard, glaring at the dark wizard for speaking in such a tone to one of the Originals. He did not speak out though. After so many angels and Gods fell yesterday, there is nothing we can say to the man who finally stopped the beast. Raphael's eyes lowered below Zeref again and he glared in fury at the black dragon that was laying silently at the bottom of the massive canyon they found themselves in. They were in one of the thickest parts of the ravine that stretched the continent's width, as they were in the east not far from where the harshest fighting on the day of the Cataclysm took place.
The Original in front of Zeref was a tall man, six feet tall with blond hair and a lean build. His hair fell to his shoulders before curling back up a little behind his head and to the sides, and he had messy bangs that fell to his eyebrows. He smiled at Zeref's question despite the lack of respect in his tone to the anger of Raphael, and he continued in an excited tone of his own, "None of us could figure it out. We didn't know where you and all the others from your world came from. I mean, we did, because we checked the memories of people none of us recognized." Zeref was getting even more confused, but the Original continued, "But though we knew what your world was like and everything about it, we didn't know who created your world! None of the others would fess up to being the creator, but I thought someone was just ashamed or something, though I couldn't figure out why they would bring you all along anyway if they didn't want to show you off."
Zeref's eyelids closed in a slow blink, and when he opened them back up he no longer had a surprised look on his face. Instead, he was just frowning at the God who stopped talking at the sight of that look. "Okay, I'll get to the point," the man said, laughing and putting up his palms in front of him as a motion for Zeref not to get angry, as well as a signal to the angels behind him not to freak out at Zeref's angry look. "It wasn't any of us who made your world though. We're betting it had to be Ankhseram, our big brother. None of us thought he made it off the Original world; he was older than any who escaped. He was the one who was most serious about getting Bahamut off the Original world, and he came up with the plan we used to get it out of there. But before we could escape- before, the Keybearers saved us, we thought Ankhseram was gone. We thought the Darkness had gotten him."
"What about my curse?" Zeref asked, his voice low and hostile.
"Watch your mouth, human," Raphael snapped, unable to keep himself from speaking up this time. "Do you understand who-"
"I know," Zeref responded and cut the angel off. "But that Ankhseram placed a curse on me-"
"You call it a curse," the God in front of Zeref said with a small chuckle, making Zeref's eyes open huge again. His black irises stared into the blue ones of the Original, as the figure in front of him continued, "But it's not meant to be that at all. In your memories, everyone has always called it a curse, or the 'wrath' of Ankhseram. But Ankhseram wasn't that kind of guy. He didn't do things without a reason. We've seen the side effects of your power, but those must have been needed in order for you to be able to tame Bahamut. Your immortality is even further proof of this: If Ankhseram believed you to be the only method of controlling Bahamut, then he must have known there would be a day when we would be reunited again. If he discovered a way but could not wield it himself, he would have given the power to his most capable creation. As there are times when only our creations can-"
"You talk too much," Zeref said, and the God in front of him lost his playful smile in an instant. The God's eyebrows narrowed in, and Zeref's own eyes opened huge at the shift in the character in front of him.
"Unlike Ankhseram, I am a fickle man. I do things without a reason all the time. Floods, meteors, miracles, I enjoy all creation and destruction has to offer. My brothers and sisters told me not to come down here, but I needed to see Ankhseram's champion myself." The God's eyes grew larger and his head leaned back, a twisted smile on his face as he looked down his nose at Zeref. "But just because I graced you with my presence, do not dare speak to me in such a way-"
"Or what?" Zeref asked. He had gotten intimidated there for a second. For a split second, Zeref had felt fear when the God's demeanor changed. When this being that had told him things he never would have believed possible, suddenly got a look in its eyes like it considered erasing his existence on the spot, Zeref had tensed up. That moment passed quickly though. Zeref looked into the God's blue eyes after saying that, and the Original who thought the man before him would be more afraid started glaring much harsher at him. "If you kill me, 'Ankhseram's champion,'" Zeref quoted the God and then continued while gaining a threatening look on his face while his lips twisted into a furious snarl, "Then who would stop the Beast?"
Bahamut stirred beneath Zeref, moving its legs and unbending them. The Original in front of Zeref started backing up, while all the angels shot forward at once at the threatening action Zeref was taking against one of the highest Gods. Zeref's eyes had changed though. Glowing red pupils had appeared in the center of his irises with black rings on their outsides. Bahamut snapped its head up and the angels flying down pulled to the sides, only for Bahamut's head to follow two of those angels. The dragon bit down and tore the powerful angels to shreds like they were weaklings.
The Original backed up farther, then a furious look formed on his face and he glared at Zeref. "Do it then!" Zeref yelled while rising up higher himself like the God already had. Bahamut's wings flapped out to the sides behind Zeref's back and the dragon rose into the air, and the furious look on the Original's face vanished to be replaced with fear, as Bahamut's head got to his level and the dragon's eyes glared at him. The dragon had glowing red eyes just like the mage who had tamed it, and the Original monster opened its mouth and roared so powerfully that the Original was pushed backwards by the creature's voice.
"Raphael, don't!" The Original shouted, right as Raphael appeared on Bahamut's head next to Zeref. The wizard turned and lifted his red eyes to look in the archangel's, an enraged snarl on both of their faces. So much more unadulterated hatred oozed off of Zeref's body than Raphael's though.
"The only ones with the power to kill me, won't do it," Zeref said to the angel staring right back at him who looked enraged but was holding back from doing anything about what Zeref just did to his brethren. Zeref's lips twitched and his facial expression flashed through emotions rapidly. It was such cruel irony that he almost laughed. It was such a brutal fate that he wanted to cry. More than anything though, an unbridled fury rose up from the depths of Zeref's body. "In that case, I will no longer try to find a way to die. I had not yet decided, but I no longer wish for death anymore. This curse was put on me for what reason?"
Raphael tried teleporting away, but it did not work. He felt powerless. The archangel froze there staring at the mage who smiled at him, and then Raphael started to spin around. Bahamut's right arm slashed over the top of its head with the ends of its claws passing by Zeref only inches away, yet the Black Wizard did not flinch despite how close they got to him. Raphael's body on the other hand was shredded. Nothing remained of him afterwards. A bright explosion of light went off where Bahamut finished its swipe, Raphael's powerful soul exploding in a violent manner.
"Chuck, I'm sorry," the Original ahead of Zeref said, wincing at the explosion that took out Raphael. He backed up farther while the remaining few angels hesitantly flew between him and the monsters flying before them.
"A curse, that causes anyone I care for to die," Zeref said. "It is my fate to live forever with such a painful burden. But I curse that fate. I decide, that it will not be a burden. This power is unknown to you Gods- you, Originals. That means that I am the only one with it. The only one in the multiverse who can tame this beast- no, my new pet." Zeref smirked even more, while the angels and the Original behind them floated backwards with looks of rising fear on their faces. "It attacked you, because I willed it," Zeref observed. His face twitched again and he bit down hard, before continuing by seething through his teeth, "I cannot, claim to desire revenge. I do, of course, but from what you have told me, Ankhseram did not join us on Nexus. I do not know where my world's God is. And when you leave here, if I allow you to leave here, I will not know where you go either. So your kind may be safe from me, but know this…"
Zeref leaned his head back and looked down his nose at the Original. He looked between the angels with the same intimidating look the Original had on his face a few minutes ago when he talked down to Zeref. Their roles had reversed as the God and angels felt fear while looking back at him. "You are all my hostages. If I wanted to, I could destroy this world with Bahamut's power. I could use it to drag you out and slay you all." Zeref started laughing at the terrified looks on the angels faces, while the Original just bit down hard in regret that he came down here at all, thinking he should have listened to his siblings. "But if I do this, you could simply erase my existence, so for now I'll stay where I am. I'll do what I want. You Gods have lived for so long, that when I think of my own life, I realize how short it has really been. An eternity is a long time, and I am still only in my four hundreds." A bigger smile spread over Zeref's face, and he called out, "What defines a God? Is it length of life? Because I am immortal! Is it power? Because I am now more powerful than any of you!" He snapped his eyes to the sky and screamed in an enraged way while a pitch black aura surrounded him, "What makes you special?! Is there anything?! You think you can treat everyone on this world as pieces to a puzzle? A game?! THIS IS NOT A GAME!"
The Black Wizard's expression got darker and he lowered his gaze to the Original ahead of him once more. "Your kind no longer has a hand in the affairs of Nexus. At all. If you involve yourselves, I will release Bahamut. Not to destroy all of you, but to destroy each and every last one of your precious creations. Only once they have all been killed, will I allow you to die. Smite me if you will, but Bahamut will still receive my order. And even if it didn't, it would do so of its own volition." Zeref glared into the Original's eyes while the Original glared back towards him, sweat on the sides of his face but an angry look to mask the fear felt. "If I see your kind- if Bahamut senses your presences- if I so much as hear someone talking about the 'Originals' in a way that tells me you've been interacting with this world, I'll wipe out existence like THAT!" He snapped his fingers and Bahamut opened its mouth, firing a beam of yellow light towards the angels and Original ahead of him.
"Apollo!"
A massive beam of white light dropped out of the sky and slammed into the end of the yellow beam that had just shredded straight through the remaining surviving angels. The Original Apollo saw his death before his eyes and could not escape it. The beam that dropped from the sky intercepted Bahamut's, and it pushed against it hard to redirect Bahamut's beam straight down. Zeref glared towards the sky where the beam had fallen from out of nowhere. The chorus of voices that shouted out in worry for their brother made Zeref glare towards where the Gods could possibly be looking down at him. "Take him, and leave my world. Our world. And by 'our' I mean everyone except for you Originals. You creators. You accursed brothers and sisters of Ankhseram."
The God in front of Zeref started to disappear, turning into a sphere of white light that floated up into the sky above. Bahamut's eyes watched the light sphere but the monster did not follow, because Zeref did not will it so. He spoke towards the sky in a low voice, "Ankhseram. It was a name I have hated for centuries. He may have saved you from Bahamut, but he also doomed you. For as long as you all live, you need me to hold this beast down. We are now companions through the eons that will come. But in this relationship, I hold all the power. Because of one important detail," Zeref looked up where the light disappeared into the sky, and he kept staring where he figured the Gods were still watching from. "Unlike yourselves, I am not afraid to die. Remember that. And never show yourselves again. Disappear, and never come back."
Present
"…So I killed the angels. And I sent the Gods a message: that they were not to involve themselves on Nexus anymore." Riku's eyes were huge and he was trying hard not to let his Keyblade start shaking at his side. Zeref continued, "I do not know how much they would have involved themselves had I not said anything, but so far I am pleased to say that I have not heard about them again."
Sora said all this stuff about why the Originals stay out of our affairs. Free will and, and was that all a lie they told him? Or is it a half-truth? Are the Gods really hiding, because of Zeref? If I defeat him, would the Gods come out and save the world from the sorry state it's in? If I defeat him… could I, stop Bahamut? Riku's Keyblade almost fell through his fingers, but his hand tightened on it and he bit down hard. "You- you are a monster, aren't you?" He asked it in a knowing tone and said 'aren't you' in a rhetorical way.
Zeref shook his head 'no' though. Riku lost the smirk he had gained when asking the question, and he yelled, "You attacked us-"
"You had just killed my ally, Sozin," Zeref said, frowning at Riku and interrupting him before he could say anything more. "I liked Sozin. He was a very serious man. Too serious for my liking sometimes, but our countries were allies, and perhaps we were friends." Zeref said it in an uncertain tone like he did not know how he would characterize what their relationship had been, but Riku could hear the sincerity in that voice.
The sincere voice, Zeref's supposedly wholesome reason, it made Riku bite down even angrier and he snapped, "You- your monsters, what about them?! Your demon subordinate crucified Ben," Riku shook in rage, his Keyblade lifting as he brought it up. "Bloodman."
Zeref sighed and put his hands together behind his back. He looked at Riku, and although he kept smiling in a soft way, Riku could only think that the man looked, sad. Zeref began in a low voice, "The more I loved life, the more I took it away. The only way to control the curse, was to stop thinking of people the same way. But it isn't easy, to trick yourself into thinking you don't care." Zeref shook his head, and Riku hated that he felt pity for the man in front of him, the man who he could no longer just picture as the monster he came here to eliminate. Zeref continued in his soft voice, "All I wanted was to die, for centuries. Cursed with immortality, and the guilt of all the people whose lives I had taken. To escape the guilty thoughts that I had spent so long plaguing myself with, I delved into my research, and I created creatures with the sole purpose, of killing me. I created Etherious demons- monsters that I had hoped would be able to kill me. Bloodman was the strongest of these creations, but he too was incapable of breaking my curse."
The dark mage paused, then his smile rose up a little more and Riku saw the sadness leaving his eyes as he shifted from recalling the past to thinking the present. "But I can care for life again, because of Bahamut's proximity to me." Riku's expression shook and Zeref continued in a thoughtful tone, "It was part of Ankhseram's plan, I believe, to force me to deal with such a burden, so that when the burden went away I would never consider leaving Bahamut and abandoning the world. He was right in part, as I will never leave Bahamut, even if I do one day stop restraining him." Zeref let out a small laugh then explained to the confused teen, "Being in close proximity of Bahamut removes the negative side effect of my power. It is not as much of a curse when Bahamut is near. Perhaps the dragon feeds off Ankhseram's curse, keeping the beast tame while also keeping my curse's power at a weak enough strength that it doesn't harm those around me. And because of this, I can love again," Zeref said.
His smile was warm, because bringing this up reminded him of all he had gained since losing the negative side effects of his curse. "On my world I would have chose the name Zeref instead of Spriggan if someone had asked me. But here, I prefer the name Spriggan. 'Zeref,' was the dark wizard known as humanity's enemy, while I am just an emperor ruling over my people as best I can." Riku's hand clenched harder on his Keyblade, trying to ignore what he was hearing while also staring in shock at the figure in front of him. "I am no great evil. I love the Shields of Spriggan, and I love my people. And, after a certain amount of time, I began to even care for the Etherious. My demons, the monsters created only to kill me, I grew fond of them... once I had allowed myself to start caring again. I know they are not good. I know because I did not create them to be that way, and I regret this. But I- I still care, despite their flaws."
"Crucifying my friend, isn't just a personality flaw," Riku said. "And you can't act like your demons are the only ones who are monsters. Your Spriggans attacked us without mercy. They killed our flying bison first, an innocent creature. You yourself, would have killed Ben-"
"I am simply on one side of the war, and you the other," Zeref said, shaking his head while grinning at the taller boy facing him. "Getting rid of your transportation to prevent you from fleeing seems like a smart tactic to me. You are right. I would have killed Benjamin, and I would not have shown mercy, but where was your mercy when my brother destroyed Wall Eehto? He did so-" Zeref paused with his mouth open, then he let out a laugh and scratched the back of his head while Riku's expression changed from confusion to shock.
Oh fuck me, Riku thought, really wishing he had not just heard that. Out of everything he had heard so far, that was the one thing that he really wished Zeref had just kept to himself. "As I was saying," Zeref continued as if he had not just dropped a truth bomb on Riku. "You were merciless yourselves against my subordinates, so why would we have done anything different?" As Zeref spoke, his smile lowered down and a darker look came over him. "I do not wish to fight you, Lord of Darkness. Keybearer. Still, I will not relinquish the Omnitrix. I am quite interested in it after seeing its abilities against Dimaria."
Riku ground his teeth but could not come up with anything to say. He's just pretending like he didn't suggest that Natsu's his… and damn it all! If I fight and win, Bahamut's released on the world. If everything he said was true- there's a chance it was all a lie, but he knows too much. Things he wouldn't know unless it was the truth- arrggh! Riku turned his head from the High Lord. If I win, I lose. And if I lose, I die. In both cases, I probably doom all of reality by fighting him. So there's really, only one thing I can do. Riku turned all the way around to leave, but Zeref narrowed his own gaze at Riku's back and curved his lips even farther down.
"Wait," Zeref said. Riku paused, hoping maybe Zeref had second thoughts. Maybe the doubts he had been having about Zeref were well-founded, and the man really was about to give him back Ben's Omnitrix because he was just a misunderstood guy, not really a villain. And then Zeref said something that made Riku hate himself. He hated that he had had that hope for Zeref's redemption, only for it to be confirmed but not in the way he had hoped for. "Could you, return Ajeel?" Zeref asked. "He is not dead, as Neinhart's Historia of the Dead was unable to bring him back as it did for Wall. Your darkness, would you release him from it?"
Riku bit down so hard it hurt. After hoping for redemption for Zeref, to hear that made him so angry he could not see straight. His whole body shook, and he had never found it harder to come up with words to say to an enemy. He opened his mouth, then bit down on his bottom lip and cursed in his head. And I thought he was the monster, Riku thought. His fingernails cut into his palms from how hard his fists curled at his sides. Without turning around, Riku replied, "I'd trade him."
Zeref's lips parted, his frown getting more pronounced as his clenched teeth showed. Riku bared his teeth as well, a look of fury and regret strewn over his face. Am I really doing this? His soldier's life, someone he cares about, I'm treating it like a bargaining chip- AH! DAMN IT! If you give me the Omnitrix, then- Riku cut off his thoughts and leaned to the left. A sphere of black magic shot past the right side of his head and exploded against a wall that got the color drained out of it before crumbling. A much darker look came on Riku's face while Zeref angrily prepared another attack. "I'll take that as a no," Riku said, and a black portal opened up below his feet and surrounded him. Zeref charged a much larger and harder-to-block attack for the second one, but by the time he threw it, Riku had disappeared.
Riku stood inside the dark realm he had opened. He stood there, and he rose a hand and put it up to his face. He put his fingers against his forehead and ran them slowly up into his spiky hair, covering his eyes with his palm and closing them. His chest hurt. I know, what I'm doing is unforgivable. I know, Zeref apparently cares about his subordinates. Not enough that he'd give up the Omnitrix, I guess, but he got that angry over the suggestion. Over the fact that I treated Ajeel like a piece in a game we're playing! Damn, damn it! Riku lowered his hand, dragging it down his face. When it finished passing over his eyes though, his eyelids opened and his green eyes were cold. His hand passed his mouth that was flat and his expression emotionless. Yeah, Zeref cares about his subordinates. But I'm not that nice of a guy.
The nineteen year old with long spiky silver hair lifted his hands and stared at them as they covered in a thin coating of black. His arms surrounded in it, and so did the rest of his body. Inside a dark realm, Riku surrounded by darkness that shredded away his clothes. The darkness pulled tight to his muscles, and on the center of his chest it swirled a dark purple color in the shape of a heart. The dark purple heart had a red outline, and in the center of it was a black 'X.' The dark coating pulled tight all over his body to act as clothing, including dark purple gloves and boots. A cloak formed over it all, a black cloak with a large purple heart on the back in the same style and color pattern as the one on his chest. His black cloak was tattered at the bottom behind his calves where it fell to, and it only covered his back and the tops of his shoulders, acting more like a cape the way he stood with his arms held out in front of him.
Everyone knows it. Even Zeref accepted calling me by that title. I can try to be a good guy all I want. Try and do good things, but I still wind up being the bad guy. I don't know if it's a curse of my own, or luck, or fate. But I don't have to remind myself: I am the Lord of Darkness.
A/N Thanks for reading! Last chapter ended with the pirates facing off against Sylar wondering where Riku went, and now we see exactly where he is... Charging straight into Vistarion and facing off against Zeref one-on-one. Riku accepts his role as the Lord of Darkness after being pushed away by his comrades. Where's he going next? Who knows?! Next chapter we get back to the Sylar fight (which I just finished writing by the way before editing this), so anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Smlluffy67 chapter 124 . Jan 5
...GAARA NOOOOOOO KICK HIS ASS NASTU also will we be getting more resistance members sparing with the main crew like goku vs sasuke because all I want to see is deku vs nastu and I will be happy
;( Gaaraaaaa! Sorry to leave you in suspense for another chapter, but that fight's coming up next! We'll see if there are any more Resistance vs MC group fights coming in the future. Who knows? Thanks for reviewing!
Limit-Breaking chapter 124 . Jan 6
Lmfao welp there goes Gaara... I feel like I jinxed his death lol. But God damn that's insane and nice touch with that scene.
The Gaara vs sylar felt very interesting to see, and than it happening off screen was pretty smart. You leave it up to our speculation making us wonder what could happen.
I legit thought Gaara won for a second when that sand was coming, but my heart dropped when they started to panic and the fact that he carried Gaara corpse along with him just made it so much more brutal and horrifying.
Haha yeah as soon as I read your comment I was like "welp, that was ironic" XD! Thanks for the review. Cut a bit of it from here but I'll reply to that rest too. Definitely tried to show how scary that would be, which Sylar was doing intentionally. Making the wall fall apart as sand like that there's the split second where everything seems like it'll be okay... And then nope! Sylar might be a bit out of most of their leagues, but with the amount of civilians around them there's nothing else they can do but try. We'll see if things can turn around for our heroes, and for the Resistance in general now that you said it: another important figure goes down. Can never tell in Nexus though who might be next... O_0 Anyway, glad you enjoyed, and hope you enjoyed the new chapter too!
Darugus chapter 1 . Jan 6
Good to see this story back!
That new arc feels really interesting I can see the incident with sylar wether he leaves or is defeated as something that might full this group to try and get stronger in the month they have it also feels like a good introduction for the new threat they face now
It's glad to be back! Sorry for the looooong wait. I can definitely see what you're saying. It really does add to that motivation right? Getting stronger during this month is a pretty vague goal, but after a guy like Sylar shows up it could humble anybody... Glad you're liking the arc! Thanks for reviewing, and thanks to everyone who read, faved, followed, and reviewed to this story! 'Til next time!