Chapter 4
From Now Until Forever
Coming to, I found myself in a strange room. There was a strong smell of rosemary in the air, giving me a strong headache. As I painfully rose, I saw that there was an ominous red glare around the rim of the window even though the room was itself shrouded in relative darkness. Looking over to my left side, I saw a girl with long dark purple hair wearing a black and red kimono sleeping next to me. Looking down, I saw that I was also wearing a black and red kimono just like the girl sleeping next to me. "Just exactly where is this place?", I thought. Trying to rise from the bed, I was then stopped by the dark purple-haired girl who murmured, "Don't. You should rest, especially since you've started to embrace your true nature.". It was at this moment that I noticed that the girl had her right arm lovingly wrapped around my body. I gently got up and walked to the window, only to find myself back in the bed. "Like I said, you should rest.", the girl murmured. Suddenly, the smell of rosemary got even stronger, forcing me to rest and close my eyes. As I slept, I then felt myself become covered by a black and dark red cocoon which was composed of cyber energy. I then heard Fafnir's voice say, "You understand now? Your destiny is to become the Sovereign and rule over the entire Multiverse. Yuito really is a filthy usurper and it is your duty to stop him before he ruins all of reality beyond repair. Taking the Waxing Moon Vessel and using it only delayed YHVH's plans; it falls to you to stop them outright.". "But how do I stop it from winning?", I asked. "Why, that should be obvious. Your right arm is all you need.", Fafnir's voice said.
Waking up, I then saw that the room was now brighter. The blinds covering the window had been opened and the dark purple-haired girl who was sleeping next to me was gone. "Huh?", I thought. Reaching over to the nightstand to my right, I saw that my glasses were gone. Suddenly, they promptly appeared on my face. "Weird.", I said. Sitting up, I saw that the door was strangely gone, leaving behind a door-shaped void. Getting out of the bed, I walked over to the window only to see that the snow outside was a sinister blood red. "Why is the snow red?", I asked. At that moment, the television in the room flickered to life with Vox's face on the screen. "Oh, you wanna know why? OK, I'll tell you why! For you see, when our glorious planet Xenos Ultima was formed, a disturbance in the atmosphere was created when the planet experienced its first Winter, causing the snow to turn red. Experts and fact checkers alike believe the Blood Moon to have something to do with the blood red snow our planet experiences every Winter without fail.", he said. "Wait, by the Blood Moon, do you mean what I created when I faced Yumi and the Chosen in the Sinnoh region?", I asked. "Wait, you did WHAT?!", Vox asked. "When I faced Yumi and the Chosen in Aionios, I formed a Blood Moon at some point during the fight to assist me with defeating them. Maybe when I left for the Space Colony ARK, part of the energy from the Blood Moon remained and became mixed up with the energy created from YHVH's wish for an eternal kingdom to serve it forever.", I said. "Still, the fact remains that you must still give in to the darkness and embrace your true nature. Until you do that, I'm afraid we can't accept you as the Sovereign.", Vox said before the TV powered off.
As I walked into the corridor, I then saw it warp and twist before my eyes. Stone and plaster turned to red and black demonic "flesh" and the carpet turned into rocks. "Wait, what?", I thought. "Don't you see, Brother? Aionios has always been yours and it still is. Come, give in to the darkness and embrace your true nature.", Gray's voice said. Walking forward, I noticed strange demonic vines and strange bloodstains on the walls. Suddenly, I found myself in a lavish dining room with a red satin carpet and a dining table carved from reddish-brown mahogany wood with Shiki and the dark purple-haired girl already sitting down and eating. I also saw that the dark purple-haired girl had piercing red eyes. "So, what are we gonna do, Shiki?", the dark purple-haired girl asked. "Well, Fujino, I believe it's best that we actually force Jack to give in to the darkness and embrace his true nature. After all, it really isn't healthy for him to keep denying it. I also hope he remembers his purpose too.", Shiki said to the dark-purple haired girl. As I nervously walked forward, the dark purple-haired girl then suddenly turned to look at me. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Fujino Asagami.", the dark purple-haired girl said. "Where are we?", I asked. "Oh, you should know that already.", Shiki said. "What's that supposed to mean?", I asked. "Oh dear, have you forgotten again? I wouldn't blame you, though, given what Eunie did to you at Prison Island.", Fujino said, looking at Shiki longingly. "What happened there?", I asked. "Well, when you fought the Ouroboros and their allies, you confronted them at Prison Island and nearly defeated them. Well, I say that but it really was a complete stomp in your favour. Anyway, at the end of the fight, Eunie completely accidentally shot you in the chest, causing the dark power you were radiating to disperse and you to fall off Prison Island into the river below. You also hit your head very hard on the rocks, which I believe reinforced your trauma and made you unwilling to succeed Alphen as Sovereign and subsequently give in to the darkness and embrace your true nature. Anyway, after Eunie shot you, Eggman found you and brought you to his base on Ouranos Island with the help of the Four Hounds and placed you into Cyber Space for you to heal. However, YHVH was able to interfere in the process and turned the cyan Cyber Cage you were placed in to an ominous crimson, turning what was meant as a virtual hospital for you into a bespoke torture chamber; something I condemn in the strongest possible terms. This forced Alphen and his wife and subjects to enter Cyber Space to rescue you but they got…distracted to say the least.", Shiki said. "And to add insult to injury, so to speak, it seemed as though the Cyber Space server YHVH trapped you in was actually preventing you from escaping. But it's OK now. You have time to rescind your refusal and become the Sovereign. If anything, do it for us.", Fujino said.
Before I could respond, I then found myself in a strange icy wasteland. Off in the distance, I saw furries carrying rifles. I also noticed that I was once again wearing a black and dark orange hooded robe with black Chelsea boots. Seeing a strange frozen tree in the distance, I then walked towards its general direction only for the ground to collapse beneath my feet. Finding myself underground, I then saw a stone circle with the crest of the Black Beast engraved on it. Walking up to it, I saw the circle glow an ominous red before it expelled a strange black and dark red mist that my right arm absorbed. As I felt a strange earthquake, the circle then descended, prompting me to jump on as it fell into the earth. Whilst the circle was descending, I saw strange hieroglyphs on the wall depicting Odin fighting against the other 8 Eikons and Ifrit in a strange fiery battlefield. Odin also seemed to be accompanied by a strange golden phoenix. This was then followed by another set of hieroglyphs depicting Ultima transferring his power to Clive in a bid to make him the perfect vessel; wondering why he would even do that in the first place, I then felt a strange burst of dark red electricity surge forth from my body. "Don't fight it. Embrace it.", Fafnir's voice said as I became filled with a strong sense of rage. I then saw a third set of hieroglyphs depicting another me using the powers of Ifrit and the 9 Eikons in conjunction with Ultima's own power and using them to heal a strangely broken world. "If only that power never existed.", I muttered as my rage subsided. Then, the stone circle stopped descending, prompting me to walk forward.
Entering a strange underground temple, I saw a blood red altar covered with a dark pink satin cloth. "OK, so where am I now?", I thought. Noticing a young girl with purple hair and yellow-green eyes wearing a green kimono with a yellow minidress underneath and a white frilly collar accompanied by a pair of black shorts and yellow shoes with white socks and a yellow ribbon on the left side of her head, I walked up to her wondering if she knew. As I did so, the girl suddenly turned to look at me, only to then promptly happily run up to and hug me. "OK.", I thought. "Oh, you really have returned to us! I'm so happy!", the girl said excitedly. "Who are you?", I asked. "You've forgotten who I am as well? Anyway, my name is Kazuradrop, one of the Sakura Five my mommy BB created.", the girl said. "You know BB?", I asked. "Why wouldn't I know my mommy?", Kazuradrop asked in response. "That's fair.", I said. "Anyway, this is the Temple of the Black Beast. It was constructed in response to your return to our world. And now you've returned to us, allowing you to use the temple for its original purpose.", Kazuradrop said. "And what purpose would that be?", I asked. "Oh, you'll remember in time.", Kazuradrop said before she pulled me into a strange room. Looking around, I saw that it contained 3 strange pillars which were coloured an ominous dark red. "Come on. You know the warriors sleeping within. It's time for them to be awakened.", Kazuradrop said. Walking up to the pillars, I then saw them mysteriously vanish, revealing Alvis, Atalante and Kingprotea. Suddenly, they awoke. "Alvis? Atalante? Kingprotea? What are you doing here?", I asked. "Oh, sorry we didn't come back in contact with you. It's just that when Aionios was transformed into Xenos Ultima, something caused us to mysteriously leave the Space Colony ARK and be yeeted here into the Temple of the Black Beast. For that, we deeply apologise.", Atalante said. "Was YHVH responsible?", I asked. "You know, I actually think it might have been.", Kingprotea said. "Still, it appears you still have access to the Monado III. That is why Yuito is not worthy to succeed Alphen as Sovereign. Well, one reason anyway.", Alvis said.
Walking out of the room, I then saw a strange black and dark red portal open. Out of it came two men resembling Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. "OK, who are you two?", I asked. "You don't remember us, either? And I thought your memories had returned as well. Anyway, my name is Dean Winchester.", the man resembling Jensen Ackles said. "And I am his brother, Sam Winchester.", the man resembling Jared Padalecki said. "Nope, doesn't ring a bell.", I said. Suddenly, the two disappeared, prompting me to walk through the portal, only to find myself facing True Cross Academy again. "Wait, why am I back here all of a sudden?", I asked. "Why, the reason should be obvious. Come on, you don't remember why you were summoned to Aionios?", Black Doom's voice said. "Just tell me why!", I said, frustrated. Suddenly, I found myself facing a strange castle with the door ajar. I then heard Fafnir's voice say, "What are you waiting for? Enter.". Bracing myself, I entered the castle, ready for anything.
The story continues in the next chapter.