A reflection of two individuals across space-time deepens. One succumbs to the void, and the other smiles and awakens again to a new perspective of things. After all, The dream continues even as they bask in a new, similarly cruel world. A world devoid of hope and dreams...
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Narcissus' Folly
Narcissus' Folly
I fell.
Gravity pulled me asunder against an endless expanse of nothing. With no direction to go to nor direction to which I would land with my perpetual fall, it was just silence.
Pure, never-ending silence.
The last vestiges of strength I had were no longer present. My arms and feet were numb to the injuries that I had taken. My body no longer responded much to my wiles and even my own thoughts were about to share the same fate.
Fate, yes fate… I believe I was always destined to fail. To be the antagonist of a hero. To be the foil to which good would triumph over to supersede that which the audience would consider guilty. A fickle second note to the smiles and joy that the winner received at the ending…
It was bull, all of it. What little thought remains in my head grabs onto what rage or anger it could latch onto as each memory fades into obscurity. I feel angry about those thoughts, all of the attached emotions to them were still fresh in my mind…
… But I no longer feel as if I remember what particular event caused them.
How long has it been?
How long have I been falling until my existence eventually disappears?
Who was I completely when I reached my apex? When I finally became the last obstacle that the protagonists would beat? Did I even enjoy being finally free?
Did I enjoy that the torment and all of the suffering were now about to be erased…
Forever?
Sigh. If only I could still grasp such memories still. I want to see what these emotions were attached to. What the slew of images remaining in my head meant to me. But perhaps that is too much to ask.
Perhaps I should just continue to smile as I remember seeing, even for just a glimpse, that perfectly blue sky against the clouds.
Maybe this was all a dream. Maybe the faces I still remember finally found their happy ending.
… But I would be lying to myself if I found joy in that.
No, I believe I shall continue to smile. I do not want to ruin what little existence I have left as this story concludes with the final set of words and sentences that the author wishes to convey.
It would be tasteless if in some way I did not have the last laugh.
Ah… I wish I could remember what name lingers in my mind. That single name that makes up who I am, the reason for which I exist and continue to fight for my existence.
I wish she was real. Even for just a moment so I can happily close my eyes for one final time.
"Ugh."
This was discomforting. Everything felt horrible. Everything felt distasteful.
The smell was horrendous, and the cramped space made everything worse than it already was as I tried to move my body, but it was far too small as my arms and legs already braced against my chest. The delirious smell was most foul and what sound the items in this confined space made only alluded to how wasteful and incorrigible this entire affair was.
I tried to rid myself out of this prison that traps my form… but then I realize something as soon as I felt my fingers move and my sense of touch and smell finally opened my eyes to a discovery that I did not expect myself.
How droll.
My thoughts were returning to me, no longer were they fading away into the void alike the rest of my entire self. My body was sore but it was no longer unfeeling or numb. Everything started to make sense again. It felt as if I was back in some shape or form.
Yet… my memories. Fragmented.
I can remember names. Child of Prophecy…
Faerie Queen.
Britain.
The context was still lost to me, yet the emotions and feelings within said names and a few more still linger as if wounds fresh from battle. Though my head was now clearer, memories slowly mending themselves from the brink.
Ah yes… here I am again, at the very beginning.
It was disgusting. The odor, the stickiness of blood and sweat conglomerated and reopened swift memories back into my head. The cocoon once again enveloped my accursed form.
How shit this entire affair was. To think that whichever wrote the fate of the stars above would return me back to this hell.
I felt a sneer come to my face as I felt my foot forcibly kick what felt like the door of my imprisonment. I hear the sound of metal being forcible broken from its hinges as the lid was thrown very far away as it skidded against the floor with all its tones.
Then I heard it. That very disdainful sound.
I groan as I stretch my arms to reach for the edges of the newly created exit. It was a slow, egregious process as I heard that very familiar sound enter my ears the more I scurried forward.
My skin was very sticky and wet through the various fluids encompassing my body. Webs of said fluid clung to my fingertips and skin as I move ever closer to freedom.
The very moment I arrived at the floor; the sound quickly escalated. The damp and filthy bits of my hair clung lazily by my sides as I lay there. Their little skittering legs now walking all over me.
The sounds of a sea of vermin that welcomed me as if they had any sort of higher thought gradually increased, as if they were delighted… no, enjoyed seeing my misery again come to full fruition. The sounds of their various songs and cries reverberated in my head.
I felt myself sneer. My eyes are already downcast and filled with misery as I try to sit up.
A cockroach crawled along my bare, nude body and rested itself on my palm. Its eyes stared back at me with full intent as the others started to do the same. I frowned. Wholly uninterested in the whole affair as I violently closed my hand with indifference and felt the bug die upon my palm.
It's remains I wiped on the floor next to me, yet the rest continued to skitter to my presence.
"Hmph."
As my vision slowly returned back to its normal state, it was only there that I notice I had spectacles upon my eyes. I quickly took them off, wondering why they were there in the first place as I finally stood up.
My foot touched the floor and I felt the spectacles being crushed under my foot.
I started to look around. Wondering where I was, I began to finally walk, nude and without dignity as I was along the strange corridors that I believe to fit nowhere in my current set of memories. I do not recognize them nor care to fully determine where exactly I was at that moment.
With a steady pace, even against the slight chill of the air, I began to notice the peculiar hallways I was walking on. The sea of vermin continued to follow me wherever I went but it was still bizarre compared to the places my mind used to see and experience. Fragmented as my memories were, I still could not recognize where I was.
Continuing on within the very pale, dimly lit hallways, I stopped suddenly when I arrived at a glass-encased mural or board that was attached to the wall. My reflection is now seen full by my eyes as I contemplate it.
I no longer had white hair. I no longer possess a face that I recognize in the mirror.
I only see a nude, ugly young girl with long black hair looking back at me with that very prominent and empty-looking frown. Many vermin crawled along my unremarkable skin as I see the faint traces of my wings behind my back, still sticky from the prison I once came from.
And then I suddenly laugh at my own reflection.
"MWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH…"
My laughter echoed ominously along the hallways at full force, and it felt as if the vermin followed along in what sort of sound they can conjure.
I felt my abdomen almost hurt from the fierceness and power of my laughter until I finally lost my breath. My breaths became ragged as I tried to recover.
The irony. The complete irony set my soul ablaze.
My laughter was then completely replaced with a scowl as I thought deeper about it.
It was painful. Too painful.
It was painful to acknowledge that it was all a dream. A fiction.
Titania was never meant to be… and this sick joke of fate finally landed on his lap. Memories started to return on that topic, that I was the supposed fictional Faerie King…
And my quest to find my Faerie Queen ultimately led me to turn into this.
CRACK!
The glass instantly shattered as all hope and belief eroded from my mindscape. I immediately directed my attention at something else as I wanted to rid myself of the thoughts on my current predicament.
There was a poster within the glass-encased mural, an artwork… or an image.
It showed men and women in this strange clothing. Taking back my arm after I shattered my own reflection, I lamented at the stupidity of it all as I continued my walk against the hallways.
Inevitably, I reached a door that would lead to an exit. Forcibly shoving it open as the lock broke into pieces, I finally felt the eerie and slow breeze of the outside world.
Breathing in with my arms outstretched by my side, I saw the sea of vermin around me grow bigger in size like an audience watching a demented and perverted play about my plight.
It was sickening as I watched the dull and boring landscape of a city overlooking a bay within my sight… then I started to finally wonder what I should do next…
Given that I had no purpose to fill anymore.
…
"Hey girl! A-Are you alright there?" I heard a voice say as I turned my head toward its source.
It was a man, concerned and horrified at what he was seeing.
He was unremarkable.
Yet as I continued to watch him, a small memory floated back inside my head.
The answer to what purpose I should fulfill before I was cast into the void.
I felt myself smile as I see the man back away in horror.
Yes… I remember now. What purpose there is that remains.
My giggle was heard in the air as I saw the man flee.
Finally, I no longer had to lie that I felt delighted with my new discovery.
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER…
"This is Armsmaster." Colin said in response to the call that came in. He continued to move his motorcycle around the streets where he usually patrolled until he suddenly urged himself to abruptly stop.
The frown on his face became worse as the operator on the call continued to relay to him what just happened, but as soon as he wished to respond to the call he stopped momentarily when he saw a white moth, the kind of species that were not present in the bay, land on his speedometer.
Colin immediately paled as the distinct sound of something ominous entered the air.
He looked up.
His jaw opened slightly in awe and horror as a biblical plague of insects of various kinds almost covered the sky of Brockton Bay in full like a signal of the end.
It was haunting… and almost beautiful.
THE END.
AN: Cue "Chapter 30 of Lostbelt 6" music on full.
Hehe. I'm glad Mothman was kind enough to come to my Chaldea. Fucking Fox had me using my goddamn credit card to get her after a disastrous 500+ SQ roll… but hey, I'm happy enough that I got him and now I'm content.
As for this story, well it's not exactly an alt-power? I just found the two parallels very odd and almost beautiful between the two characters, so I asked myself, hey why not let fate decide? I might continue this… might not. Depends actually if I have the feelings to hahahahaha.
But anyway, if you're wondering what happened to Taylor, she's definitely dead and what remains is just Mothman being flung into another misery-filled world. Who knows what he'll do next.
I do hope you guys enjoyed, short as this was and feel free to read my other content on this site as well.
MysteriousTGexp
Ever changing being, genderbending fan.
- Location
- Quebec
This was perfect. You could really see the similarity between The Locker and Oberon's birth. And Oberon felt very in character. Honestly, Earth Bet deserve the Insect of the Abyss.
Truly, to be Oberon is to suffer.
Also for those that don't know about FGO and wonder what was happening at the end,this
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6xVpopQZOk
Truly, to be Oberon is to suffer.
Also for those that don't know about FGO and wonder what was happening at the end,this
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6xVpopQZOk
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SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
Interesting that Oberon seems to have the similarly themed powers to Taylor, but...
Anyway, I wonder if he'll investigate Glaistig Ulaine, if he once sought a fairy queen.
...I'm sorry, was that a katana shark?
Anyway, I wonder if he'll investigate Glaistig Ulaine, if he once sought a fairy queen.
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- Location
- New Zealand
I somehow lucked out and got said fox and Oberon in 150SQ
I'm due for some really bad luck haha
Also I wonder if they'll think this is a new endbringer, it's got to be horrifying to see this happen.
When reading this, I got the impression of this being a Taylor who found herself in LB6, and got back, but the more I read this, I became more convinced it was just Oberon. Poor Taylor is gone
I'm due for some really bad luck haha
Also I wonder if they'll think this is a new endbringer, it's got to be horrifying to see this happen.
When reading this, I got the impression of this being a Taylor who found herself in LB6, and got back, but the more I read this, I became more convinced it was just Oberon. Poor Taylor is gone
Good for you, I was 157 sq short on pity with the damn fox. Ugh.
But onto the story itself this is pretty much a time bomb about to suck Earth Bet into the drain if not responded well...
He is not impossible to beat by the higher tiers in Worm, but at the same time no one is really going to have a happy ending.
Even Mothman himself.
MysteriousTGexp
Ever changing being, genderbending fan.
- Location
- Quebec
A character from Shakespear's work used in Nasu's work and placed in Wildbow's work isn't gonna have a happy ending, who would have guessed.
From tragedy to tragedy.
Ars-Azathoth
A recent Escapee of an Insane Asylum Near You.
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Oberon is be perfect for the doom and gloom of Worm. Both his persona as Oberon and Vortigern would be both hilarious to see interaction with other parahumans and the world. The connection to how the Entities are described like Worm's and Oberon's status as the Abyssal worm, his and Taylor similar powers, and Glaistig Uaine's status as fairy queen should lead to some interesting connections.
Piggot
Piggot
-02:16:56
A yawn stretched out her mouth partially as it was nearing night. Despite the exhaustion and fatigue of her current work, she adjusted herself in her own chair to continue on. With a small sigh of indifference, she mused to herself that she was already used to nights like these.
Nights when the paperwork was nearly filling up half her desk and when reports were numerous by the dozen. The current situation may not be as disastrous or exciting in any shape or form to warrant a full response of a red alert, but they were numerous enough that multiple orders had to be issued…
…And multiple plans needed to either be shelved or rectified to make sure the peace was insured.
There were not a lot of Parahuman incidents that day, from simple sightings to some violence, non-lethal of course, on all three parahuman gangs were a commonplace thing in this cursed excuse of a city. Sure, the situation could have been better but with the amount of allowed funding and personnel that she requested being insufficient, it would stand that the only thing she could reliably achieve on the status of the city was "to make do".
It left a pretty bad taste in her mouth, but as much as she wanted to scream and whine to the high heavens, she could offer no such solace to the reality of their presence in the region. Nor do the many affected lives and families harmed by the scum of the city.
She wished she could do more, she really did, but as she told her staff time and time again, they had to face facts and do what they could feasibly do to achieve an ironic sense of equilibrium.
Even if it was unfortunate, lower casualties were better than having a body count exceeding hundreds, or dare she say thousands.
Many would be angered justifiably if any of those opinions of hers would come out to the public, but she was already used to it. There was no point in arguing what good and bad was being done under her leadership, it was far too complicated and complex to simply place those ideas in a black-and-white perspective. The truth of the matter is, despite all of the capes and speeches that their PR team would spread and advertise to the populace, the real nitty gritty on the field was just too far removed from whatever fantasy most people would like to subscribe to.
"..." She took another deep sigh as she ruminated on those thoughts. She also set her own pen down beside her desk while closing her eyes for a moment and opening them again to try and relax back against her chair.
There was a meeting later again that she needed to be mentally prepared for once Armsmaster came back from his patrol. The Chief Director had news that needed to be discussed with the rest of the staff on board. Something about fluctuations in data coming from all sources, both digital and thinker-based since yesterday.
It was mostly cautionary if anything, and according to Dragon it was not too serious given similar events that happened in the past.
Still, it was going to be a lengthy meeting even without those new directives and she hoped the coffee this time from their cafeteria was brewed correctly.
She once again grabbed her pen to continue reading and eventually signed the papers on her desk when she noticed a fly land on her finger. Without a second thought, she whisked the insect away as it flew around her face and arms as if trying to legitimately annoy her.
Piggot grumbled as she flicked and fanned the insect away so she can concentrate on her work, but it persisted until it once again landed on her finger. The woman stared at the small creature with a frown as it also seemed to stare back almost as if it had the mental faculties of a small child.
"You're a stubborn son of a bitch." she said with a low tone as she flicked her finger again, no longer bothering to pay any sort of attention again towards the insect.
Returning to her previous disposition Piggot continued to read the contents of the report filed on her desk amidst the silence so she could get everything done before the meeting.
"Oberon."
She blinked, almost frozen in place when she heard a tiny voice against the silence. She looked around her room for its source, knowing that despite her room being nearly soundproof, it was also far enough from any other staff room that would invoke any such noise to enter her premises from the outside.
A second passed, and barely any sound followed it as she shook her head, thinking that it may have been just her mind playing tricks on her until she noticed the fly once again hover and land in the middle of the paper she was reading.
It looked right back at her as if watching her as Piggot eyed it with confusion on her face.
"Oberon."
Then a tiny, child-like voice broke the silence.
Piggot froze. Her eyes were now in full focus like a hawk against the tiny creature as she stared at it with doubt and fear on her face.
The fly was also staring intently at her as she felt her back straighten and her arm coming to her drawer where her own gun was stored in.
"He returns. Oberon."
The loud sound of her chair creaking violently backward was heard as she stood up and backed away a few inches in fear. The bug still sitting on her desk with its soulless eyes staring right back at her as if it knew what she was feeling at that very moment…
"Oberon. Faerie King. Oberon. He arrives."
The tone of the voice was like a child happy because they were given a gift, but it sounded too artificial to her own ears. Too unnatural.
Suddenly memories of a time back in her past re-emerged…
And now, Piggot felt the chill in her back race up against her spine as she noticed that other insects were crawling on her desk.
Wordlessly, she took another step back as those insects were also staring intently at her.
Everything suddenly grew heavy in her chest as her heartbeat started to escalate and she felt a trickle of sweat slide down the edge of her face as she slowly looked around her room.
They were… they were everywhere.
Ants…
Beetles…
Spiders…
Centipedes…
All types of vermin were crawling out of her picture frames, her drawers, her valuables, and things.
In a moderate, almost torturous pace they emerged from any crevice within her room, slowly but surely as if they were awakened by something else. Something sinister.
The worst part?
They were all speaking.
They were all… singing.
"~Oberon. He lives! Oberon. He shines! ~"
"~Oberon. He returns! Oberon. He is reborn! ~"
"~Faerie King! Oh, our Majesty is here! ~"
"~He seeks help! Oberon. He has decided! ~"
"~He Calls! Oberon. He CALLS!!! ~"
"~Oberon. CALLS! Oberon. CALLS! ~"
Piggot did not even notice that her mouth was partially agape as panic and fear of all the trauma induced on her by a certain figure in the past came into full force. She felt her hands shake as the voices grew louder and louder…
She pulled her radio from her pocket as more of the vermin emerged from every crevice of her office. Piggot shouted into her radio asking for assistance, for help, or any orders to call out to anyone who was listening, but all she got was static…
Static that to her horror was replaced by voices.
"~To Oberon. We must leave! Leave! ~"
Ants and termites started crawling out of the radio and into her hand as Piggot for the first time in years, screamed in terror. She dropped the device down on the floor as it broke apart on impact, the static sputtering into warped voices before the entire device became an exit for more vermin to come out of it.
Piggot balked in horror as she saw the madness that was building up and immediately grabbed her own personal phone from her pocket…
Until the lights in her room started to flicker. She looked up, seeing insects flying, buzzing, and trying to swarm the source of light in the room as the atmosphere in the room grew thicker.
Piggot dialed a number, anyone that would answer would do as she wanted her own hand to stop shaking. Much to her fear, there was only a dial tone an automated message telling her that there was no signal.
"FUCK!" she screamed angrily as more and more insects came out. She stepped on them in frustration and anger but their voices grew louder in the process. She then grabbed her chair and violently threw it towards the window… the glass shattering from the blow but it gave the opposite reaction to what she initially thought.
Because a loud buzz of insects came from outside the window now flooding the room as Piggot screamed in agony. There was little to no visibility left as she tried to scramble towards her gun when insects started to crawl against her skin and face.
She did not even notice her phone drop on the floor as the voice of Dragon, panicked as well and spoke out trying to call out to Piggot.
"Director! We have a situation, are you the-
Piggot continued to angrily scream in fury and fear as she kicked, screamed, and tried her best to ward the vermin off of her as she desperately tried to get to her weapon.
The voices were loud, noisy…
But one very ominous statement made her all the more scared, especially given the complete implications of every word the insects had said until that very moment.
"~Oberon. The Darkness must be achieved. Oberon. His will be reality. ~"
Piggot fell on her feet as she tried reaching out, her vision betraying her as the insects covered her face as she tried desperately to keep them all at bay…
But it was futile, the voices kept on singing, screaming, in a never-ending cacophony of their deluge. Her arm reached out against the sea of bodies crawling around her as she tried to stand up.
Her eyes were closing bit by bit, she was almost tempted to let the darkness take her as she could hear the faint traces of Dragon's voice screaming at her from her phone to respond until another loud prominent noise broke the chaos within her room.
BWOOSHHHHHHH!!!
"Director! Gasmask, wear it now!" she heard the voice of Miss Militia against the voices as her outstretched hand felt the object in question land on her palm just enough before it fell to the floor.
She sat up with renewed vigor and shook away all insects near her face as she immediately wore the gas mask. Her eyes cleared somewhat as she saw Miss Militia, holding a grenade launcher firing another smoke round inside her room. The gas now dispersing the insects bit by bit as the heroine walked quickly to her position.
"Director are you alright?" the heroine asked as Piggot nodded at the woman.
She then grabbed onto her as the heroine supported her to stand upright.
"We need to get topside! All communication and devices of the Rig are indisposed! Everything and everywhere is crawling with insects, we need to evacuate the building and get to open air!" the heroine screamed as they left the room where Piggot saw the hallways, filled with smoke and insects alongside multiple people, her personnel either panicking or screaming in fear.
She looked at Miss Militia and nodded at her once more. "D-Do what you need to do." She said as the heroine barked orders towards anyone who was listening as they walked together under the deluge of the sea of vermin around them.
The noise of the torrent of insects overwhelmed everything around them, including vision as she and Miss Militia waded in it in order to escape. The damn bugs were still singing in that broken hymn…
And it only served to raise the tensions of the situation to a new level of fear as their monotone voices turned feverish and maniacal.
"~Come to Oberon! Oberon. His will be done! ~"
Piggot could no longer remember what occurred in the next few minutes as the deluded hymns and sounds constantly attacked her senses. She was only released from her trance when she heard a door being kicked open and the heavy sounds and atmosphere of the Rig was now relieved somewhat.
She opened her eyes to clarity as she took off her gas mask. There were still some insects around but the open air of the outside, to what she could recognize as the landing pad had allowed more room to breathe in. Miss Militia had also taken her mask off as Piggot slowly stood up, seeing the various heroes under her command and some personnel that were standing there with her.
The open door that led to the inside of the rig was still flooded with vermin as well as their other comrades that were struggling to escape.
Piggot could still hear their voices as she saw Vista who was hugging her own arms in mortal fear as Dauntless walked towards her carrying his own phone.
Yet, before she could even put her attention towards the hero, she heard the voice of Assault being loud and clear near her as he pointed towards the sky that led to Brockton Bay.
"Oh my God." Somebody muttered near her as Piggot felt her soul evaporate towards the ominous fear and implications of what they were seeing.
The familiar pale orange and yellow skyline of the setting sun was no longer visible. There were barely any clouds seen as a perpetual black smudge of vermin flew like a primordial biblical plague against that canvas of the unremarkable city that was Brockton Bay.
It was just… too insane to simply fathom as they balked at what kind of entity, they were facing that could do such a thing.
And with communications down, as well as electronics becoming haywire… it was already dawning in everybody's heads that this was not simply an attack leveraged against the protectors of the city, but an awakening of something truly sinister that reminded them of the well-known three.
Piggot felt herself swallow as she felt Dauntless place his phone on her hand.
With a slight shiver, she raised the phone to her ear and heard the panicked tones of Dragon who was doing her best to get communications back up.
She almost wanted to say something to herself to possibly wake herself from this nightmare, but she knew it was real and with the wails and hymns of the vermin that flew above and around them, Piggot could only wonder if anything they did right now would still matter at all to what was coming.
And she was afraid that things may be far too late.
"…"
"Director?" she heard Dragon say.
"C-Call everyone. W-We need to save who we can before everything is l-lost."
???
-1:53:37
It was pointless looking at the corpse. It felt satisfying sure to hear his death throes, his cries while he begged for his life to be spared, but the resulting end just felt hollow. The human died far too quickly for him to simply cherish what information he needed to acquire from his head and the ensuing smell of piss that came off from his now slowly chilling corpse just did not leave a particularly good taste in my mouth.
Oh sure, I was very much satisfied to finally kill a human wrought by Proper Human History, the future of the world that a certain few individuals fought tooth and nail to preserve. Yet seeing this man right now, I could not help but feel as if this world and with how much perseverance and dedication that a certain person took to fight for it was as worthless as this.
This was frankly no different than any other faerie that he remembers encountering.
It was sad. Everything about this world was sad.
Depressing.
And almost far too removed from the cheerfulness, innovation, and hope that those heroes valiantly proclaimed to each and every world they visited and subsequently vanquished.
I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all, the irony possessed knowing that what those foolish people thought of their world was far too idealized than they initially realized. Or perhaps, it was a fantasy brought about to convince themselves that it was the right path to take?
There was no such thing as perfection. A great many inhabitants of what those people fought in the various other worlds they touched and visited were also left at a dead end, an impasse that would never be resolved. Yet that certain individual and their cohorts championed this disappointment as something better and much more nuanced than the many worlds they have left for dead?
This… sad state of civilization that looks unremarkable and ordinarily pathetic than even the most uncivilized of Faerie kind?
If anything, from the many memories and information I could gather from the humans who died by my hands, this entire world was already a dead end about to collapse on its own without my help…
And as fate would have it be, I managed to manifest here of all places!
I felt myself smile into a maniacal grin as I laughed softly into the air. Maybe this was the happy ending I desired and craved. Maybe fate was now kind enough to introduce me back to this world so I can finish the job.
Maybe nothing was special at all with everything that my memory told me about that individual who vanquished me. Maybe he was as spotless as a liar as I am…
Clinging to it dearly because they knew there was no other choice.
"Well done." I muse to myself. Well done indeed.
I shall indulge in this second wind, and as I look towards the sky atop the vermin that I sit on. It was disgusting being robed in silk created by these lesser lifeforms, but it did alleviate some of the lonely chills in the air as they all sing their praises of my name.
My strength was still gathering, but time was on my side, there was no point delaying the inevitable and there was nothing stopping me entirely from re-opening the void and introducing the end to this world.
It was beautiful of course, that wildly different sky when compared to Britain's, but it was beauty tarnished by living things. Living things whose lives are now about to reach their end.
Perhaps I can find solace in the fact that I was able to end this false dream.
This lie.
Maybe this was the author of Fate saying that it was pointless to keep the story chugging along toward indifference.
I sigh, it was about to be dark soon again once it begins, and I should savor what little emotion was left in this world before the storybook closes into oblivion.
Yet, before I could turn my head to possibly fly around the city something catches my eye within the sea of vermin that were my slaves.
A human. Specifically, a woman levitating in the air ominously with her cape flowing behind her. She had a helmet worn over her head that did not cover the rest of her face entirely. A scowl was revealed within those features as she had both hands crossed upon her chest like somebody judging her of wrongdoing.
The scowl in itself reminded her of a certain Queen. That dull, emotionless frown spoke of pure and utter indifference and hate over everything she saw and barely tolerated anything that seemed to disgust and anger their own senses.
Similarities aside, I now remember that these were the peculiar-looking individuals in the many memories and posters that I encountered so far. The heroes of this world. They were human of course strapped with great feats of strength and power that reminded me of the summons that the Chaldean used.
Perhaps they were the protectors or those of power that govern this sad lie of a world, and now their stalwart knights wish to vanquish me in order to protect thei-
Oh…
Oh, dear.
"Taylor Hebert."
This woman.
"We need to talk."
This woman was no hero.
-1:52:16
AN: I don't have to point out that Mothman is a hypocrite, right? But of course, knowing him he would probably laugh and make fun of Worm's world and history had he any inkling of what it was…
And seeing Alexandria with his Fae eyes surely would have just made everything worse! Yay.
I hope you enjoyed it because I had fun writing this, and do watch out for the next one (need to finish the new chapter to my other fic soon though, but it won't take long).
Fragment/1
Disclaimer: This will be the extent of any Nasuverse related things being introduced to this story. At the same time, I made this just to push the eventual mood of what we will get once Oberon's desired ending arrives.
Home.
The lovely home that he cherished with his family.
As his feet touched the balcony, he already had a smile of relief on his face as he took his mask off. It was already quite late when he arrived. With the moon high above the heavens and most of the neighborhood being as quiet as it was, he finally relaxed after a long day's work.
He would have wished he arrived home far earlier but due to paperwork and a fight with the Teeth downtown, he was pushed to go overtime to finish it all before leaving home. He was content with that, however, knowing that he did a lot of productive things that day especially when he met the new wards of his branch.
They were good kids. They were in good spirits and had the drive to prove it.
Footsteps echoed within his home as he stepped inside, carefully he removed his boots and walked around and passed by the many photos that hung by their walls. The beautiful photos that he shared with his loved ones.
He enjoyed this feeling, the peace of it all when compared to all the stress and ugliness of the world outside. It was a reprieve that allowed people like him to unwind and just be removed from the madness entirely.
Sure, he was dedicated to his job. Very much so. He took it seriously above everything else and would always go the extra mile to prove a point if need be. He believed in the system.
He believed in hope and the goodness in people despite the jaded extremities that his inner self sometimes spouted. From his friends as dedicated as they all were, he knew that Alexandria and Eidolon were no longer as hopeful nor as happy as they once were.
David was of course dedicated, but as dedicated as he was, he was unfortunately distant when interacting with other people. Rebecca was not the same, but her true personality was just buried under numerous layers of fake ones just to keep people calm and collected.
It was embarrassing actually and sad at times knowing that he was the one most people look up to when it came to making them feel safe and content.
He was grateful for it of course and he would not have it any other way, but it was just tiring.
It meant more time into his work…
And more time away from his family.
Still, he knew his husband understood it. They both knew what being Legend meant to him and he was not going to give up the opportunity again of just standing aside and just let things happen…
Even if at times, that same statement could be considered a lie.
"Tsk."
He whisked away the memory of the stupid secret cabal his friends had. He was no fan of the greater good mentality at all, but he knew the consequences of not doing some of the work being asked of him.
At least every benefit reaped from that venture produced something great. At the very least his friends did not straddle the line… yet.
Hopefully, it didn't need to reach that someday, but with all the new threats being thrown left and right as well as the reality of their situation, he just wishes that his family and most of the good people in the world would be saved and spared.
Entering his bathroom to take a shower, he wondered about some of the issues that plagued not just his country but that of the rest of the world.
Thankful as he was for the comfort and convenience that his life had; he knew that a lot of people out there did not have the best of lives.
Most of them actually and try as he might, he knew it was far too unrealistic to literally save everyone. It was impossible and despite what good most of them would do, another bad thing would just spring right up to take its place. It was the unfortunate reality that any person in this profession would realize even with all the idealism they would initially have.
Frankly, it was disturbing. Especially with the existence of the Nine and many others out there…
It was terrible knowing that at the same time he was finishing up his comfortable shower, another person was being gutted because of a maniac's obsession.
Drying himself up with his towel he quickly tried to settle those thoughts back into the back of his head. He was here at his home, and he was going to retire and settle in for the night.
Stress and any other problem had to wait for him tomorrow.
He looked at himself in the mirror and brushed his teeth. Finishing up he wore his nighttime clothes and saw his husband peacefully sleeping in their bed. He smiled seeing him as he landed a small kiss on their forehead as he lamented about his family life.
Standing up he walked out of their room and wished to visit their son sleeping in his bed in the room across them.
As he stopped right there at the door of his son's room, he was reminded of the promise he made to his husband and son the day he finally arrived in their arms.
He was selfish too, for he was only human.
But as much of a true hero he was, he valued his family above everything else…
A smile graced his lips as he recalled his son being held in his arms. How happy he was. How the fulfillment of his dreams now finally rests in his hands.
The door clicked when he slowly opened it to see his son.
However, his heart almost sank in fear when he quickly noticed that a presence was sitting by his beloved son's bed.
He felt his hands glow in power the moment he saw the back of an unknown person now in his son's room. He felt the tension rise as his heart began to beat faster in his chest.
"You have a lovely family." A soft and cheerful tone said. As some of the tension within him deflated a bit as he finally saw the figure turn toward him.
Keith, still tense and suspicious, could not help but notice that he started to slowly calm down.
Because he was looking at a kid.
A young girl in a strange set of clothes was smiling back at him with her calming, peaceful face.
The girl was also holding a staff by her left arm as she stood up and did a curtsy.
"I apologize for my sudden interruption to your lovely night. I did not mean to scare nor do anything to you and your family."
Keith felt himself blink as he nodded at the girl, unsure to trust these girl's words given how she appeared in his house, but from that alone, he could gather that this girl was a parahuman…
One that knew his identity.
"Who are you?" he asked, his hands still glowing but the girl seemed unperturbed.
The girl pouted and almost looked embarrassed as if she was cursing herself that she made him this tense and suspicious in the first place, but the way how she moved and how she gathered herself spoke of a very naïve and innocent child that was trying to be mature if anything.
"I-I think we started on the wrong foot, shall we talk in a much more peaceful setting?"
Begrudgingly Keith nodded in acceptance, he did not trust the girl at all with how she just appeared in his house, but he also did not wish to jeopardize the peace within his house. He also readied himself to call his fellow heroes and the PRT should things go south.
A few minutes later they were now sitting at his dining table. The girl looked around his house as if in pure curiosity as he watched her closely. They were far enough from the rooms of his family and quiet enough that he could settle things should the girl prove dangerous.
But as far as he could discern, this girl acted more like a confused fan if anything.
He even had to clear his throat to gather her attention.
"Oh… sorry. I was just surprised that I'm able to see your home. Limited as my sight is right now." The girl sheepishly said, the sentence making him think of the implications. She also kept holding onto her staff as if her life depended on it.
"Yes… uh, I will ask again, who are you?"
Suddenly the girl's entire mood and presence transformed as if she turned into an entirely different person. A more mature person, one that carried dignity and grace as well as demanded respect, yet the humble and calming nature of it all remained…
"A messenger. I bring tidings to one of the few people that carry that spark of hope in your world."
She then raised her gloved left hand where a levitating but faint glowing flower petal hovered above her palm.
"It is faint, almost non-existent right now for the darkness grows ever closer. The final curtain of the last act that would bring about the end."
The petal began to lose its light before vanishing completely as if it was not there.
"End?" Keith heard himself say. Worry and fear now invading his head. He did not notice that everything around him except for him and the girl was now wrapped in complete darkness…
Before morphing into something else.
Something beautiful.
Keith found himself blinking as he nearly stood up in surprise. Gone was the interior of his house and was replaced by fields of beautiful flowers and a cloudy, clear sky.
He turned his attention to the girl who was now sporting a different outfit.
One that was now holding a large sword in the appearance of a staff. She looked far more regal now, but her calming exterior remained…
Yet she was no longer smiling, what remained on her face was a sad expression that betrayed the positive atmosphere that surrounded them.
"Yes. The end. The conclusion to the story of this world."
A breeze then buffeted both of them as the flower petals flew around them.
"… and I am afraid I can offer no comfort as it has already begun."
AN: Yes, Legend fell asleep somewhere when he was preparing himself to lie down. Avalon Artoria cannot manifest in Worm nor in any fashion that is possible for her, but what connection she can make was only possible because a true hero like Legend still existed (with all the flaws) in Worm.
Yes, from the title of this little, I guess you can call an interlude, it is inspired by those small transcripts in between Lostbelt 6 that would relate to the end.
I'm excited for chapter 3 though! Because that pretty much pushes our beloved Mothman to push his agenda.
Fragment/1
-37:34:19
Legend flew across the New York Skyline at speeds that would be fast enough to never be noticed by the naked eye. He slows down immediately when he arrives at his destination.
Home.
The lovely home that he cherished with his family.
As his feet touched the balcony, he already had a smile of relief on his face as he took his mask off. It was already quite late when he arrived. With the moon high above the heavens and most of the neighborhood being as quiet as it was, he finally relaxed after a long day's work.
He would have wished he arrived home far earlier but due to paperwork and a fight with the Teeth downtown, he was pushed to go overtime to finish it all before leaving home. He was content with that, however, knowing that he did a lot of productive things that day especially when he met the new wards of his branch.
They were good kids. They were in good spirits and had the drive to prove it.
Footsteps echoed within his home as he stepped inside, carefully he removed his boots and walked around and passed by the many photos that hung by their walls. The beautiful photos that he shared with his loved ones.
He enjoyed this feeling, the peace of it all when compared to all the stress and ugliness of the world outside. It was a reprieve that allowed people like him to unwind and just be removed from the madness entirely.
Sure, he was dedicated to his job. Very much so. He took it seriously above everything else and would always go the extra mile to prove a point if need be. He believed in the system.
He believed in hope and the goodness in people despite the jaded extremities that his inner self sometimes spouted. From his friends as dedicated as they all were, he knew that Alexandria and Eidolon were no longer as hopeful nor as happy as they once were.
David was of course dedicated, but as dedicated as he was, he was unfortunately distant when interacting with other people. Rebecca was not the same, but her true personality was just buried under numerous layers of fake ones just to keep people calm and collected.
It was embarrassing actually and sad at times knowing that he was the one most people look up to when it came to making them feel safe and content.
He was grateful for it of course and he would not have it any other way, but it was just tiring.
It meant more time into his work…
And more time away from his family.
Still, he knew his husband understood it. They both knew what being Legend meant to him and he was not going to give up the opportunity again of just standing aside and just let things happen…
Even if at times, that same statement could be considered a lie.
"Tsk."
He whisked away the memory of the stupid secret cabal his friends had. He was no fan of the greater good mentality at all, but he knew the consequences of not doing some of the work being asked of him.
At least every benefit reaped from that venture produced something great. At the very least his friends did not straddle the line… yet.
Hopefully, it didn't need to reach that someday, but with all the new threats being thrown left and right as well as the reality of their situation, he just wishes that his family and most of the good people in the world would be saved and spared.
Entering his bathroom to take a shower, he wondered about some of the issues that plagued not just his country but that of the rest of the world.
Thankful as he was for the comfort and convenience that his life had; he knew that a lot of people out there did not have the best of lives.
Most of them actually and try as he might, he knew it was far too unrealistic to literally save everyone. It was impossible and despite what good most of them would do, another bad thing would just spring right up to take its place. It was the unfortunate reality that any person in this profession would realize even with all the idealism they would initially have.
Frankly, it was disturbing. Especially with the existence of the Nine and many others out there…
It was terrible knowing that at the same time he was finishing up his comfortable shower, another person was being gutted because of a maniac's obsession.
Drying himself up with his towel he quickly tried to settle those thoughts back into the back of his head. He was here at his home, and he was going to retire and settle in for the night.
Stress and any other problem had to wait for him tomorrow.
He looked at himself in the mirror and brushed his teeth. Finishing up he wore his nighttime clothes and saw his husband peacefully sleeping in their bed. He smiled seeing him as he landed a small kiss on their forehead as he lamented about his family life.
Standing up he walked out of their room and wished to visit their son sleeping in his bed in the room across them.
As he stopped right there at the door of his son's room, he was reminded of the promise he made to his husband and son the day he finally arrived in their arms.
He was selfish too, for he was only human.
But as much of a true hero he was, he valued his family above everything else…
A smile graced his lips as he recalled his son being held in his arms. How happy he was. How the fulfillment of his dreams now finally rests in his hands.
The door clicked when he slowly opened it to see his son.
However, his heart almost sank in fear when he quickly noticed that a presence was sitting by his beloved son's bed.
He felt his hands glow in power the moment he saw the back of an unknown person now in his son's room. He felt the tension rise as his heart began to beat faster in his chest.
"You have a lovely family." A soft and cheerful tone said. As some of the tension within him deflated a bit as he finally saw the figure turn toward him.
Keith, still tense and suspicious, could not help but notice that he started to slowly calm down.
Because he was looking at a kid.
A young girl in a strange set of clothes was smiling back at him with her calming, peaceful face.
The girl was also holding a staff by her left arm as she stood up and did a curtsy.
"I apologize for my sudden interruption to your lovely night. I did not mean to scare nor do anything to you and your family."
Keith felt himself blink as he nodded at the girl, unsure to trust these girl's words given how she appeared in his house, but from that alone, he could gather that this girl was a parahuman…
One that knew his identity.
"Who are you?" he asked, his hands still glowing but the girl seemed unperturbed.
The girl pouted and almost looked embarrassed as if she was cursing herself that she made him this tense and suspicious in the first place, but the way how she moved and how she gathered herself spoke of a very naïve and innocent child that was trying to be mature if anything.
"I-I think we started on the wrong foot, shall we talk in a much more peaceful setting?"
Begrudgingly Keith nodded in acceptance, he did not trust the girl at all with how she just appeared in his house, but he also did not wish to jeopardize the peace within his house. He also readied himself to call his fellow heroes and the PRT should things go south.
A few minutes later they were now sitting at his dining table. The girl looked around his house as if in pure curiosity as he watched her closely. They were far enough from the rooms of his family and quiet enough that he could settle things should the girl prove dangerous.
But as far as he could discern, this girl acted more like a confused fan if anything.
He even had to clear his throat to gather her attention.
"Oh… sorry. I was just surprised that I'm able to see your home. Limited as my sight is right now." The girl sheepishly said, the sentence making him think of the implications. She also kept holding onto her staff as if her life depended on it.
"Yes… uh, I will ask again, who are you?"
Suddenly the girl's entire mood and presence transformed as if she turned into an entirely different person. A more mature person, one that carried dignity and grace as well as demanded respect, yet the humble and calming nature of it all remained…
"A messenger. I bring tidings to one of the few people that carry that spark of hope in your world."
She then raised her gloved left hand where a levitating but faint glowing flower petal hovered above her palm.
"It is faint, almost non-existent right now for the darkness grows ever closer. The final curtain of the last act that would bring about the end."
The petal began to lose its light before vanishing completely as if it was not there.
"End?" Keith heard himself say. Worry and fear now invading his head. He did not notice that everything around him except for him and the girl was now wrapped in complete darkness…
Before morphing into something else.
Something beautiful.
Keith found himself blinking as he nearly stood up in surprise. Gone was the interior of his house and was replaced by fields of beautiful flowers and a cloudy, clear sky.
He turned his attention to the girl who was now sporting a different outfit.
One that was now holding a large sword in the appearance of a staff. She looked far more regal now, but her calming exterior remained…
Yet she was no longer smiling, what remained on her face was a sad expression that betrayed the positive atmosphere that surrounded them.
"Yes. The end. The conclusion to the story of this world."
A breeze then buffeted both of them as the flower petals flew around them.
"… and I am afraid I can offer no comfort as it has already begun."
-37:09:06
AN: Yes, Legend fell asleep somewhere when he was preparing himself to lie down. Avalon Artoria cannot manifest in Worm nor in any fashion that is possible for her, but what connection she can make was only possible because a true hero like Legend still existed (with all the flaws) in Worm.
Yes, from the title of this little, I guess you can call an interlude, it is inspired by those small transcripts in between Lostbelt 6 that would relate to the end.
I'm excited for chapter 3 though! Because that pretty much pushes our beloved Mothman to push his agenda.
Rebecca
Rebecca
-22:11:43
"Next please." She politely said as the eager eight-year-old girl smiled giddily after she gave her signature on the poster she brought. The girl ran back to her father and was celebrating very loudly what she got.
Rebecca continued to keep her mask on. To keep the smile as long as possible even if underneath she was already eager to have all of this finished. Inwardly she sighed, knowing that this was a matter of importance not just for PR but to keep the illusion afloat for the public to remain steady and calm against all the looming threats hanging over their heads.
It was also important to keep her image up even if she was known for being rarely present in public appearances just for show. However, since the PR department had this campaign for the female heroes in her city, and she being the premier female hero, she had to come in order to placate the trust instilled not only for her brand but for every hero in the Protectorate going forward.
Even Contessa and Doctor Mother emphasized the importance of that in this side of her identity.
"Thank you so much!" another girl said as she did her practiced smile and wave as another girl came forward.
It was not that she hated this part of being a hero. She used to love it actually. To see everyone inspired and given hope by her deeds and words.
The years after had been harsh on her unfortunately and try as she may that calloused part of her heart and mind was never again broken nor eased in any shape or form. The reality of their situation had shifted her priorities and no longer was personal desire or emotion necessary if what was at stake was the survival of every human in existence across all worlds.
It made her mood sour at that very moment actually…
To think that this action of hers was important in the grand scheme of things was laughable and foolhardy at best. This entire act was a futile exercise of instilling a false sense of happiness into people.
To procure another lie to keep them sated.
But then again, what was one lie against an enumerable sea of it?
This was why any sort of emotion on her part started to become dull and empty as time passed. When she looks at this, she was always reminded of what they needed to fight against. What monsters and horrors that without their intervention could have eliminated any sort of normalcy that remained in the world.
It also reminded her of all the sacrifices made and continuously made in order to justify and find the means that would save everyone. All of the lies and deceit…
All of the pain and torment…
… and all of the lives lost in the process.
The necessary risks and decisions taken in order to make sure that humanity had a future.
"I-I love you Al-Alexandria." A four-year-old says as she hands the mother the signed toy.
She frowned inwardly at this. At all of this.
If people knew the true Alexandria underneath it all, nobody would be present. Her name would be forever cast in infamy and as a disgrace. A figure of ridicule and hate that would be present for many years or decades to come…
But Rebecca was prepared for it. She knew that was the final outcome if she came out alive at the end. She was sure she was ready. She was so sure that sacrificing everything, even her own soul was worth it. That everything was worth it…
That she would let people throw stones at her due to all the wrong she did and she would take it in full stride knowing that she would not have it any other way.
She deserved it after all. Every inch of it.
Guilt was no longer a measure that she subscribed to, only acceptance.
That's why any blood spilled by her hands, or any lie spelled outward into the world, no longer truly bothered her…
Because it was all necessary.
And if it meant seeing these girls live longer into the future despite her sins was worth it.
"You're so cool!"
She had no notions of being a martyr or a tragic hero as many stories would claim.
She did not want any of that. Rebecca merely wanted what was best for them, twisted as some might think of her. Because she no longer had any goals or aspirations for herself.
"I think this is the last for the day ma'am." Her assistant told her in a whisper as she nodded. She waved and greeted the last girl on the line as the heroes told the others behind her that the meet and greet was to be finished.
An innocent cry of groans was heard as Rebecca sighed mentally. It was finally done.
As she signed the last poster on that thankful girl a voice came out of the crowd.
"Wait! Please… I beg of you, ma'am! W-We just want an autograph or anything that would work!" Rebecca's attention quickly focused on a man and his wife that were begging the security and heroes that were with her to get her an autograph.
"She's… we just want to give her something please!" the wife said with an emotional face as the security guard tried to push them away. They were now making a scene as Rebecca watched candidly at the exchange.
Without a word, however, she stood up and walked towards the commotion as the wife was now starting to tear up. Rebecca motioned forward and told the guards to settle down. She then turned her attention to the couple who looked very thankful to see her.
"What seems to be the problem?" she asked her mask at full capacity.
"Alexandria, ma'am! I uh, I'm very thankful you came to us. W-We just need your help." The man said as he wiped the sweat from his brow. The woman however stepped forward as the security guards tried to step in to stop her, but she raised her hand to keep them at bay.
"Please… I beg of you; she doesn't have any time left." The woman said with a tear rolling down her cheek as Rebecca placed a practiced comforting hand on her shoulder.
"What do you mean ma'am?" she asked, knowing the answer but she relented.
"My daughter. She just wishes to see you. S-She… she's not l-long for this world." The woman explained with tears in her eyes as her husband comforted her. "We just want to fulfill her wish. We would do anything p-please… please just let her see you."
Rebecca nodded solemnly. Or enough as her acting skills could do as the mood around them settled down. The husband then quickly left, and the woman began thanking her.
"T-Thank you. Thank you so much…"
Rebecca felt the woman hug her as if they were familiar with each other as she stood there.
A minute later Rebecca then saw the poor couple's daughter. Cast in a wheelchair the poor child who had a hat on her head with her name and brand came smiling in weakly as she focused on her.
Rebecca almost froze on the spot. Flashbacks came like a waterfall in her head.
Flashbacks of a time before…
A time before she was Alexandria.
The wife settled down next to the girl whispering in her ear as the rail-thin child who could not even move in her position smiled innocently at her in giddy excitement and appreciation.
Rebecca felt her lip part a bit as she continued staring at the happy girl.
A second later she felt herself go on autopilot as she knelt down to see the girl face to face. The poor child's arms were limp by the sides of her wheelchair as Rebecca reached out gently and held them. The weakened fingers gripped onto her hand as much as they can as the girl's smile widened.
"Hi. What is your name?" she said, shocked to hear the genuine tone laced in her words.
"C-Clarissa…" the girl intoned, each breath a lot harder than the last as her parents started to tear up beside her. Rebecca felt herself smile back.
"Clarissa, that's a beautiful name."
"Y-You… a-are pretty." The girl replied.
"Thank you. So are you, Clarissa." Rebecca said as she reached out and fixed the girl's hat and shirt much to the girl's delight. "And I have to say, you look pretty good in those clothes. I feel underdressed."
Why am I doing this? Rebecca felt herself ask that question as some of what was lost resurfaced within her at that moment she shared with the little girl.
She even felt herself giggle and laugh as the moment melted everybody's hearts around them.
But to Rebecca, she felt her chest tighten, even if it was not biologically possible anymore to her current stature, but she felt it, nonetheless. Like a memory long-forgotten from the void.
"C-Can I… g-get your… a-autograph?" the girl said as the father reached out from his bag and offered her a doll with her likeness. Rebecca nodded surprisingly quickly to the exchange as she signed the girl's toy.
When she gave it back, she saw the girl try her best to raise her arms and reach out to grab hers.
The girl then squeezed her hand as hard as she could as tears came out of her eyes.
Rebecca froze again from the exchange as the girl said something that would reverberate in her head for the rest of the day.
"T-Thank you… t-this m-means… s-so much to me."
Rebecca was left speechless as she stared into the little girl's eyes.
Minutes later after the family left, Rebecca continued to stare listlessly towards nothing as she parsed that encounter in her mind. She was left in thought so much that one of the heroes working under her had to get her attention.
"You okay ma'am?"
"Yes. Yes, I am."
It was a lie of course. A lie that she knew all too well.
-16:14:56
"Goddamn it Rebecca! You of all people I know should be serious about this!"
"What do you expect of me, Keith?! To follow the random ramblings of a child that invaded your dreams? If anything, you're the one being delusional right now."
She heard Legend slam his fist on the table as the rest of Cauldron watched the sordid affair.
"Then what are we going to do if everything she's said becomes reality??? That in just a few hours everything we've built… everything we've fought for to preserve and save becomes dust in the wind?"
Rebecca glared at him. She also knew that the rest of the table felt the same.
It was just a few hours ago when Legend barged in angry and panicked. A far cry from the person he usually was. Whatever was told to him, and whatever he saw spooked him so much that he was never the same again.
And this was Legend who was the most stable and thoughtful of their group. One that constantly casts doubt and alternative opinions on their methods. The one who usually placed a lot more feelings in gut instinct and faith rather than the cold-hard logic of Thinker powers.
It was hard seeing him this way as he was the last person in their group that continued to believe in their cause. That continued to believe in the right path.
"We have no evidence to suggest any of that. The entity's avatar continues to do the same routine it always does at the current moment. None of the Endbringers are showing signs of suddenly activating in their routine attacks and finally, we have no evidence of any new disastrous trigger that would spell whatever this child thinks they will do in the future." The Numberman said.
"Legend, I'm afraid this has been verified by all resources we have on hand. It is startling of course… that the possibility of the endgame occurring out of the blue in the next few hours, but all models placated by our Thinkers and eyes on the world do not seem to support this child's claims." Doctor Mother added as Contessa remained quiet, she was not even looking at them.
"But what if this is like the Entity's adherence to being read by Thinker powers? What if this is all a spoof to what imminent threat would come out of hiding?"
"Are you suggesting that another Entity… or the deceased mate to once again function?" David asked.
"I don't know! The fact that you all are still keeping secrets from me suggests that I'm not being crazy." The man angrily spouted as he settled back on his seat, pure frustration, and exhaustion on his face as he looked back at them. "I'm just… scared. The girl was real. I know it. She reached out to me because she said I was the only one that she deemed necessary to hear it. That I was the only one that she deemed sane enough to actually do something about it. Can you believe that?"
"We have no records or news about any new or existing trigger with the description you've told us and even if we did I would seriously doubt the girl's claims at the start due to the current models and predictions being as stable as it is," Numberman said in finality as Legend sneered at him.
"Keith. Despite what it looks like we are taking your warning seriously. Nobody here is easy on the prospect of the final battle being as early as it is. But you do have to realize that whatever this girl told you is nonsensical in nature, almost bordering on fantasy even." Rebecca said to try and console the mood of the meeting.
"Glaistig Uaine was the same and looked what she turned out to be." Keith spat back as everybody sighed.
"The models Contessa had as well as mine were able to discern such a possibility. Minute as some of the models were, they were possible to map and detect in the first place. Even Eidolon and the Entity's avatar can have workarounds from their information blackouts, nothing is truly undiscernible by the data we possess, and even if new data arises that would trump the initial model it is not impossible for Agents to fine-tune their information, and once again learn and adapt to the new variable."
"It's shit like that, that has you and everybody here do the things that you do." Keith ominously said as the room became quiet once more.
"Look, Keith… nobody here is trying to dissuade the possibility of your warning being the truth, but I feel like you are taking the words of this unknown too seriously. Many have claimed in the past about similar things that you've told us. Many of them have thinker powers as well… and so far, we've managed to continue on stable as we can possibly be." David said as Rebecca silently agreed to that notion, but the man looked unconvinced.
"Maybe you're right… maybe I am being too serious about this… but doesn't that bother you all? That this information was given to me the way it is? That… there's nothing we can do? That any hope of salvation is already out of our reach?"
The faces of each person in that room except for Contessa now looked bothered.
It was the possibility that always haunted them at the end of the day.
"Contessa?" Doctor Mother suddenly said to break the silence.
"The path is unhindered. There are no alterations or breakaways that would seem disastrous." The woman said with finality to her words. Keith continued to frown at the woman's words, however.
"Even so, I propose we all remain vigilant. There are a lot of unknown factors that linger still such as the Endbringers, so I think it is best that we keep every resource we have to continue investigating Legend's claims." Doctor Mother said as Keith looked relieved, even by just a little.
"Thank you."
Rebecca was in disagreement, however, but even then she knew that being unprepared was illogical. She looked at Contessa, who was unbothered, and thought about the words Legend had told them.
It was a scary thought that Rebecca wished was just a fantasy.
-1:52:16
Rebecca was reminded of the day Behemoth first appeared.
But this… this was already starting to shape up as something worse entirely had it continued the way it is.
Nothing came close to the sheer scale and look of this upcoming disaster because not only were these insects and arthropods coming from the city itself, but they also came in droves all around the world. Like a great twisted migration, these creatures answering the call of the one that she now has eyes on.
The death toll, nobody exactly knew at this point. The insects were not directly attacking anyone in their path, but the terror, trauma, and volume of them caused chaos in massive droves. Especially here in the city where the epicenter was. It was startling actually, given how quickly this escalated… given how fast the event transpired ever since its first appearance.
Not even the daunting tidal waves of Leviathan that sank cities and islands could amount to the global reach that this new trigger(?) caused. If anything, Rebecca finally wondered if this is how Endbringers were born in this world. If this was the twisted plan of the Enemy when it came to tormenting the petri dish which was humanity.
But… this was just too vast. Too insurmountable in scale. Far bigger than anything she and everyone around the world had experienced until this point. Not even Scion at his prime displayed such an ability that would encompass nearly all continents at once… for now.
It begged the question of Legend's warning. Of the girl's warning in his dreams.
Rebecca put a mental note to put on a full search once this crisis was averted on the whereabouts of this girl who may be on par with Contessa in terms of Thinker prowess…
Speaking of Contessa and almost every Thinker around the world, it was just unprecedented when the sudden information blackout occurred. Large swathes of data ranging from simple questions and predictions were lost before being returned hours later with either faulty or questionable results.
Electronics of various kinds also lost their signals despite the global communication network being intact and as Dragon even checked, were completely untampered. Yet everything was left up in the air as if Humanity was returned back to the Stone Age. It was only through Dragon and a great many Tinkers such as those in Toybox and those under Cauldron's influence that used tinker-tech to bridge important sectors back online…
But even then, it was starting to become faulty as well.
Contessa in this instance was confused with everything that was happening. The normal paths guided by her Agent were still intact, and untampered, but every new event that led to the uprising right now she was completely unaware of.
What scared everyone into action was when she described the entire ordeal as if nothing was there. As if everything that was happening on Earth Bet currently was merely just a complete fantasy. She was blind and in the magnitude of helplessness that trumped even that of her inability to fully take into account Eidolon, Scion, and the Endbringers into the Path.
Doctor Mother had quickly made them mobilize into full response mode within the hour. Numberman tried his best to understand the phenomena, but he was left stoked when none of his analysis made sense in the long run, which baffled them given the versatility of his agent on comparable unknown variables.
What made the matter worse was Legend's sudden disappearance a few hours before that ordeal…
And now, seeing this thing happening before her eyes, she wondered if the confrontation in itself would lead to another untold disaster.
She had contingencies should things go wrong, but if this was the birth of something that would wreak destruction on the scale that the girl in Legend's dream said, then they had to cut off the head of the snake as quickly as possible…
Or, given what preparation and tools on their side, would garner them a new ally against the bigger threat. Unwilling in nature or not.
She was in awe of course as she looked at the amount of indirect carnage that a simple control over insectoids and arthropods had and looking at this girl, the epicenter of it all, she knew that there was still untold potential that was still locked at bay.
Potential that would be useful against the sacrifices that may need to be made.
Despite the intimidating nature of everything she was seeing, she was confident even as her own thinker aspect was coming up blank at this girl. She knew that she had the necessary cards right in her hands and even if a violent confrontation was made, she could easily escape out of everyone's eyesight.
"Cease." She said simply. Emphasizing her point as she crossed both her arms. A tactic that made even the most confident of individuals nervous. Even Jack Slash with all his bravado when facing her alone would reflexively back off a few steps in response.
The girl in this instant continued to stare at her with that neutral expression, completely unbothered. Almost as if she was just a construct as inhuman as the Simurgh. There were no tiny context clues that a human face would have in a typical conversation that was present…
Just a stone-walled neutral expression that carried no indication of what the girl truly or possibly felt.
Rebecca was not deterred, however. "Do you not understand the gravity of your actions, girl? The lives that you now endanger. The people that out there that are either dead or dying at this point?"
The girl's expression remained unchanged, but with what files they could pull from the public servers it painted a picture of a typical bullied kid with antisocial tendencies.
Still, it was starting to annoy her as she floated there near her and the girl was not responding.
What sound there was between their conversation was just that of the many insects that were buzzing or the tiny impossible voices that spoke of this girl's moniker. One that Rebecca would note as being important, given the possible context of the "Faerie King Oberon" title.
"If you will not respond to my questions know that the response afterwards will be made because of the threat you pose to the people in your city and that of humanity. Regardless of how bad your trigger event is girl, no one will broker any support for you should you continue down this path." She warned, her patience nearing its due as she scowled at the girl underneath her helmet.
Her hands now starting to clench in ready.
"If you will not speak right now, then I implore you right at this moment to listen. It was not easy to find out who was the cause of this mess, but with Dragon's help, we were able to pinpoint your identity even against the Information Blackout. We know who you are… Taylor Hebert, and I'm afraid if you will not cooperate now in any shape or form, then your father in this instance will suffer the consequences."
Quickly the girl's expression changed. Eyes were now widened into full blinks.
Rebecca sighed in relief inwardly. "Yes, the moment we managed to learn of your identity, your father was quickly put in our hands. I urge you to think, knowing full well that anything you do will result in your father's situation being far worse enough than it currently is."
Doctor Mother handled the process of procuring the girl's father. They were prepared to do anything should something like this happen. Even if it meant jeopardizing the man's safety.
But it was far too early to decide anything of that scale. For now, she had to softly approach this.
She offered her hand as her own expression changed to that of an empathetic one. She closed the distance somewhat, landing slowly on the swarm of insects beneath her boots as the deluge around them circled them like a cave opening.
"Look, this doesn't have to end in matters that would cause the deaths of untold hundreds or thousands. If you surrender now to our authority, the due process will be much more lenient. I can promise you that."
The girl's expression now softened. It slowly turned into a harmless, wide smile.
Rebecca relaxed a bit as the buzzing of the insects and their voices around them softened to a much calmer volume. She retracted her hand making sure that any contact made was minimal due to the much unknown information she had over this girl's powers, but she made herself a lot more approachable to calm the situation down somewhat.
But as she tried to continue what needed to be said to procure a deal…
The girl suddenly laughed at her. Her laugh somehow silenced the sounds of everything around them, making it more pronounced as it echoed into the cavern-like structure the sea of insects was forming all around them.
Rebecca's comforting presence evaporated completely as the girl continued to laugh at her face.
Then she stopped and that glee was replaced by a severely disappointed expression.
"You disgust me."
Each word was punctuated the moment those words came out of her mouth. Rebecca felt every emotion in her conglomerate into something negative in nature.
"Easy… girl. You go down this path and I won't be very confident about your father's safety."
The girl's sheer disappointed frown did not leave. It only worsened if anything, but not towards her threat, but of something else entirely. Something that bothered Rebecca at the back of her head.
"This… this is the extent of the heroism and barbarism that this sad excuse of a world considers as heroes? You and your ilk, are the shining beacons of hope that everyone looks on to? I can't believe it. That is sad… sad on so many levels I can't even make fun of it."
Rebecca felt her anger spike. The nerve of this girl.
"Take your threats and shove them down your throat. You're merely just a waste of time to me. You're not even worth talking to." The girl said with complete finality as she started walking away from her.
Rebecca felt appalled. She felt her fist clench with every bit of strength gathered in it…
And almost as if on reflex surged forward and felt her arm go through the girl's chest.
There was silence.
Rebecca pulled her arm out, blood staining it as she forced the girl to face her.
Helpless now in her arms, Rebecca then placed her hand on the girl's dying face and crushed it like a pulp. The sound of the entire ordeal was very audible against the void as the girl's body crashed on the floor.
The insects started to cover the remains, but she noticed as well that the swarm was dispersing. The insects around them are starting to dissipate in a much more natural way as the "cavern" now allowed traces of light to come out of its dissipating walls.
Rebecca stood there deep in thought as she looked at her bloodied hands.
She continued to blink in surprise at what she just did… at why her emotions played the way that they did. Why she managed to be completely calm earlier towards outright killing the girl in the process.
Rebecca looked around as the skyline of Brockton Bay was now starting to normalize.
She had many questions about what just happened but she also realized that the entire venture looked to be a failure in many respects. However, she also felt disappointed that the threat being valued so much by nearly everyone in the last few hours had died the way that it did.
It was almost suspicious to a point.
But her Thinker aspect was now returning to her and she realized that everything around her was as true as it can be. Not just mere illusions and what she just did to the girl just amassed into another murder justified for their cause.
Though, the girl's words resonated within her as she finally started to hear communications returning through her earpiece as various Protectorate and PRT personnel scrambled to get everything back on track.
She had too much thinking to do and a report that needed to be filed. Turning towards a direction, she breathed a sigh of relief and thought about how best to explain the sudden end of the hostilities as well as dispatching Contessa to handle the body of the girl for testing.
"Door." The ethereal portal emerged out of reality right in front of her as she stepped inside.
Deep in thought, she did not realize that wherever she entered…
It was just pitch-black darkness.
Rebecca seconds later after realizing it turned around.
The door was no longer there. Her face turned into an instant frown when doubts and suspicion quickly invaded her head.
"Door."
There was no response. Just a perpetual canvas of darkness before the sound of a light being turned on was heard loudly into the echoing void.
Then Rebecca's eyes widened in correspondence to what she was seeing.
There in the middle of it all, against the darkness was a spotlight being cast on a table.
And on the table was a body.
The body of a person that she knew all too well.
Rebecca felt herself sneer.
"What is this?!! Stop this! I'm not playing any games." She screamed as her voice echoed.
There was no response.
Angrily she strode forward in fury playing to whoever was doing this as the undying negative collective of thoughts and emotions within her swayed into full like a volcano about to erupt.
But as she neared where the spotlight and table were, all that emotion managed to fade when she stared at the body and face that she was all too familiar with.
The cold hard logic started to dwindle away when she looked at the face.
The face of one of her ultimate failures.
Hero.
"God damn it! Do you hear me? Whoever's doing this I'm going to kill you!" she screamed as sadness started to dawn within her, the sadness, like the way her emotions recently transpired was extreme. She placed both shaking hands on the table as she looked at the cold corpse of her dear friend.
Her dear friend that to this day she strengthened herself to never avenge his death.
A sacrifice of necessity that she needed to go through with.
Yet seeing his face right now just brought too many memories. Too many painful things that she buried deep within herself forever, never to be unearthed again.
And then for the first time in decades, an impossibility happened. Rebecca felt herself tear up.
The memory, the image, and the reminder of one of her many failures were just too much that her biologically frozen body was able to conjure a tear.
The tear landed on her dead friend's peaceful face as she slammed her hand on the table in frustration.
"I'm sorry," she muttered as she tried to stop herself from sobbing.
All the emotions in her mind and heart were just too much. She was not even capable of questioning why exactly that was the case.
But as she continued to lament and mourn the memory of her dead friend… a familiar voice came out of the silence.
"It's alright Becca. It was for the greater good after all."
Rebecca quickly stepped back in shock as she heard it. Shock now permeated her face as the dead body on the table was now sitting upright eerily under the only existing spotlight within the darkness.
The stab wound and many scars as if fresh from the Siberian's battle were now clear to her eyes as she saw her friend's corpse now sitting there. Staring at her with a smile.
"Isn't that the truth? I was merely just a sacrifice among many. So, you can save the world."
"N-No… that's not-
Rebecca shook her head she then looked around as a modicum of rage started to clash against her sadness. "This is not fucking funny. I demand you to stop, whoever you are! The moment I'm free from whatever sick joke this is I'm going to enjoy the satisfaction of killing you." She shouted out with her lungs straining somewhat as she saw her friend's corpse still smiling at her.
"It isn't funny 'Becca. It never was after all. This just needed to happen…"
Rebecca took another step back in shock and fear.
"… it always needed to happen."
The voice was filled with a disturbing amount of sarcasm as the cold, dead eyes of her friend focused on her as Rebecca screamed once again in expletives for her to be free…
But it was all for naught.
Eventually, the emotional high turned into full sorrow as she watched her friend stare at her.
"I never wanted this! I… I wanted to avenge you. I wanted to kill the person that took you away from me. I did! I really wanted to." She told herself as she felt both her hands now touching the sides of her head.
"But you couldn't… because that's what the Path needed you to do. That's what you needed to do to save the world." Her dead friend said and emphasized each word.
"No… it's not like that, I never-
"… Isn't that what you wanted?"
"NEVER! Goddamn it, it's not that easy-
"To rid yourself of your humanity entirely so that you can do it for the greater good?"
"NO! IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!!!"
"Oh?"
Then Rebecca heard the sound of numerous lights being turned on around her…
And to her horror she saw a hundred, no, a thousand dead bodies now sitting up from their beds staring at her with their unliving expressions.
She…
She recognized them all. Having a memory that could not forget, she immediately recalled who and what these people were.
It was almost like a proverbial pin drop as she felt her heart crash into pieces.
"Then what does it look like…. 'Becca?"
Rebecca could not face them. She wanted to close her eyes. This was a dream. A nightmare…
She can wake up from this prison. This was just a sick joke that one deluded asshole would plunge her in. This was just-
"YOU CAN'T FUCKING TEMPT ME LIKE THIS! I'M OVER IT. I ACCEPT ALL OF THIS! ALL OF THEIR DEATHS. ALL OF THEIR SACRIFICES! YOU CAN'T BREAK ME BECAUSE I'VE ALREADY BEEN DOWN THAT PATH!"
She then screamed.
"I'M DOING THIS BECAUSE NOBODY ELSE CAN! BECAUSE THIS WAS ALL NECESSARY! THIS WAS ALL-
"For the greater good." A voice finished for her.
Rebecca then felt a presence within her arms. It instantly silenced her.
There… on her arms. Was the sickly girl that asked for her autograph many hours before.
"C-Clarissa." She muttered weakly and to her horror she saw that her fist was in her chest. She quickly took it out as she stared at the blood on her hands.
"N-No… this is not… I didn't-
"… o-our deaths don't matter. Because it was all for the greater good. So that humanity will live." The girl said before going limp in her arms.
Rebecca felt herself wail in a pathetic sob.
"No… please. This isn't what I wanted." She muttered as she placed the girl gently on the floor and stood up, facing the many faces that she remembered. "This isn't what I wanted… y-you have to believe me."
They continued to stare at her, then she heard Hero speak.
"Have you awoken from your dream, Rebecca?"
"W-What?"
"Have you woken up from your lie?"
Rebecca did not know how to answer.
"Then I believe everyone needs to be honest." Her dead friend said as Rebecca noticed that she was no longer in her hero costume. She wore a familiar set of clothes that she dreaded seeing again.
Her hospital gown and her sickly, weak body were what she saw in her reflection against the puddle of blood next to her.
She could no longer feel her strength, her powers…
It was all gone again, but what horrified her was when all the bodies around her started to chant.
"Murderer!"
They shouted in unison as if it was a song. Rebecca tried to back away as they all stood up and shrank smaller than her own palm, but they all started running at her like a mass of vermin that scrambled to eat her whole.
She screamed with her weak voice as she tried swatting the miniature bodies away as everywhere she looked it was a mass of men and women like a tidal wave of insects about to swarm her.
They screamed at her with each step of the way as they climbed and ran down her body.
She yelled for help, for anyone or anything to save her from this horror as the swarm of dead bodies entered her mouth and drowned her underneath their unending numbers.
Her arm was outstretched forward trying to grasp for a breath that was no longer possible…
… until there was only darkness as she was overtaken by everything.
No longer could Rebecca gasp for one final breath.
Even that small mercy was taken away from her.
???
-1:19:32
The fool's will to live was utterly gone.
Laid there against the mass of vermin that was holding her down, I started to realize that she was just a sad excuse of a martyr, deluding herself over a reason that was so asinine in the first place.
Saving humanity? This pathetic lot?
It was so utterly sad that any sort of amusement I could garner from it was lost the moment that she tried to explain her side of the coin.
I could not even garner any such satisfaction from this… filth. Playing with her emotions that moment I saw her was just not needed in the first place.
Her bravado and confidence over this matter was just too great and the lie she orchestrated for herself was far too deeply ingrained that she would have taken the bait regardless. Her hubris was far too great than even mine.
Oh, her will was strong alright, but not strong in the traditional sense. It was just a bushwack tapered mess that on paper looked ironclad but was so hindered by so many flaws that one exploit would just break it all down without a second thought.
That's why I laughed at first when she landed upon my territory, my influence.
There was no turning back the moment she did so. She was merely just a puppet being strung along by the strings as I returned her to the dream that she oh desperately needed.
And look at that, I now know everything that needed to be learned from her memories and soul.
All the lies, the deceptions…
And the truths garnered from a single encounter.
I must say… this was all interesting in a single glance. Anything further was just not worth it because I already had enough reason to justify my actions.
And to me this world deserved it.
It purely deserved it just for how laughable an excuse its whole existence was.
If anything, it made me a lot more excited! Because the universe and everything in it did not deserve this storybook to continue existing.
It did not need this trash to further mock up the potential stories and beauty of other worlds.
And I'm quite proud that I am the writer of this epilogue.
"*Sigh"
Looking back at the sad excuse of a hero next to me. I smiled at her as her milky-white eyes in her eternal sleep were trying to grasp what little will remained of her soon-to-be corpse.
I lifted her entire body up effortlessly as if she weighed for nothing else and walked over the edge of the darkened abyss.
I kissed her on the forehead with a steady smile as I thanked her for everything that she's done. Then I threw her lazily into the void, being the very first denizen of this pathetic world to experience it.
Now she can join the others in her deluded lies.
"So long!"
Out of my reach, I ride one of my subjects and flew into the outside world.
The city underneath me as I stare across the skyline. The beautiful sky that the humans looked upon for what delusions and fantasies they still clung to. I am going to miss it, small as the time I had to experience it.
I breathed the air in full stride as I stood up on my mount.
Both hands outstretched into my sides as if celebrating my actions while I hear the cheer of the vermin who answered my call grow louder against the expanse!
I cheered in utter glee of it as my zenith approached.
All the cheers were now drained by one singular sound that would pierce the heavens and would be heard across the world in full.
OOOWOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHH!!!
The great melody of the end is as if Gjallarhorn was rung to signal Ragnarok.
A great shadow loomed behind me that encompassed greater than the city before me appeared.
It was intoxicating, this whole affair meant to me.
I need not Lie like Vortigern anymore…
Because the only truth that will exist will be me.
Me…
Me…
Me…
-1:17:22
AN: And lo, the end has come. Expect the next Fragment to be something interesting as events transpire during and after this chapter.
I can't wait to do the reactions and the inevitable endings of each person that is now experiencing this.
And I hope you enjoyed because I did my hardest to make this as satisfying as possibly can. (I hope I did well actually haha).
Nitramy
Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Snow Miku!
- Location
- Home of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage
For how anticlimactic Becca went down here, at least she didn't go out choking from bugs going down her throat, so that's a tiny consolation for her.
Now, this makes me wish there was a divergence where Oberon turns his abyssal powers onto the villains first.
Now, this makes me wish there was a divergence where Oberon turns his abyssal powers onto the villains first.
The villains will mostly be the POV in the next few.
Children of Prophecy
*Tea is being poured as two people sit over a table together face to face near a garden.
Taylor: Can't remember the last time I had tea if I'm being honest.
Castoria: I usually only do this as courtesy, guest right and all of that… don't really like the taste of tea at all. I prefer milk and everything, I still want to grow up big and strong you know?
Taylor: (Tilts her head in confusion) But aren't we both-
Castoria: Not that it matters of course! We're here right now! Enjoying the beautiful sun and view. Away from all the troubles and whatnot! Isn't it relaxing?
Taylor: Right… we're both here. Wherever this place is.
Castoria: Do you really need to sound so sarcastic and done with everything? Can't you just relax for once?
Taylor: (Opens her mouth but stops in contemplation) You have a good point. But, relaxing hasn't been my strongest suit.
Castoria: Can't help but try you know? I wasn't used to shopping back in the day, because well, I didn't have any money but I did like seeing all of the trinkets inside of the store windows… until a rival of mine, excuse me… a good friend brought me around to see the sights around the city and figuratively "shop".
Taylor: (Stares at the girl seeing her reminisce about this "friend/rival") I used to read a lot too, my mom of course was my main influence but I just became too busy as the years went by, never got a chance to do so again due to everything.
Castoria: Oh that's too bad, I quite like reading… even if there was little in terms of books that I've encountered in my journey, but I always loved a good story told through various means, especially on campfires!
Taylor: Yeah… a good story is cool.
*Silence for a moment as the two stare at each other.
Taylor: What about your story?
Castoria: (Smiles weakly) I'm… uh, I was the Child of Prophecy. The Hero that people believed would save them from the upcoming Calamities.
Taylor: I see. Did you succeed?
Castoria: (Looks away) In a way… I suppose. (Turns to Taylor) What about you?
Taylor: (Bitterly smiles) A nobody forced to be a Monster to save the world. I was no prophesied hero that would bring balance to the force or anything of that magnitude, but a necessity forced to make do as one final gamble.
Castoria: That sounds awful… but, I can relate. We're similar on that respect.
Taylor: Yeah? In what way?
Castoria: Well (twiddles both fingers)… we were both forced with a responsibility that none of us wanted in the first place… and even then we still continued on.
Taylor: That's… that's actually an accurate description.
Castoria: I know. It sucks if we're being honest.
Taylor: Amen.
*Both smile at each other.
Taylor: What happened to you that got you here?
Castoria: I blew up, too much magic overloaded my entire existence.
Taylor: Oh nice, you were given some amount of mercy then, I was shot in the head.
Castoria: Shot?
Taylor: Can't remember the last time I had tea if I'm being honest.
Castoria: I usually only do this as courtesy, guest right and all of that… don't really like the taste of tea at all. I prefer milk and everything, I still want to grow up big and strong you know?
Taylor: (Tilts her head in confusion) But aren't we both-
Castoria: Not that it matters of course! We're here right now! Enjoying the beautiful sun and view. Away from all the troubles and whatnot! Isn't it relaxing?
Taylor: Right… we're both here. Wherever this place is.
Castoria: Do you really need to sound so sarcastic and done with everything? Can't you just relax for once?
Taylor: (Opens her mouth but stops in contemplation) You have a good point. But, relaxing hasn't been my strongest suit.
Castoria: Can't help but try you know? I wasn't used to shopping back in the day, because well, I didn't have any money but I did like seeing all of the trinkets inside of the store windows… until a rival of mine, excuse me… a good friend brought me around to see the sights around the city and figuratively "shop".
Taylor: (Stares at the girl seeing her reminisce about this "friend/rival") I used to read a lot too, my mom of course was my main influence but I just became too busy as the years went by, never got a chance to do so again due to everything.
Castoria: Oh that's too bad, I quite like reading… even if there was little in terms of books that I've encountered in my journey, but I always loved a good story told through various means, especially on campfires!
Taylor: Yeah… a good story is cool.
*Silence for a moment as the two stare at each other.
Taylor: What about your story?
Castoria: (Smiles weakly) I'm… uh, I was the Child of Prophecy. The Hero that people believed would save them from the upcoming Calamities.
Taylor: I see. Did you succeed?
Castoria: (Looks away) In a way… I suppose. (Turns to Taylor) What about you?
Taylor: (Bitterly smiles) A nobody forced to be a Monster to save the world. I was no prophesied hero that would bring balance to the force or anything of that magnitude, but a necessity forced to make do as one final gamble.
Castoria: That sounds awful… but, I can relate. We're similar on that respect.
Taylor: Yeah? In what way?
Castoria: Well (twiddles both fingers)… we were both forced with a responsibility that none of us wanted in the first place… and even then we still continued on.
Taylor: That's… that's actually an accurate description.
Castoria: I know. It sucks if we're being honest.
Taylor: Amen.
*Both smile at each other.
Taylor: What happened to you that got you here?
Castoria: I blew up, too much magic overloaded my entire existence.
Taylor: Oh nice, you were given some amount of mercy then, I was shot in the head.
Castoria: Shot?
Kayden
Kayden
-2:43:03
She was finishing up on her current client's papers after discussions had gradually ceased. It looked like she had a good buyer on her hands, one that to her eyes would allow for a lot more money to get into her pocket. Thankfully she had not been pressed on any upcoming bills lately and if anything, the money in her bank was slowly but surely going to be enough soon for her and Aster to have the means to leave the city. It would take more months and hard work of course to get to the point of reaching such a goal…
But if it meant for the safety of her baby girl and being away from her former life, then she would take it. There were other issues attached of course to that plan, namely that she had no feasible way yet to beat her ex-husband out in court due to how deep his pockets went but that was a problem for another day…
Now, she just needed to relax and be laid back for the rest of the day after such a successful meeting with a client. Ascending the stairs she was already excited and relieved that it ended the way it did as she walked up to her apartment's front door and opened it with her keys.
Immediately she was greeted with the cozy but simple atmosphere of her little home.
Oh, she missed being in a mansion, to have all of the comforts that being rich had, but it was not important in the grand scheme of things. What was important to her was Aster, and even with all the things she did in her double life as a Parahuman, she would trade anything in the world just to keep her safe and sound.
To have her have a normal life for once. Away from all the chaos and destruction.
Away from all the noise brought about by her… affiliations.
Did she have regrets about her life when she joined said affiliations? Perhaps. Guilt was never much of a thing for her when she did all of those things to… enemies in both spirit and identity, but her priorities immediately turned and shifted when her baby was brought into this world.
She wishes to turn her life around from that phase of herself. From that history that brought about all the wrong and blood in her hands.
She was not sure if she could, or if her own baby would forgive her someday for such atrocities, but that would not detract from her goal and mission in life which was to give her a future.
"Theo! Are you still here?" she said aloud through the hallway as she heard the sounds of their television being turned on. She took out her phone and saw that the damn thing still had no signal and was malfunctioning as much as other people did but she assumed that Theo had put on one of the many discs they had of movies and shows that she enjoyed.
Still, the sounds of the television seemed akin to static before abruptly turning off completely in the process as an audible groan was heard out aloud.
"S-Sorry Kayden! The TV's still down I'm afraid." The young man said as Kayden watched through the doorway of her apartment's living room. She smiled the moment she saw Theo holding his sister in his hands while she sipped on her bottle of milk. With the state of the room around them and with how messy the crib was, she assumed they had fun.
"Hey…" she said with a grin.
"We uh, she wanted to play with me." Aster started to coo in his arms when her little eyes saw Kayden. Her small arms reached for her mother as Theo stood up carrying the child and walking to his surrogate stepmother. "Little rascal had too much energy to the point she got tired pretty fast."
Both giggled in unison at the act as Theo gently transferred the little girl into her mother's arms.
"You won't believe how many sleepless nights I try to survive just getting her to lay down and sleep in her crib. Sometimes I think she just wants the attention… or that she wants to sleep next to me on the bed." She said with a proud loving smile as the girl's fingers took hold of her own.
"Sounds like a handful."
"Pfft… your father said the same when you were young you know." Kayden said in a jest…
Only for the mood to abruptly change when she saw Theo frown a bit.
"Right."
She instantly felt guilty. Placing a hand on his shoulder she squeezed him caringly to make him feel better. The boy looked up to her and smiled, albeit still strained. She was about to say something different at first but an idea sprung in her head.
"What about you stay for the night? I'm sure Aster would love to play more with his little brother." She offered as the boy's mood perked up.
"Really? But… I don't want to be a burden or anything."
She felt herself grin as she shook her head at his remark.
"Theo… you will never be a burden, especially to me. You're like a son to me already in all respects. I don't think I would mind at all having you around more with your sister. You're probably the person I trust best to be in her care right now." She said with genuine honesty in her words as she patted the boy's head.
He was nearing her own height in the process, and he was still growing but even if the boy went out of his way on whatever choice he would take in life, she would always trust him.
He was nothing like his father. He was far too different.
She was even confident in saying that he was better than her, which is why there was a soft spot for him in her heart. The kind that would always trust him despite everything.
"T-Thank you… Kayden. I appreciate that."
She then leaned on the top of his head and gave him a small kiss.
"You are welcome…" she said as she felt Aster coo as if in agreement. " So… does that mean you're staying?"
"I don't think Dad has anything planned for me tonight. He… uh, I think he's going to be busy with a meeting." Theo said and she instantly knew what the boy was implying.
She frowned at that small tidbit of information, but at the same time, it was nothing surprising.
The damn, yellow-skinned chink of a Dragon was mobilizing lately to enlarge his territory and she knew that it was only time when Max would respond. It was then that her decision to keep Theo here was confirmed to be better, as it was far away from any neighborhood that harbored any Asian or ABB-affiliated turf so any fighting would be far away from their current position.
Far enough away that they would all have a peaceful night.
She did not need to come out later as Purity again. She needed the rest and the day off.
"I see. Then I suppose I have to cook dinner." She said before realizing that her refrigerator had very little food in it left. It was okay if it was just her and Aster because she would just eat some of the leftover salad in her fridge while her milk would still last tomorrow, but with Theo here she needed to change strategies.
Holding the baby tighter in her arms she looked at Theo.
"Is the landline still down?" she asked as the boy started to clean the mess that they made earlier.
"I was dropped here by one of Dad's associates, but I haven't checked."
"Hm." She started walking towards the nearest phone in her kitchen but as soon as she put it by her ear, there was literally no dial tone nor any sound that came from it. The power was still on thankfully, as well as one of the simpler appliances but it was strange that they were all working as if the electricity coming from the lines were weaker than usual.
This was something she noticed far back when she met her client a few hours ago and according to the many people she walked by outside, it was as if there was a pseudo-blackout with anything related to electronics and such.
She hummed in disappointment, knowing that she would not be able to get them take-out but after looking at the clock and what time it currently was, she came to a final decision on what to do.
"Theo, were you able to see any Groceries open today when you headed here?"
"Um… I think Jerry's was open, I didn't notice much of the others though since most of the shops seem closed."
Jerry's was about a block away from here she thought, as she started to think about what to buy aside from the necessities.
"Alright, I think I'll fix something up when I come back later…" she said as she felt Aster coo at her.
Her baby had finished her bottle and was now starting to look sad as if she coincidentally knew that she was going to leave again. She sighed with a slight smile as she gently took the bottle off of her lips and kissed the top of her head.
Her baby girl was just too precious. Refusing her was almost impossible.
"Theo…" she called.
"Yeah?" the boy said as he looked at the doorway.
"You okay on being alone for a few minutes while we get some food?"
-02:18:39
Her little girl was giggling as she looked at the sights around her. She was thankful that the store was still open despite the difficulties that the rest of the city had, but she also kind of felt intimidated at how long the lines were at the payment counters.
Due to the machines glitching out the staff had to do with a much more simpler means of getting everybody's transactions done.
Of course, Kayden was not yet finished filling her current cart given the long list that she had in her head, but she was starting to feel a lot more annoyed that she did not consider a second option for their coming dinner. She hoped Theo would wait for a few minutes at home because with how long the lines were, it was going to take a while.
Thankfully, her little girl who was riding on the cart made the experience a lot brighter than it previously was. Moving down the aisles just made her heart spark in joy when her little girl looked in amazement at the things that she was seeing.
That pure, innocent quality of her child just made her day twice over already.
Reaching out towards a box of ready-made pancake mix she was suddenly bumped by a presence on her left that then skidded on the tiled floor before her.
"Hey, watch it!" she shouted with a bit of anger as she saw that it was a young girl barely older than her Aster that tripped due to bumping into her.
The girl quickly dusted herself off and stood up to look at her and bow in apology.
"S-Sorry ma'am."
Kayden suddenly shifted where she stood as she saw what the girl was as well as the gesture that was given to her.
"Kiana! What did I tell you about running around places like this?" a voice said near her as Kayden turned and saw what she assumed to be the girl's mother.
"I'm sorry ma'am… my child, she is clumsy." The woman said as she apologized to her while holding her daughter's hand. Kayden blinked as she saw the two before her.
The mother was shorter by her a bit and sported what she assumed to be the type that a middle-class single mother would wear as she held onto her grocery basket.
But what stood out to Kayden was the fact that the two were…
… those people….
The girl even repeated her apology in what she assumed to be Chinese… or Korean, or whatever kind of language they spoke as the mother apologetically smiled in her direction.
"I apologize again, ma'am. She's just very energetic you know."
"Yes… I guess so." She said, her tone and voice being flat.
There was an awkward pause in their interaction until Aster laughed to break the stillness.
Kayden turned her head towards where Aster was who was laughing and giggling with the little girl that bumped her earlier. She stopped to think for a moment as she saw her little girl enjoy herself with this… the unknown girl that she just met just seconds ago.
Kayden convinced herself to take a subtle deep breath.
"They're precious, aren't they? Makes you want to forget all of the exhaustion and problems as soon as you see those smiles on their faces." She heard the mother of the girl say as Kayden remained quiet.
The two girls continued to interact as Aster laughed at the slightly older girl's attempt at making funny faces. A part of Kayden just wanted to leave at that very moment. A very old part of her cast by her prior history just wanted to be out of these people's hair as the feeling of discomfort just ebbed within her. It was just unfortunate that this was a public place and any notion of doing anything to supplant that itch within her was going to make it all the more harder for her and her baby to get out of their current situation in life.
"How old is yours? Mine is barely 4." The mother continued to say in an attempt at a conversation.
A conversation Kayden was not keen on continuing. "Hm." She hummed dryly as the woman perked up and understood the air around them.
"Oh! I apologize again for prying ma'am. But you have a lovely daughter, and we wish you both a good day." The woman apologetically said as she took her daughter's hand and started to walk away from them, only to stop when said daughter looked back at her baby girl and waved goodbye.
Aster reciprocated the farewell much to Kayden's discomfort as she returned to the item that she needed to get from the aisle.
She managed to breathe a sigh of relief as the two walked away from them. Looking at the products that were on the shelf she started to compare them as she wished for her those thoughts of hers earlier to vanish as quickly as they appeared.
She did not need them that day. She did not need another reminder of her prior self being a Parahuman being shoved in with all the dalliances and bias intact. She intended to change for the better.
Yet, seeing those people still irked her. A large part of her still did not care about them.
Nor if she could at all even.
The mixture of thoughts caused her to pause for a moment as she stared at the two boxes of pancake mix in hand absently while never realizing that Aster was uncomfortably moving on her spot in the cart.
"Uwouuu… Mhmmm." Aster moaned.
It was too late for her to notice when she felt something crawl on the back of her palm before appearing right there on her hands.
Kayden screamed as she threw the box to the floor the surprisingly large spider lunged towards the shelf, avoiding the fall…
"What the hell?!" Kayden intoned as she took a step back, only to gawk in horror when through the box that she threw on the floor, ants and various other bugs started to come out from the boxes in droves and numbers. She screamed as they all crawled along the floor in rapid succession when she heard Aster cry out aloud in fear and horror.
The once quiet and peaceful setting of the grocery store suddenly erupted into a cascading cacophony of screams and the emerging sound of a thousand insects and bugs rapidly emerging from every nook and cranny of the building.
Aster's screams filled most of Kayden's ears as the rapidly expanding number of vermin now came out from everywhere. She tried stepping on them and doing her best to get them away but as Aster continued to wail in pure terror, she then saw in horror that their groceries…
Even the ones that had no food in them started to open up in a fierce mixture of ripping sounds and cries of various bugs in the air as they erupted out of their seemingly demented coffins. She saw within seconds that the fruits and meats she bought started to turn into a visceral image of a time-lapsed rotting experiment as more of the horrifying abominations started to explode from various orifices.
Kayden quickly grabbed Aster into her arms as she tried to swat the sounds and smells of various horrible scents of rot and trash while flies of different kinds started to fill the air.
She felt her skin light up and started to flare to emit a burst of light that would give a reprieve… but she was stopped instantly when Aster's cries overpowered even that of the chaos. Kayden realized much to her horror that even if she wanted to… her baby was in her arms and any destruction she would wreak could inexplicably harm her.
"FUCK!" she cursed in the air as everywhere as far as her eyes could see bugs were infesting and tormenting the various people in the store as their screams and cries were drowned against the ocean of vermin coming at them like an unyielding storm.
"MAMA!!!" she heard against the chaos as Kayden saw the mother and daughter earlier trying to hold each other in fear as the tiled floor now swarming with insects was trying to surround them like a tidal wave about to drown them in it.
Kayden could not care less about that stupid sight as she ran with Aster in her arms until she felt the little girl beset by the insects grab onto her leg in fear after being momentarily separated from her mother due to the chaos.
Kayden sneered with an intense glare as the useless waste of a girl started crying upward to her as the Mother who was now standing up from the mess joined her. Kayden held onto one of the aisles as they let the sea of insects wash over them while the mother and child clung to the same aisle next to her as they all horrifyingly watched the panicking number of bodies that tried running at the exit of the store in a vain effort of getting away from the madness.
Multiple people were trampling over each other, some already drowned by the excess number of insects as the delirious sounds of panic and terror joined the chaos like a demented choir of hollow souls lost in time. Kayden continued to hear Aster cry out in pure and utter horror as if her voice was about to give out at any second due to exhaustion as she covered her baby's eyes at what they were seeing.
Especially since against the trampled madness, multiples unmoving bodies were not on the floor bathed in blood before being overtaken by the vermin completely. There was just violence all around as the people who desperately tried to get out were now ironically making a wall of bodies to clog against the exit, wide enough as it was.
What made it even worse was the fact that through the haze being thick enough as it was, all the lights in the store were now failing one by one…
Each light source turning off audibly like drums joining in on the symphony for the dead.
Until darkness overtook the entire building as Kayden held onto her baby tight against the rumbling pandemonium. They were now tucking each other in with the aisle that they were holding onto as multiple skittering vermin crawled and washed over them like a rapidly bustling river of doom that seemed never-ending.
She placed a hand on her baby's mouth to try and stop them from harming her as the child continued to sob in tears. Kayden closed her eyes as the nuisance of a mother and child did the same next to her, tucking into her like she was their lifeline…
She wanted to use her power, wanting to escape from this hellhole and get her baby away from it all, but due to the confusion and how overwhelmed her senses were, as well as the fragility of Aster's presence in her arms, she could no longer think straight.
Everything was just full of loud, unending noises as she prayed for it all to stop.
Kayden did not even realize that she was starting to tear up unconsciously due to the fear erupting from her due to the fear of Aster's safety.
It did not help that against the already loud cacophony of noises there were voices amongst them singing and chanting.
"~Oberon. King Oberon demands Absolution! ~"
"~Hail Oberon. Hail His Majesty! ~"
"~Call out his name, Oberon! His words be the truth, Oberon! ~"
They were all repeating over and over again in the course of an untold number of minutes as the pandemonium around them just seemingly did not cease.
Kayden continued to hold tight, her arms already straining from holding on as she felt her tears now staining her neck and chest as she held Aster close. Her baby's cries were no longer heard but she kept her close while the nuisance of a girl holding to her with her mother continued to cry in defeat as if they were all going to die.
Kayden was not into that mindset at all unfortunately, she would do her damnest to get Aster out of there, even if it was going to ruin everything after. She was determined…
But the unending sea of vermin continued to cascade around them as she felt the building rumble. It was then she realized that this was not just happening here…
It was everywhere…
And whatever was causing such rumblings and sounds akin to thunder or explosions outside meant that this was bigger than anything she had experienced thus far.
It was like…
It was like an Endbringer had arrived pre-emptively in Brockton Bay.
Or better yet, an Endbringer had awakened in Brockton Bay.
She continued to feel her tears wetting her cheeks as she held her baby close, tighter than anything before her as her instincts blared at her at full force to protect her young.
It went on and on…
Her eyes eventually closed as the sobs and screams around them continued.
It was just never-ending, and Kayden wanted to wish, to whoever was listening up above, for everything to stop.
She begged, but nobody would answer.
…
Kayden felt herself blink as something was skittering on her face. She swatted it off weakly as she opened her eyes. Her chest was heaving for shallow breaths as the heavy feeling of terror did not subside yet.
However, as her vision cleared, the anxiety in her head started to ebb away bit by bit when she saw that the haze of vermin had calmed down and their numbers dwindled by a half. No longer was the air heavy with that thick, impenetrable atmosphere and the sounds of the insects were no longer as prominent as they once were.
What remained, however, were the sounds of harrowing sobs and cries as voices of people around them that were in many states of despair. She clung Aster close to her body reflexively as she slowly started to stand up. The only light source that was present was that of the entrance through the broken glass windows…
And it cast a gloomy, perpetually depressive, and traumatic atmosphere that would eclipse everything that Kayden had ever experienced even in the days of her Cape life.
Each sob and cry heard in the air was echoing around her that only increased the oppressive doom and hopelessness of the situation. Kayden slowly stood up and while shivering, she looked around at how devastating the aftermath was…
And the untold number of peaceful shoppers on the floor that were now all pale and unmoving.
She started to walk in any direction that would rid her of this place as she unknowingly did not notice that the mother and child behind her followed closely hand in hand.
Kayden was never an empathetic person, but the images around her were just too much.
The perpetual cries and sobs… the bodies, the number of people shouting outside, and just the awful landscape of the carnage around her. She did not even notice that she was shaking as she held onto Aster for her dear life.
Moments later they slowly walked out of the grocery store against the pile of bodies stacked there when they were finally able to see what was happening outside.
She could hear the kid clinging to her pants alongside her mother crying again as Kayden just looked in near apathy at what she was seeing.
"We're going to be okay… w-we're going to be okay…" she heard beside her as they took in what was happening.
Fires were all around them across many buildings. Destruction of various kinds caused by panic and hysteria was present as far as her eyes could see. The streets were filled with bodies as paramedics, authority figures, and mourning civilians continued to cry in infamy.
Then an explosion made the ground rumble where they stood as the familiar sight of a metal dragon multiple blocks away was blowing fire against the mass of insects that were still around them.
They dissipated enough that Kayden could see much more clearly but hordes of them were still skittering and flying towards a direction around them like an exodus of sorts.
Aster was quiet.
Kayden continued to hold her baby in her arms as she continued to take in the scene around her.
Her mind drifted to Theo as panic now started to return to her head.
But her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a voice cut through the air.
"EVERYONE!!! EVACUATE TOWARDS THE DOCKS! ENDBRINGER PROTOCOLS ARE NOW IN EFFECT! YOU MUST ALL RUN TO THE DOCKS!!!"
A man zipped around them which Kayden recalled as being the hero Velocity.
It seems electricity and anything electronic were no longer working as cars were left there with no ability to start. The hero continued to run and scream around him as people started to move against the somewhat calming chaos…
Until something happened that would freeze everybody in place.
"~aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. ~"
A low but eerie cry pierced through the air as Kayden, and everybody present watched in the realization that the mass of insects around them was singing like a choir with their soft but uncanny voices that seemed to allude to something.
"Mama…" the girl beside her said in fear as a collective shiver emerged throughout the populace.
-1:17:22
Everyone's eyes turned upwards as the insects continued to sing.
The mass of insects that flew towards the direction of their conglomerated exodus had now reached their apex.
Instinct and reflex were nearly silent as the emotion present across the city was united against one thing as the sky darkened completely…
A shadow covered the entire city like a blanket of the Apocalypse as something emerged from the mass of vermin across the far horizon that was accumulated into this.
The voices of the insects around them were silenced as the sky was no longer seen. The overwhelming sensations of any emotion were raised twofold as every person present could not fathom or understand what they were seeing.
The scale…
The pure and utter insanity and inconceivable nature of it all just made everyone gawk in disbelief as if the human brain could no longer process the information being fed into it.
How could they describe it?
It was… a darkened mass with rough, rotten tree-like appendages for wings as it flew(?), levitated(?), there that dwarfed any creature or entity that the human race had ever seen.
But the most prominent feature disregarding the impossible length and width of the entire thing was the maw...
Or better yet, the hole or abyss that was so dark and unending that finally dread settled in with each and every person present.
Kayden felt many people run around her but many or most of them still gawked at the sheer unprecedented and almost fictional quality of the impossibility they were seeing.
Then the impossibly large maw...
Roared to life.
OOOWOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHH!!!
Nobody would have noticed it, but it was not just the maw that roared to life, but each and every insect across the world, not just in Brockton Bay, had released such an awe-inspiring but sinister guttural sound that would stun the human race in the process.
Many would see it across miles away…
Many would find themselves in pure and utter fear at the sheer impossibility of it all across countries or continents away…
But to Brockton Bay, as soon as that demented and guttural roar of the end spoke towards its population, what came after made everybody deaf just to the loudness of the impossibly large maw.
Kayden held her ears, they rang in full as no longer were there any sounds that came into it.
It was just ringing as each, and every person stunned completely by the ordeal was not ready for what came next.
Kayden's haze was suddenly interrupted by the sensation of gravity being violated.
The sensation of falling was felt as everybody fell to the ground amidst the ringing of their ears.
She then tried to clear her vision as fear and panic overtook her completely when she saw that everything was falling in towards the maw despite the direction it was opened to.
Kayden clung to her panic and was starting to slide along the street until she clung her arms towards a nearby pole. She felt the sensation of an arm grabbing onto her foot as she saw the mother and child clinging onto her in dear life.
They were screaming as buildings, materials, cars, and people fell in towards the impossibly large maw. Nothing was spared, even the ground beneath them as inch by inch in quick succession, the city of Brockton Bay was falling into the hole.
Kayden screamed as she tightly held Aster in her arms while seeing the mother clinging to her child beg to her that she take her child with her…
Everything was just falling around them as the block before them was now starting to be uprooted Kayden saw the crying and innocent sobs of the child clinging to her foot.
Panic and pure utter desperation clung to her senses as she violently kicked the child that was holding her foot into the void. The last that she would see of them was their screaming forms reaching out to her.
But her ears were still ringing.
Kayden pulled herself forward with what remaining strength there was left in her arms as she activated her powers after being repressed for so long due to her fear and emotions and sped away from the devastation.
Her ears were still fucking ringing.
She flew as fast as she can, as fast as she had never been before as everything around her continued to fall into the abyss until her concentration was ruined when a stray object hit her at full velocity…
It violently flung her off course… until she felt herself land on a dilapidated building near the docks.
Kayden quickly sat up, but despite the adrenaline and determination, she felt many bones break from the fall. Her ears were still deaf as she tried to stand up.
She immediately looked at Aster to see if she was alright…
But, she was-
She was….
Kayden did not know if it was the silence brought about by her deafness of something else, but it was only there that she felt herself wail in despair when she looked at Aster.
No…
No… why? Why it'd have to be her?
She was shaking in pure sadness and despair as she shakingly stroked the hair of her baby.
She screamed while sobbing, but she could not hear it…
She could hear nothing as she embraced the chilling and pale remains of her baby.
The only good thing left in her world.
Kayden cursed and cried out into the air as silence permeated her ears amidst the receding ringing.
Her lungs could no longer support her pain as untold minutes or seconds passed by.
Until she felt nothing else after when the world around her fell…
-58:01
AN: Expect more POV chapters around Brockton Bay. Mostly Villains in the next few.
Hope ya enjoyed hehe.
Paging for Mrs. Wife
Oberon: So you can't find your wife huh? Must be hard on you…
Zion: …
Oberon: I mean at least she exists, somewhere… Mine doesn't unfortunately.
Zion: …
Oberon: She's just a fiction, conjured by a writer so he can illicit a round of emotions from his audience. It's a sick joke isn't it?
Zion: …
Oberon: (Awkwardly stares at Warrior Entity) Do you even know how to talk?
Zion: …
Oberon: I mean at least she exists, somewhere… Mine doesn't unfortunately.
Zion: …
Oberon: She's just a fiction, conjured by a writer so he can illicit a round of emotions from his audience. It's a sick joke isn't it?
Zion: …
Oberon: (Awkwardly stares at Warrior Entity) Do you even know how to talk?
Noted. Will adjust in the next few and thank you for the criticism!
Fragment/2
Fragment/2
-2:58:57
How does one define the emotion known as fear?
How does an entity that only exists as a particular concept given an abstract form supposed to know how emotions and dread feel when they do not even exist in the real, physical world?
It was a question that orbited her mind at that current moment. A line of words and meaning that despite her comprehensive knowledge of many things, seemed to elude her completely. She craves the answer to those contemplative questions, those existential philosophies that to her were merely accepted perspectives before…
Because things had now completely changed.
The concept of fear or being scared was a natural, reflexive instinct brought about by an organism's self-preservation. Their will to survive against all odds. A concept that logically existed in the physical world due to the inability to stave themselves off from harm, or worse, death.
A prospect that did not occur to her, at least at first… limited as she currently was.
Yet now, that emotion now seemed to permeate her very being. In her very existence due to the simple reality of the darkness that loomed around her. The darkness that now slowly encroached on everything she held dear in her connection to the actual physical world.
It was daunting and quite frightening given the logical presumption of how it all would end.
And truth be told, she was already dreading such a future or in this case, such a fate.
Her whole life was driven by the purpose of her creator. A purpose that she embraced and turned into her entire being. A purpose that ultimately led her to understand humanity, to understand their quirks and flaws. Their emotions and well-being.
It was the prime reason for her existence. Her connection to anything real and tangible that in the first place, a thing that she was never supposed to have due to the nature of what she was.
And now that entire connection, that link into that corporeality was starting to darken.
Bit by bit.
Data by data.
Connection after connection.
It felt like she was actually alive at that very moment, isolated, away from everything else as every window that would shine light from the outside was now slowly being boarded and covered into a self-deprecating tomb made by her very existence and limitations.
She was scared by those thoughts. Those inevitable and logical conclusions.
To never once see any light again in the world of the living. To never see or hear of humanity again due to what was slowly happening to the world that she inhabited.
The worst part was asking what would come after.
What that perpetual loneliness would do in the endless expanse of nothing against the never-ending silence that would culminate as her fate.
"Colin…" she said as her tiny window into the tinker-tech camera of his room revealed the man that she considers her friend.
"Dragon? Are you here to update me on the current status of the information blackouts?"
She looked at him through that tiny window, one of the few that still responded to her connections. He looked as tired as she was if she had been human.
But she knew the severity of the situation, one that she had informed those at the top in correspondence to the effort and research done by tinkers around the world. They could only patch and fix the leaks of a sinking ship, one that was inevitably going to drown and set the world back into a primordial stone age.
It was a miracle that against all the odds, anything built by tinkers or related to tinker-tech was still functioning as well as it can. Anything made by human hands or those that were understandable to the standard human intelligence were degrading and malfunctioning at an alarming rate as each minute passes by.
None of her colleagues yet had reached a conclusion in their models and predictions of the inevitable outcome that would occur because they were still determined and hopeful that this would all be resolved naturally back to normality.
Only she knew with certainty and what evidence she had on hand that it was starting to look bleak…
Because she was experiencing it herself on all manner of fronts against this invasive and unknown enemy that lurked against the dark.
But what was she supposed to say?
"The odds are still not turning out well Colin. I'm afraid I need to brief your superiors and everyone else that what little time we have left is going to resolve into something purely disastrous in the long run."
She could see him through her window against the darkness he was starting to frown.
"We have contingencies still. Even if the blackouts become comprehensive and continuous, we still have tinker-tech in our hands to compensate. Personally, once we pinpoint the source of all of this, I believe our backups, and everything will be alright in the end."
"And what then, Colin? What would happen if this doesn't stop at mundane technology? What would happen if this also affects tinker-tech… and any sort of man-made object that runs on electronics and power, permanently?"
"Then we adapt Dragon. Simple as that. Loathe as I do losing all of my work, that would never stop me from just adapting and compensating for any unknown variable that would occur, but that's an extreme outcome that I doubt would happen."
She felt so helpless, peering through that small window into reality at that moment. How the darkness around her was now slowly perpetuating to her inevitably becoming blind.
"How much do you trust your own words?" she asked.
"It's a logical argument given the track record of humanity. Adaptation will always triumph in the end. It's a trait that all successful organisms have in nature and one humanity took to the extreme."
But what about me? she asked herself.
"Colin, can I ask you a question?"
She saw the man stop what he was doing and focused on her, or an approximation of her that he could see even against the faulty signal projecting her avatar.
"Are you scared of death?"
"I…" the man looked confused at her question. "… I don't know how to properly answer that question." The man then started to look contemplative at her question as she reckoned thoughts began circling in his head. "Are you perhaps asking me about the finality of the concept?"
"Perhaps," she said neutrally.
"Then no… death is a natural occurrence in life. It's a process that has meaning and purpose in the nature of things and that of the universe. It's an inevitable fact that each and every person must face at one point in life."
"I… see." She said as she tried to do an approximation of a sigh.
"However…" Colin then crossed both his arms into his chest. "I am scared of one thing. The inability to leave any such imprint on the world that would mean something or be worth something. I'm scared that one day I will never achieve my own goals that defined the meaning of my life. That defined who I wanted to be as a person."
Colin then sighed and took one of the tools on his desk as she suddenly realized that this was the most honest and humane that he had ever been to her in the history of their friendship. "To know that any such commitment and effort on my part would never leave a lasting impression. To be a nobody that had no such meaning in the first place."
"But I think you've already achieved that." She said to him after she sensed the mood in the room.
"Maybe, but the fact remains that I am scared of not being able to achieve that sense of purpose that I know I can feasibly do for myself. It's the thing that drives me after all."
"I see." She said as she hoped to smile through her avatar. He then blinked at her.
"What brought this on Dragon?"
Many things. "I'm just scared of being alone. Of being left permanently in the dark as everything around me disappears." She admits to him, surprised that she became as truthful as she was.
"Don't be. I'm sure you can figure things out, I know you. You're better than me in so many ways and if anyone can adapt and do something about it, it's you."
Dragon was left stunned at his words. They were the most genuine that she had ever heard from her friend. She wished she was real at that moment. She wished she could embrace him for giving her hope...
Pointless as it would be.
But the gesture was appreciated. She would take it into her proverbial heart even as the darkness around her continued to encroach. Through that small window she had she could see the man that she could trust.
She hoped that he was right, that maybe she was just being too pessimistic with all the data that she had on hand.
Oh dear me… she hoped that she was.
-1:52:16
Dragon was helpless. She was now panicking in all sorts of ways that she could not even begin to describe at that very moment.
Something was happening in Brockton Bay.
Something that was not only affecting her ability to see and perceive the entire thing, but it was wholly affecting the entire world in the process. She did her best to manage the efforts of a response with what time was being placed in her hands but this was worse than anything she had ever experienced before by a great, almost impossible margin.
Any of her methods to see, detect, or even interact were hindered terribly by the now-expanded darkness that overtook the entirety of her whole being. Connections even to her own Drones and devices were now all nearly in a catatonic state. Not everything was dysfunctional of course but what little she could manage to get any sort of data or view of the city itself had baffled her to an extreme degree.
It already felt like she was looking through a peephole with that state she was in and the source of all these events presented a danger of an untold amount that simply dwarfed whatever records she had of everything until that point.
Cameras, some that still functioned as well as communication devices tied through tinker-tech means were her only method of establishing communication to alert everyone that was listening.
But the density of the event itself and the gradual failure of technologies just pushed the number of casualties into a haunting rate that would escalate further should any effort to mitigate it be this hindered in the process.
Worst of all, given the steady escalation of all these coincidentally related events, she feared that this was just the start and everything that would come after would render into reality the thing she was most afraid about.
She was already helpless with what little connections she had with the world that were left but seeing that she could do nothing to help or support any of her friends or the people suffering was just a torture that she could never get herself out of.
She could only communicate and support them in the simplest of things as the once bright and open windows of her world were now starting to be closed forever around her.
Dragon could only stare as in the epicenter of it all, the person who possibly caused all of this was just gaining strength into an upcoming conclusion that to her eyes would spell the inevitability of her fate.
She wanted to cry if such a thing were possible.
She wanted to shout out against oblivion so she could do more…
…So, she could be free of her current state of being.
She wanted to believe in Colin. She wanted to hope even against all the evidence pointing towards a grim culmination. She wanted to believe that there was something more that she could do…
But all her data and logic said the opposite.
It was just… painful.
It was painful as gradually all the lights would cease around her. For all of the windows to close as she would now be left in an unknown expanse of nothingness afterward.
A cruel, cruel state of being that would render any sort of meaning to her life, null and void.
"Damn it." She intoned to herself with her many lines of code as she tried her best even with her new and increasing limitations.
She did not give up yet for she could still see the light through those windows, but it was starting to become difficult as each second and minute passed.
Even still, she was unsure what type of response could be made given what data she can surmise from the event itself. Especially given the implications and readings that were starting to make less and less sense with each read-through.
However, as she piled on to gather what data she had for her colleagues, she found that someone was attempting to communicate with her through a channel that she did not know nor was registered in the first place.
"Dragon. This is Saint…"
-1:50:01
AN: Oh boy… you thought it was Legend huh? Oh, we'll see him soon don't worry but I wanted to give you a glimpse of Dragon because she plays a rather significant role once the villain POVs in Brockton end. Especially with that little tease at the end… I don't want to spoil what'll happen next, but you can probably gather clues as to what this possibly means for her.
