-Chapter Fifteen-

New Age, Old War

In a hotel room corridor, a low light illuminated the walls from a modest lamp, casting it’s gold-yellow glow over three ominous and grim faces.

The three figures gathered on seats around a dining table, leaning in close to one another secretively.

“There’s a problem,” Jason was the first to speak.

“What? Is there? Just now, you’re saying that?” Diana asked him.

Jason ignored Diana’s sarcasm and remained silent for another moment, staring at the wooden table as he gathered his thoughts.

“Taylor’s method is incredible,” he began to speak. “We learnt relatively early on that the amount of times we can return to the past with our consciousness alone is limited. As a result, we are able to maintain Throne Class, but unable to break the boundary of Trinity because with each jump, our soul would lose a fraction of its power. Even until now, we are much weaker than in our prime. But Taylor… has just broken the Trinity boundary,” Jason said lowly, as Andrew and Diana continued to listen on.

“By injecting his consciousness into his body when he was still just in the womb, but sealing away the majority of himself to avoid damaging the child brain, and slowly nurturing it until it was capable of tapping into all of his accumulated power, he was able to succeed. Essentially, he brought his body and his physical brain itself back in time, than just his soul.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Andrew frowned at Jason’s words.

“Good and bad,” Jason sighed. “I just don’t know how to say this.” He reached up and massaged his brow, clearly distraught. “Our worries just got bigger. This has become an incredibly sensitive race against time. More so than before.”

“What are you even talking about?” Andrew asked him.

“The timeline just shifted. This reality was morphed. A few hours ago - when Taylor completed his assimilation. It was morphed by the Perished in response to his success in breaking the Trinity Boundary…” Jason buried his head in his hands.

“It changed? I didn’t notice anything happen at all…?” Diana asked.

“It changed,” Jason reaffirmed to her. “It’s normal for you not to remember. But I do, because I am independent from this timeline.”

Andrew sat up, seemingly understanding the gravity of the situation.

“What changed, Jason?” he asked with narrowed eyes.

“Everything. Everything changed,” Jason rose to his feet and began to pace the room, breathing deeply.

“Can you imagine the power an individual can wield, with all seven Athenaeum?” he asked.

“Well…” Diana shrugged. “It would be like stepping into godhood, wouldn’t it?” she asked.

“Demi-godhood, to be exact,” Jason answered. “But still not enough to achieve the Perished’s goal. Still not strong enough. They desire more power - the ultimate power - the power to freely change the laws and principles of this Universe. Now think,” Jason leaned forward and gave his two friends a dark stare. “If you had an individual, or four, who were on the verge of stepping into godhood, and you wanted them to rapidly evolve in the shortest time, and you are willing to go to any lengths, how would you force them to evolve?” Jason asked.

“Shit…” Andrew gaze fell to the ground. “The same way they’ve been doing it this whole time. By throwing overwhelming challenges at us.”

Jason grimly nodded.

“A showdown between demigods. It was… catastrophic. And…” Jason began to tremble, his voice began to shake with rage. “Our foes are going to be the closest thing to the physical manifestation of the Perished. Both in power… and brutality. And their very first goal is to… kill our spouses. They are most likely doing it with the intention of sharpening us into even sharper blades. They were waiting for us to step across the Trinity boundary, because now they actively detect a threat from us. All these times we jumped to the past, they didn’t care because we were still weak. They have been ahead of us all this time!” Jason smashed a table with a roar in rage.

The three fell into silence for some time, each processing the details in their minds wordlessly.

“Antithese has been taken by them,” Jason added.

“What?” Diana asked. “How the hell did they do that?”

“Originally, when the Great War breaks out, we end up battling against our future selves. The resonance between past and future selves meeting causes a rift that sends the four of us back into time, where we thus found Antithese and became our future selves, orchestrated the Great War, and then sent our past selves back to the past to tie up the loose ends,” Jason said as his eyes narrowed.

“But this time, we didn’t find Antithese. Because when the Great War breaks out, instead of clashing with our future selves, we clash with… the Apocalypse instead. Because we don’t meet our future selves, we are unable to return to the past. And because we are unable to return to the past, we are unable to meet our past selves to send them back to the past. The cycle that did not have a beginning… actually ended… somehow…” Jason clenched his fists. “They are playing our puppet roles. It’d be appropriate to call them the true Apocalypse, Beings manifested from the Will of the Six themselves. Fuck,” Jason cursed harshly. “I will tear them apart limb to limb myself.”

He approached the door.

“We need to go find Taylor, and make our move as soon as possible.”

The dead of the night had come. Most of the Trinity members have left and moved to the new HQ.

Puria had to go with them, but Taylor was in no state to move.

So Mercy stayed behind with him at the hotel.

She gazed away from his face and out the window to the moon, sighing.

These few days were a roller coaster.

Something was clearly happening beneath the surface, be it Antithese or Taylor’s odd transformation.

She felt her eyes slowly fall shut, as she sat beside the bed Taylor lay upon.

All of this is just so… tiring…

She suddenly felt a warm hand stroke across her cheek, and her vision returned to her to see her spouse awake, smiling at her as he gently caressed her cheek.

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“Taylor!” Mercy exclaimed, leaning forward. “Are you hurt anywhere? Are you fine?” She frantically asked.

“I’m fine,” he nodded reassuringly at her. “I’m so sorry to have worried you, my dear,” he slowly pushed himself up from the bed, and shakily took a step forward.

“What’s the date today?” he asked. Mercy found the question odd but told him.

“Alright.” Taylor scanned the room around him and frowned.

“This… is…” he put a hand up to his jaw, in deep thought as he gazed around him.

“Taylor…. What’s wrong?” Mercy asked, joining him by his side and resting a gentle hand on his arm.

“It’s hard to say…” Taylor began to respond but stopped himself, before he looked to Mercy and then quickly cupped her cheeks in her both his palms.

“Actually, it should be okay to tell you now. I’m no longer afraid of them.”

Mercy’s face flushed up, but she tried to suppress it on account of what Taylor was going on about.

“I was just gazing around this room because, well, my memories are a bit jumbled. But it seems to me that… reality was shifted. The Six did it,” he withdrew from her and approached the window, gazing out into the city terrain.

“Reality was shifted?” Mercy repeated in confusion, but before she could further question him, they heard a bang from the hotel door behind them.

Taylor glanced over his shoulder as three familiar faces smile at him from the doorway.

“Good to see you’re back in action, Taylor,” Jason regarded as he entered, coming to a stop in the centre of the room.

“You three are still here?” Mercy blinked in surprise.

Taylor frowned at Jason as his eyes wondered over him.

“Jason… what is all of… this?” Taylor asked, waving his hand around Jason’s body, referring to the corroding black and red aura coming from him.

“Heh, the fact that you can see it is an attestment to your transcendence,” Jason chuckled.

“What…?” Diana and Andrew raised an eyebrow.

“All things shall be cleared up in time. We have to talk.” Jason looked to Mercy. “Privately.”

Mercy frowned back at him, as Taylor sighed.

“I don’t think there’s a point to keeping them in the dark now, Jason. The Apocalypse have replaced us. We no longer have to play the part of evil. Now, we fight for the good of the world, don’t we?” Taylor asked.

“Hah,” Jason snorted. “If we win against the Apocalypse, our world dies. If we lose against the Apocalypse, this earth is destroyed. What good of the world are you talking about?” he remarked snarkily. “But…” he took a deep breath. “I suppose there is no longer any need to carry on this facade, now that the Apocalypse have arrived.”

Mercy’s eyes darted between her spouse and the other three, confused.

“What Apocalypse are you guys talking about? You’re scaring me,” she joined Taylor and pulled on his sleeve.

“I don’t understand what’s going on at all… please… can you explain it to me?” she asked.

Taylor smiled at her.

“I hate to refuse your requests but it’s a bit too long of a story. I just… want you to promise me one thing…” he reached up, running his fingers through her long hair.

For some reason, Mercy felt like this was a natural occurrence between them. But this was the first time, aside from sharing a bed, that they were being this intimate, and yet it did not faze her, because Taylor was acting so seamlessly.

“Please promise me that you will behave well, and let me protect you. No reckless stuff. Until it’s all over.”

“Well… I can handle myself in a fight,” Mercy pouted.

“No…” Taylor groaned. “You can, I’m sure. But not this fight.”

“Why? Who in the world is your enemy? It’s the same as Andrew’s one, right? Seeing as all four of you are always together, this has to be something to do with the Successor element, right?” Mercy asked.

“You’ll find out as more time passes. The four of us have returned from the future…” Taylor grimaced. “I don’t want to go into anymore detail than that.”

Mercy blinked at him.

The four returned from the future? That would explain how weird all four of them have been. Even Diana who just reappeared out of thin air after missing for a few years. So what happened in the future?

Mercy looked into Taylor’s uncomfortable gaze and he averted his eyes away.

Deeply breathing, she took his hand into her’s.

She can already imagine what might have happened.

The vow of rage Taylor gave. His bouts of depression and despair. All his episodes the last few days must have been the moment of lapse in between his past self and future self. The two must’ve merged, and what she saw was Taylor experiencing all his memories all over again.

What torture did he go through?

She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes.

When he was crying her name the other night… she never would’ve thought it was because perhaps she had died in the future.

“I… I won’t be reckless…” she sniffled to Taylor.

He smiled warmly at her, and gave her a soft nod, before reaching up with a finger and wiping away a tear for her.

“Don’t be sad, my sweetheart. Not for my sake. I’d rather you smile. I will fix this all. So just…” he took her hands tightly into his hands. “Wait for me. Welcome me when I return. That’s all I ask.” Taylor looked to the other three. “I have to go.”

Mercy nodded, stepping forward into a hug with a sniffle, putting her arms around his back.

“When will you be back?” she asked.

Taylor breathed in deeply.

“I don’t know. It will either be in the Great War, the next time we meet, or if we somehow stop it from happening… at that time, we will meet. Until then… keep well.” Taylor hugged her tightly for a moment longer, before he took a step back and summoned a small, glowing blue orb.

“Keep this on you at all times. It will help in danger, if I’m not around.”

“…It looks like I’ve become someone who is being protected,” Mercy chuckled. “Jeez. I don’t know what sort of people you’ll be fighting, but for me to be this much of a burden.”

“You’re not a burden, Mercy!” Taylor fell to a knee into a kneel before her, and she noticed him sniffle under his breath. “Please don’t ever say that again.” His expression was incredibly pained.

“Wha-…” Mercy did not expect her off-hand remark to touch a nerve.

“The last time you said you were a burden…” Taylor sniffled again. “You committed suicide before my very eyes.”

Mercy gasped, taking a step back, falling into dead silence.

“So don’t ever say you are a burden to me again. It’s not true.” Taylor looked up with a saddened smile.

“Don’t ever do something so foolish again. You are what I fight for. My strength, my purpose, my meaning. Mercy, you are my everything. I hope you understand…” Taylor rose to his feet, turned away and stepped past his three friends to the door.

“You must keep yourself safe,” he finally added, and fell into silence.

Mercy inhaled deeply, feeling heartache tear away at her.

“Taylor… how many lives have you all lived?” she asked shakily.

Taylor looked over his shoulder at her, before he answered, “this is my twenty-second life,” and he disappeared into the corridor, out of her sight.

The other three looked to her, before Jason gestured at Diana and Andrew to leave them.

The two went to follow after Taylor, leaving him and Mercy alone in the room.

“Our fight doesn’t just involve your life, but also the fate of this Universe,” Jason spoke. “The same goes for Piper, Aira and Percy. It’s up to you if you want to tell them everything. But whatever you do… hold onto your lives. The moment your lives are lost, so is this Universe. Also, don’t get complacent. Taylor said this was his twenty-secondth life, but… this may very well be our last one. If we fall here… I don’t know if we will get another chance to right our wrongs.” Jason did not give her time to answer, immediately turning away and leaving, to join the other three, leaving Mercy alone in the hotel room.

She remained standing for some time, before she sniffled. Suddenly, the thought that Taylor was no longer by her side, and she doesn’t know for how long, seemed like the most daunting thing she’s ever faced in her life.

Putting her hands together, and up to her chest, she quietly prayed to herself, for Taylor to please be safe, as she swallowed the gut-sinking feeling tugging at her.

Please, Taylor. Be safe.

Mercy’s wishes and prayers now lie with him in his struggle, for the first time ever.