Skadi was staring down at Yua and Ch'en. The future aegir wasn't taking her eyes off the two lungs. While the future aegir knew that there were other individuals in the room, even with their weapons or magic at the ready, she wasn't even acknowledging them. Her main focus was on the mother and daughter pair, the cause of all her collective headaches.
"Welcome to my temple, Yua, and Ch'en Hui-Chieh. I trust that my cult has shown you the proper hospitality that they show all intruders? I wouldn't want your journey here to be disappointing after all." Skadi said to the two lungs while doing a mocking bow in their direction. "If that's your idea of hospitality, Skadi, then it sucks. Your people could do with learning some better people skills instead of trying to kill us." The white-haired lung sarcastically replied to the aegir. While Yua was afraid of the future aegir in front of her, the white-haired lung was doing her best to hide it from the future Skadi. The lung didn't want her to see any weakness or fear. Yua knew that the future Skadi would prey on it.
The future Skadi could pick up on the white-haired lungs sarcasm, the aegir didn't like it in the slightest, "Well, Yua. How about I show you my own level of hospitality instead? I'm sure you will find it much more to your liking." The aegir drew her sword, and began to slowly advance towards the two lungs. Yua, Ch'en, and Amiya began to slowly back away down the stairs. Yua and Ch'en still had their swords raised, ready to defend against any attack. Amiya's power was crackling in her hand, the cautus was ready to let loose as soon as the future Skadi made a move.
The future Skadi was at the top of the flight of stairs. Behind her was the still sleeping form of the doctor, the alien man was completely oblivious to the confrontation about to happen right in front of him. On the stairs stood Yua, Amiya and Ch'en. They were ready for any incoming attack. At the bottom stood the rest of the group, they were ready to react the moment battle commenced. Time stood still, nobody knew who would react first, who would be the first to blink and begin this showdown...
Nobody moved, everyone was too cautious to make the first move. Eventually, Ch'en decided to speak to the future Skadi instead of attacking, "Skadi, has all of this been worth it? All of this, for the doctor? I know you love him, I do too. But I would never do the things you have done. I know he would hate me if I did. You destroyed my daughter's world. The blood of so many innocent people is on your hands. You tried to kill me. You tried to kill Amiya. You tried to kill Yua. Do you really think that the doctor could love you after all of that? I don't think so. He would never accept you after everything you have done. He would despise you, he would hate you. So tell me, Skadi. Has all of this been worth it?" The blue-haired lung wanted the future aegir to justify all of the horrors she had committed. Ch'en knew that the doctor would never love her, but wanted the aegir's answer.
"You dare question if all of this has been worth it?! Of course it has, Ch'en Hui-Chieh! This is for my perfect world! A world only for me, the doctor, and my kin! A world only for us! He won't need anyone else! The doctor will only need me! The doctor was the only person who accepted me for who I was! He wasn't afraid of me! I know he would accept me after all of this! He would! I know it! He doesn't need you, or your disgusting spawn! You two have been getting in between us! He belongs to me, Ch'en Hui-Chieh! Not you! Or anyone else! Once you and your spawn are out of the way, then I just need to get rid of his memories of you two! Then we can enjoy our perfect world, Together! Forever!" The future Skadi was livid that the blue-haired lung dared to question her. In Skadi's mind, anything was worth it for the doctor. She would do absolutely anything for the alien man.
"You know, Skadi. Ever since I discovered what you did, I hated you. I still do, I can never forgive you for what you have done. But you know what I feel now more than anything? Pity. I pity you, Skadi. I pity you, because father will never love you. Not now, not ever. Father always loved mother. You know why he always loved mother? It was because of who she was. Mother was a brave, kind, noble, and loyal soul who always did what she could for justice. She protected the innocent, protected those who couldn't defend themselves. That's what she taught me to do. And even though me and mother didn't always see eye to eye in the future, and even when I rebelled against her at times, I too could see it. That's why father won't love you, even if you kill us. Even if you win, Skadi, no matter what you try to do to father to make him forget us, he won't love you. You will still lose in the end." Yua knew that no matter what, her father would never love the future Skadi.
The white-haired lung could remember all of the times her mother in the future saw to it to protect the innocent from the seaborn. Yua could see why the alien man loved the blue-haired lung so much, both in this timeline and her own. This monster in front of her shared no such qualities with the blue-haired lung...
The white-haired lung knew that the future Skadi was chasing a dream...
A dream that would never come true...
"You...how dare you!! You dare say you pity me?!! I'll kill you...I'll kill you, Yua!!" The white-haired lung touched a nerve of the future aegir. Skadi was incensed by Yua's words. Her body began to shake due to the fury she was feeling right now. The future aegir wanted to kill the white-haired lung more than she had ever done before. A horrific aura began to appear from Skadi, an aura that began to cause Yua, Ch'en, and Amiya to lose their balance on the stairs. Everyone else at the bottom could also feel the terrifying power coming from Skadi. The future aegir's aura grew until it blew the other three people near her off the stairs.
Yua, Ch'en, and Amiya managed to get caught by their comrades before they impacted the temple floor. The white-haired lung was caught in mid-air by Shirayuki who brought her down to safety. Ch'en landed safely in the arms of her sister, Talulah. The blue-haired lung wanted to thank the draco for the save but quickly remembered that a fight for their very lives was about to occur. Amiya was caught by Mostima. The blue-haired sankta used her time stopping abilities to stop the cautus's fall. Amiya quickly thanked her before turning her attention back to the future Skadi.
Skadi's aura continued to grow, the future aegir wasn't going to hold back her power any longer. The future Skadi wanted to kill every one of her enemies here...especially the white-haired lung. Yua's words had struck deep, the future aegir couldn't believe that Yua had the audacity to say that she pitied her...the god of the seaborn itself. "Everybody! Get ready! Do not let your guard down for a second! I feel that Skadi isn't going to hold back anymore!" Gladiia shouted to the rest of the group as the future aegir continued to power up. The aegir leaders voice was filled with dread, this was going to be a fight that nobody had ever experienced before in their lives...
When Skadi finished powering up, she leapt at the group from her position with inhuman speed. The future aegir landed right in the middle of the group sending those closest to her flying several feet away. The impact of her landing also caused the entire temple to shake. The future Skadi then looked towards face Yua who had been knocked off her feet. Within milliseconds, as Yua looked up, she was already facing an enraged future aegir, "Oh no..." The white-haired lung felt the worse dread that she had ever felt in her life. The look of anger on Skadi's face paralysed Yua on the spot.
Skadi was going in for the kill straight away, but soon felt a force holding her in place. "Yua! Move!" Mostima shouted to the frightened lung. The blue-haired sankta was using her time manipulating powers to hold the future Skadi in place. While Mostima wanted to use her powers to freeze the future aegir in time, they weren't having the intended effect. The host of Ishar-Mla was simply too powerful to be frozen in time temporarily, this was all Mostima could do and the sankta knew she couldn't keep this up for long.
Yua overcame her fear whist the future aegir was paralysed, the white-haired lung used this time to put some distance between them. Skadi could see the white-haired lung moving and used her own power to break free of Mostima's time stopping abilities. The future aegir didn't want Yua to escape. Seeing the aegir break free, the blue-haired sankta tried to stop her again. "Curse you! You won't stop me! I am the god of the seaborn!" The future Skadi screamed out as she broke free again.
Mostima was becoming a nuisance for the future aegir, Skadi turned to look at Mostima who was now showing signs of fatigue. The future aegir decided to ignore Yua for the moment and focus on this new irritation, she could destroy the white-haired lung once Mostima was out of the way. Skadi began to charge at the sankta, but was immediately intercepted by Hoshiguma. The green-haired oni was using all of her immense strength to hold the aegir back, but Hoshiguma quickly found herself being overpowered. Her massive shield began to bend from Skadi's strength, the oni felt herself also being pushed back.
Swire ran towards Hoshiguma in an attempt to help her friend, but could see the green-haired oni steaming towards her. Skadi managed to overpower Hoshiguma and was using the oni as a battering ram. She was charging towards the fatigued Mostima. Swire couldn't get out of the way in time and was soon being pushed along with the green-haired oni. The blue-haired sankta could see a feline and oni barrelling towards her, but Mostima was too fatigued to get out of the way. The sankta was then pushed along with Swire and Hoshiguma, the three then collided with a wall and a small crater was left in said wall. Mostima took the worst of it and was knocked out from the impact. The feline and oni didn't take as much damage, but were both severely winded from the collision. They were both taken out of the fight for now.
Once Skadi was finished with the trio, the future aegir began to look around for the white-haired lung, but she immediately came under attack before she could find Yua. W, Fiammetta, Andreana, and Shirayuki threw smoke grenades all around the future Skadi in an attempt to confuse and disorient her. The aegir tried to clear the smoke in an attempt to restore her view of the battlefield and locate the white-haired lung. However, Specter immediately pounced on the future version of her comrade. Her weapon was whirring as Specter attempted to cut her down, but Skadi used her inhuman strength to hold her old comrades weapon in place.
This didn't deter the other aegir however, the future aegir could see Specter looking at her with complete malice in her eyes, "Let my friend go! Now! Give her back her body!" Specter screamed in the face of the future version of her friend. The future aegir wasn't deterred by her past comrades pleas. To show this, Skadi swiped Laurentina's weapon out of her hands, then grabbed her and began dragging Laurentina across the floor of the temple. A trail of blood followed Specter as the future Skadi brutally dragged her former comrade around like a sack of freshly cut meat. The future Skadi could then see Gladiia coming towards sack with her weapon pointed at her. Deciding it was best to get rid of two liberi with one stone, the future aegir tossed Laurentina towards the aegir leader with all her power sending both flying.
Yua could only look on in complete horror. The white-haired lung knew that this fight would be in a completely different level, but even she didn't expect this...
Skadi was completely dominating them...
"How can we stop her?! She is tearing us apart!! What can we do?!" The white-haired lung thought, feeling complete dread. Yua could see everyone else trying to do whatever they could to stop this unstoppable juggernaut. Yua tried to think of something, anything that could turn this fight in their favour. As Yua was trying to think of a solution, someone next to her had also been observing the battle. Ch'en could see the horror unfold in front of her, but was more coherent than her future daughter and could see someone hadn't gotten involved in the fighting just yet.
Ulpianus was standing on his own, watching the future Skadi dismantle the rest of the group. "Why the hell isn't he doing anything?! Can't he see we need help?! Don't tell me he's having second thoughts now?! We will all die if Ulpianus doesn't do anything!!" The blue-haired lung knew that Ulpianus had to do something, and do something now. If he didn't get involved now, everyone here would die at Skadi's hands. Ch'en decided to take a gamble, the blue-haired lung ran towards the aegir man while the future Skadi was distracted with W, Amiya, Fiammetta, and Shirayuki.
Yua could see her mother running out of the corner of her eye and attempted to stop her, but the white-haired lung leaving her position caught the attention of Skadi. The future aegir charged at the lung, but someone intercepted her. When Skadi looked at who stopped her from killing the white-haired lung, the future aegir could notice flames flickering around this individual. Standing in front of her was the draco, Talulah. The aegir could see the draco looking at her with eyes full of hatred, "I don't care if you are a God or not, Skadi. I'm going to kill you for everything you have done to my sister and my niece."
The future aegir wasn't intimidated by the threat given to her by the draco. Still, despite her power, the future aegir knew from Talulah's reputation was that she was someone incredibly powerful. Skadi knew she couldn't take this enemy lightly, Talulah would do everything in her power to kill her even if it was futile. To demonstrate her power, Talulah launched a fireball into the chest of the future Skadi. While this didn't harm her, it did send her flying a good distance away. It would provide the draco a brief moment to prepare for the incoming assault from the future aegir once she got her bearings back.
Talulah knew that her niece was behind her, "Yua, I will need your help now more than ever, my dear niece! Help me take her down!" The draco shouted towards the white-haired lung. Yua felt afraid of having to take on the future Skadi, especially after she had seen how easily she had dealt with her teammates. But Yua knew that as strong as her aunt was, she wasn't strong enough to take on a God. The white-haired lung also didn't want her aunt to die, especially after all it had taken to save her. Gathering her courage, Yua stood next to Talulah with her weapon at the ready, waiting for Skadi to strike back.
Ch'en managed to get to Ulpianus. Looking at the aegir man's face, the blue-haired lung could see a look of hesitation on it. Ulpianus clearly didn't want to fight Skadi. "Ulpianus, why aren't you doing anything?! Can't you see what's going on?! Skadi is wrecking us!!" Ch'en shouted at the aegir man while shaking him. Ulpianus didn't respond, this only caused the blue-haired lung to shake him more frantically, "By the gods, Ulpianus!! Do something instead of just standing here!! Skadi will kill us all!!" Ch'en shouted even louder at the aegir man than she did before.
"I'm sorry, Madam Ch'en. I thought I could do this. But I can't. I tried convincing myself that it was only a monster wearing Skadi's face. I am so sorry, but I really can't do this." Ulpianus was full of sadness as he said this to the blue-haired lung. Clearly, the aegir man didn't have the will to fight. Sounds of battle reverberated behind Ch'en, looking behind her, the blue-haired lung could see her sister and future daughter fighting the future Skadi. "They won't last! Skadi will kill them!" Fear filled Ch'en watching her relatives fighting their enemy. It wouldn't take long for Skadi to kill them if Ulpianus didn't act now.
"Ulpianus, listen to me! That thing isn't your daughter! She isn't Skadi! She is our enemy! She will kill everyone in Terra if you don't do anything! She will kill my sister! She will kill my daughter! Please, Ulpianus! I'm begging you, stop her!" Ch'en pleaded with everything she had to convince the aegir man to fight his surrogate daughter. The blue-haired lung knew that if he didn't do anything, Talulah's and Yua's fates were sealed.
Ulpianus looked at Ch'en, then towards the future Skadi battling the draco and white-haired lung. Ulpianus then looked around at all of the carnage, all of the people that the future aegir had hurt. The aegir man then looked back towards Skadi, he could notice a maniacal look on her face. This was a look he had never seen on his surrogate daughter's face before. "Skadi would never take pleasure in hurting or killing anyone. Skadi hates it, she has only done it as her duty. No, this isn't her. This isn't my Skadi..."
Ulpianus knew that he had to do what must be done...This Skadi needed to be stopped...
Looking back towards Ch'en, the aegir man simply nodded towards her. Ulpianus knew what he had to do. Drawing his weapon, the aegir man leapt into the fight against the creature that had taken over the body of his daughter...
The future Skadi was in the midst of battle against Yua and Talulah. The white-haired lung and the draco were being easily overpowered by the future Skadi, despite having a two-on-one advantage. Neither aunt or niece could damage the future aegir, and they were quickly beginning to tire out. They could not hold out for much longer against Skadi. Just as Skadi was about to continue her assault and finish both of them off, someone intervened.
Standing in front of the future Skadi was Ulpianus. This caught her by surprise, "Ulpianus? What are you doing? Stand aside! I don't want to have to kill you again! If you stand aside now, I promise you, I will spare you when I achieve my perfect world. Please Ulpianus, don't make me do this." The future aegir was begging her surrogate father to stay out of this fight. The future Skadi didn't want to have to kill him again just like she did in her own timeline. The aegir man was the only person that Skadi regretted ever having to kill. Her tone of voice echoed the fact that she did regret killing him before.
Ulpianus stood firm, he wasn't going to be swayed by this creature standing in front of him. "Skadi, listen to me. I know you are still in there somewhere." The aegir man said to Skadi. This confused the future aegir, "What are you talking about, Ulpianus? What are you trying to do?" The future Skadi didn't know why her surrogate father was talking to her like this. "Skadi, are you going to let this thing win? Think about all of our friends and comrades who died stopping Ishar-Mla. What would they think seeing you now? They would see their sacrifice was for nothing. That they died for nothing. That you let Ishar-Mla win! Please Skadi! Don't let their sacrifice be for nothing! You can beat this thing! I know you can, Skadi..."
In the dark abyss of her own mind, the present-day Skadi was floating on dark waters, waters that had no end. "All of this is my fault. Everything is my fault. I'm so sorry everyone. Yua, Ch'en...Doctor. I am so sorry for everything. I let myself get manipulated. I let my jealousy take control. I am so sorry..." Tears were in the aegir's eyes as she spoke out to the abyss. Skadi regretted everything that had happened up until this point. She had let her future self manipulate her emotions and had fallen under her control. Now she was a prisoner in her own mind and body. The aegir wished she could go back in time and prevent all of this from happening.
But now, she was trapped forever. This was her punishment for letting herself falling under the control of her future self. She was trapped with no hope...
Just then, Skadi heard a familiar voice call out to her, "Is that, Ulpianus?! He's here?!" The aegir could here the voice of her surrogate father. "Come on, Skadi!! You can do this!! You can free yourself!! Fight, Damn you!! Fight!!" The aegir man was shouting at her. Skadi wanted to fight, she wanted to be free. But she didn't know if she had the strength to do it. Ulpianus though, wasn't going to give up. He kept shouting at Skadi, telling her not to give in, not to quit. The aegir felt more invigorated the more she heard her surrogate fathers' words.
Skadi wasn't going to let her future self trap her forever, she was going to be free. Skadi stopped floating and dived into the dark depths. Skadi was going to beat the current, just had she had done so before many times in her life. Her future self wasn't going to keep her trapped any longer. Skadi kept going deeper and deeper, she kept going until she could see a light. The voice of Ulpianus bellowed out from the light, telling her not to surrender. Skadi kept swimming towards it, the current tried to stop her, but Skadi powered through. She kept going and going until she touched the light.
The light swallowed Skadi's vision. She could feel herself getting lighter, the aegir felt as if she was flying...
She was free...
Something soon changed within the future Skadi, a headache began to form. The future stepped back and began to hold her head. "No! You cannot do this! I am in control! How dare you defy me!" The future aegir screamed out in a mix of pain and rage. Everyone who was conscious could see the future Skadi holding her head and screaming in pain. Nobody could understand this, everyone who had fought had caused her no pain during their battle. Now the future aegir was screaming and shouting at someone, everyone found this scene bizarre...
Everyone except Ulpianus...
The aegir man smiled, "You can do this, Skadi! You are almost there!" He thought to himself. Ulpianus could see that his surrogate daughter was fighting to take back control of her body, and she was winning. The future Skadi then fell to her knees. The pain soon became too much. Along with an ear-piercing scream, a flash of light illuminated the room. Everyone who was conscious covered their eyes to prevent themselves from going blind. When the scream died down, and the light died out, everyone was greeted with an even more bizarre sight.
There were two Skadi's in the room...
The present-day Skadi...
The Skadi from the future...
The present-day Skadi was lying face down on the floor, she was completely unconscious. The future Skadi was now back on her feet, the future aegir was sweating and panting heavily looking at the floor. When the future Skadi looked up, she could see all of her enemies looking at her. Yua and Ch'en had smirks on their faces...
Both lungs knew she was now completely vulnerable...
The future Skadi then turned to look at her present-day self. The future aegir balled her fist in anger, "No! Not like this! Not when I'm so close! Damn you! Damn youuuu!" The future aegir screamed out in rage. Her plan had fallen apart at the last second, everything was ruined. "It's over, Skadi! It ends here!" Ch'en was the one who screamed at the future aegir.
Skadi then returned to look at Ch'en and everyone else. They all had their respective weapons at the ready, they were all going to put her down for good. But the future aegir had a plan up her sleeve, with another ear-piercing scream, the future aegir shouted so loud that everyone had to cover their ears. They were all disoriented for a few seconds. The future aegir used this time to flee deeper into the temple to think of a way to salvage this situation.
When everyone uncovered their ears, they were all going to give chase. But a rumble from behind them put a halt to their plan. "By the gods! It's the seaborn! And a lot of them by the sounds of it!" Amiya voiced what everyone else was thinking. The group knew that the future Skadi needed to be stopped, they wouldn't get another chance like this. But they also had to stop the huge incoming horde about to rain down on them. Ulpianus then decided on a plan, "Madam Ch'en, Yua! Go after Skadi! We will stop the horde here! They won't get past us!" The aegir man wanted their two lungs to go after the future Skadi.
Ch'en and Yua were about to protest, they didn't want to abandon their group. "Both of you, go now! We will be fine! I promise you both! And the doctor, we will protect him! I promise you, sister!" Talulah shouted to her relatives. The two lungs looked towards the doctor, then back at everyone else. Mother and daughter then nodded before they ran off further into the temple.
Everyone else who was able, ran outside to confront the horde...