Morgan Le Fay's POV
A cold dead murmur sounds through my ears, "Why..." Nimue's collapsed figure fails to stand up.
I ignore her, continuing to prepare for my ascendance.
"Why!?" She yells at me this time while again, attempting to stand back up.
I drop my sword along the table, releasing a deep breath before walking towards her, "Doesn't it bother you!?" I grip her by the collar, helping her to stand up against the wall. Her sweaty discoloured form giving me all the answers I need, "I haven't even touched you! And yet look at you, whimpering and cowering in the corner with no other drive to live!" I shout at her as her breathing continues to puff the hair out of her face.
"What happened to that woman who continued to fight!? That woman who so confidently challenged something such as Irene!?" I meet her dried out eyes, increasing in size as if surprised about something. "Did you seriously think I helped there?" I hold my stomach a little bit, huffing out a bit of a laughter.
"You're just like how I was. Asking for more without even knowing what you already have. So what if you're a human? Your friends are coming to kill me, because I'm that exact thing. Human!" I try to explain to her but she looks at the front doors as if awaiting something.
"That's no-t a fair...comparison." She whispers.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"You were bo-rn with the choi-ce of what you bec-ame" She continues.
"And you didn't?" I walk up to her, taking a bundle of her hair and dropping it in front of her face again, "Who's to say you didn't want this?". "This world has a law of equivalent exchange, to receive something, you need to lose something. Fenrir was the incarnation of power, losing the very ability to recognise himself when in that form, losing the ability to 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 why he was in that form. Oracion? Someone who chose something so simple and yet complex, given the strength of an existing god but the fragility of a human body. Someone who was given a conscious but a will that was controlled by others." I explain to her.
"So...what did you lose?" She asks.
I hesitate for a second, rethinking to myself...a memory almost fetal. "Time." I answer but her face doesn't seem to understand. "I read the stories of old, the stories written by Oracion himself. Unlike those two...I didn't live as long as people think. I needed to know everything, but more than anything...I needed to know why. I needed to know why the world was made, why the species were made, I needed to know why there was an end. In exchange for me knowing it all...I lost the ability to have it all, losing what I already had, time. Stories, history, all of it simply fell into my grasp like luck from a dice, all I had to do was make it mine." I go to grab her hand but she slaps it away.
"-And I'm suppos-ed to give yo-u that?" She rushes to my blade with what energy she has left, grabbing it and holding it in front of her.
"You're not understanding, are you?" I grab the tip of my sword, slicing my own finger as I toss it to the side and out of her weak grip. Grabbing her by the waist as my own arms slither up her body. "Look up, you may find something interesting." I slowly tilt her head upwards as we both look towards the ceiling. "Open and deliver" I murmur at the gathering spirits, making a perfectly sized hole form that drops the piece of artwork I made earlier.
Rising dust blinds us as the rock bursts across the ground. "A-" I catch her tongue.
"Recognise it?" I interrupt her to ask with curiosity.
She kneels down, literally crawling towards the remnant of her brother's petrified corpse. "I did say I'd fix him though, and you have my word!" I cheer.
"WAI-" She tries screaming but they've already gathered around him, waiting for my command.
"Untwine" I whisper as they spin and twist into the shattered pieces of Arthur's body.
The peaceful silence is suddenly filled with the grotesque pillage of vomit spilling from her mouth as she drops the piece of her brother's fleshed out face. His singular eye which was previously cracked like a plate off from his own face, still holding an element of...beauty to it. "W-hy" She whimpers once again.
Grabbing her by the hair I drag her back towards the altar and through the smelly guts of her brother, "I've got no attachments here Nimue, is that not the gift of having nothing? My two brothers want me dead and my own mother has essentially called me a monster." I slam her against the side of the cold stone with a singular arm before I wander back towards my thrown sword, "It's true of course, but that hurt." Slashing down across her back and placing her entire body onto the altar as the fresh blood torrents through the engraved patterns.
I close her eyes with a hand, "So I've decided." Holding my sword above her body, "I'm going to have it all. And there's not a single thing your era can do about it."
-
Percy's POV
I wander over to the statue of Ryan, kneeling down towards his wolf form, stuck in place until we can find some sort of fix for him. "She said she could undo Arthur's right? I'm sure we can get him back" Jackson reassures me.
"I guess so." I say with hesitation, completely unable to read what Morgan truthfully wants.
Sudden footsteps run past me, "Adam!? Alex!?" Athena calls out after sprinting towards the two.
A sudden weight on my shoulder presses down on me as I look to my side, following the metallic claws up a lengthy fur covered arm. Looking up into the green eyed beast I hardly recognise anymore. He's changed. "You okay?" He asks me, extending his hand out to me which I take immediately almost as if falling into his grasp.
"What's wrong?" His chest hums out.
I unintentionally inhale his scent deeply before pressing off him, "I'm good!" I cheer, once again looking up at him.
He stares back down at me, unresponsive to my words. "Percy I've known you too long, what's wrong?" He continues asking, picking me up and walking towards Athena.
"I-can't describe it...it's not something I've felt before." I attempt to explain while shifting on his shoulder. "It's quiet, calm, peaceful even." I try again.
He places me down to face him, "I-" He goes to speak but sudden bone crushing squeeze grabs me from behind.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I-" Adam's voice repeats himself as he hugs me from behind, slamming his knees down to the ground as tears flow from his eyes.
"It's okay, I'm okay" I force myself to turn in his bear hug, facing his face and wiping away the tears. "You're too weak to hurt me anymore" I jokingly kiss his head as he pauses his tears.
Athena smacks the back of his head, forcing him to look down. "Aaaand I'd of stopped you, but who's keeping count?" she laughs while extending her hand to Alex.
"I apologise..." Alex hangs his head low, refusing to look at Jackson despite Jackson's gleamed smile...completely contradictory to his bloodied state.
"Irene" He looks around, calling her name into an empty space just before a flick of white hair spikes up from behind an erected rock.
"I'm just the weight lifter now?" She shrugs with a sigh, nonetheless she grabs his arm and helps him walk.
"You could of helped" He states.
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"And yet I didn't." She finishes with a wink, waiting for us all...well just Adam, to stand back up.
Chris' movements causing us to look at him as shadow moves away from our view, lifting his hands up to look at as his finger tips begin to shake. "Let's be on our way." He says with nervousness, taking a step forward and narrowly avoiding a falling crystal.
We stare up, noticing the fissure within the ceiling now covered by pieces of Theta's body, all luring back to the singular door. "Fine" Adam wipes his tears, still clearly hurt by his own actions but there's not much for us to say. He pauses for a second after standing up, looking around frantically before asking, "Where's Yue!?" He yells.
Athena's back remains turned as she takes over the subject, "Let's be on our way Adam." She answers with a shaky breath.
"But where is sh-" He tries to ask again.
"We'll see for ourselves." She answers back, not wanting to confirm anything.
He looks lost for words, instead leading his eyes back to me as he wraps an arm around me, clearly feeling out of place in the scenario. "It's okay." I rub his back, copying his wrapped arm around me.
Closer and closer, the more we take a step towards this place...I can't help but feel those sensations again, newer words flowing through my mind as I try to remember it. 'Cold, slow and forever patient.'
One by one we enter the doorway, patiently waiting for a person to fully fit through before another one tries. 'It's a feeling you can't forget.' Fenrir begins to speak, blocking out the chatter of my friends.
'Like a predator to prey' Crest comments.
'Like a Lycan to a wolf' Fenrir adds. 'It's a feeling you can't forget.' He repeats.
When it's my turn I place my hand along the doorframe, seemingly having the word come to me like an undesired wish...a forced hand of fate, 'Death' my own voice rings out through my mind. I've never felt it before...so why now?
My hand grips the doorway,
'We can't win' Fenrir tenses my hand. 'Percy we have to go the other way.' He refuses to let go of the entrance. 'Percy I don't want to feel it again.'
I can hear the chattering stop as they begin to question me under Fenrir's voice, 'Percy you can't make me go through that again. Not now. Not in this state.'
"Percy?" Adam asks above Fenrir's voice.
"Is that what it's like...to go your entire existence unchallenged by all but one. Only to whimper away the moment your immortality's run out?" I speak, "You so desperately clawed your way into my body, you so desperately sacrificed what made you-you, just for the chance of living a little longer. Pathetic." I hiss, feeling my hand let go as I tear it from the doorway. "I'm going, and you're going to fight like your life depends on it this time-"
Adam grabs me, spinning me to face him into his eyes, "Percy" he orders.
They're all looking at me weirdly, as if I've said something wrong. "What? Are we going or not?" I walk ahead of them, feeling an odd thumping within my chest. My heart begins to race as if responding to something.
"Percy" I can hear them call from behind me as I continue to walk onward, walking through a giant gap in the serpent maze that leads directly towards the castle.
"Percy!" Athena grabs my hand this time, slightly pulling me back as she looks at me with concern.
"What?" I ask again, looking up at her. Her face showing nothing more than sadness for some reason. "I'm fine" I reassure her, trying to force my hand away.
She tightens her grip, pulling me closer. "Then why are you crying?" she asks.
I quickly try to deny it, immediately noticing the blur within my vision. 'Am I sad?' I question to myself, allowing her to pull me in for a hug. I open my mouth, hoping to find the words for it. "I desire another. Something new, something made up of anything." I finish, pulling back from her as I wipe my tears away, unbeknownst to the meaning behind those words.
"You can-" A deep rumbling reminds us of our limited time as Chris steps through us with haste, making his way towards the castle.
"We can't afford to wait here, we're going in" Adam wraps his hand around mine as Athena lingers just behind us, jogging with a heavy weight on my head as her eyes still remain locked onto me.
-
Chris' POV
We barge through what's left of the castle doors, taken aback by the tattered layout of the inside. "STOP!" Athena screams throughout the room, directed at Morgan's sword aimed at Nimue's chest.
"Relax, I wasn't going to kill her" She laughs it off, tossing the sword into the air beside her.
I look around the room, noticing the Hollow slowly dripping in from the ceiling and onto Nimue's body. I glare a little bit, focusing my gaze at her. 'Trying to get into my head?' She snickers.
"I think the both of us benefit from you not doing that, Christopher." She points the sword at me. I grip my shaky claws, ready for anything.
"Terraform" She states, gathering the broken materials around us and constructing a wall between her and us.
I immediately smash through it, not giving it the chance to fully form before diving into a roll down the steps and towards her. "Scary" She mocks, stepping onto her sword as they slowly raise into the air. "Aren't you here to get your revenge Alex?" She asks him.
"What do you mean?" He responds.
"Nimue here, she's the one who killed sweet o'l Yasmine. Shatter and Bind" She crumbles the wall, tightening the rock into small chains that attempt to wrap around the others but ignoring me.
He falls silent but looks towards Nimue's defenceless body. "It's you. It's always been you." He mumbles, shifting with a seething hatred.
She sits casually on the sword, "Me? Theta only awakened because nature was disturbed, would you like to answer to that. Athena?" She points her finger at her.
"What!?" Athena angrily responds.
A cheerful laugh releases as the sword spins in reaction, "You wanted to bring Thomas back, did you not? Both you and Nimue are to blame for this. The curiosity of your human natures, sickening...isn't it?" She grits her teeth with a smile.
I feel a heat charging from my stomach, "ENOUGH!" I tilt my head upwards to her, roaring green flames from under her.
"Redirect" She waves her hand towards the others as a torrent of wind pushes it towards them and away from her.
Without another moment, Percy jumps into it with a coating of black haze, reducing it into nothing more than minor cinders. "Ah, the beast who was once able to tear open the very fabric of reality. How's that pup developing?" She mocks again but he ignores her and instead decides to run towards Nimue.
"I think not." She states as Percy lunges towards the body but a screen of darkness tries to push him out. "Theta has accepted her body as a mother, do you dare separate that bond they share?" Morgan informs him as the ink begins to pile onto Nimue like sludge, sliding into her eye sockets and ripping the jaw off her face as she attempted to reject it. Climbing into her body with unconsented force.
Sparks of black begin to ignite as Percy's claws dig into the translucent sheet in the form of a bubble that protects her body. "Push him!" Morgan yells, concentrating the wind around him that leaves him unbothered.
"I SAID REMOVE HIM!" She screams, stomping onto her sword that sends a red pulse into the ground beneath her, exploding the rock under me as I throw myself out of the way. The sheet begins to crack as his head goes through it, "GET THE FUCK OFF PERCY!" Her voice screeches out, something from within her igniting as her eyes begin to swirl, dropping off her sword and coming in contact with the broken ground.
"GRAB HER!" Athena yells just as loud, shifting alongside Adam and Alex as the three jump down the broken stairs towards her. Jackson's injured human state forcing him to linger behind but nonetheless makes his way towards her.
"AKRASIA!" She calls to her sword but I leap to grab onto it, meeting contact with my own metallic claws. Her face full of panic as she looks towards me with hate. "YOU ALL UNDERSTEMATE ME!" The ground beneath her swirls around without anything leaving her mouth. "MAELSTROM!" She catches the three in the air as the terrain begins to shift, deconstructing the castle piece by piece. Tearing down the walls and removing the tunnelled halls of the that begin to swirl around her as the centre of the purple storm.
My footing now completely reliant on the whirling wind carrying us all as the only stationary pieces are her and Nimue's altar. My grip is slowly ceasing, even with my claws latched onto a torn pillar. Each object that flies by, just barely grazing me as my large body fails to avoid it. Watching as a rock lifts her up to Percy's tunnel vision. She grabs his shoulder, spinning his head to face her. "RELEAS-" She stops herself after seeing his face.
She clenches her hand back, gathering a red aura into her skin that rockets a punch into Percy but he doesn't let go. "THIS ISN'T FENRIR!" She screams, throwing another punch into his head. "THIS ISN'T PERCY! AND THIS ISN'T YOUR DAMN WOLF!" She tries to throw another but stops after noticing the entire bubble surrounding Nimue is filled up with a black substance.
Her serious face quickly replaced with a smile, "HAHA!" She begins to cackle, "HAHAH-" Her voice stops, immediately ceasing the storm that drops us all into the water surrounding what was once the castle. A grotesque crunch audibly echoes through the cursed zone, raising all our heads towards the two figures arched by the bubble. Percy's head no longer buried into the bubble, and instead chewing into Morgan's neck, ripping out her flesh as the colour drains from her eyes.
"-ll" She mutters, pushing the rock into the bubble as the black substance attacks her body. Swarming it like an infestation, snapping her bones and digging through her eyes until she's entirely pushed under.
"IRENE!" Jackson yells, lifting an iridescent shard above his head as he limps closer. Tossing it to the white haired girl who arches her hand back as if prepared to throw a javelin. Cracking a hole through the bubble that enters into the ink.
"PERCY GET BACK!" Adam screams after noticing the cracks begin to line up and cover the glass bubble.
"I desire another. Something new, something made up of anything." He finally responds, continuing to hang there despite the globe's readiness to burst at any moment.
"ATHENA GET HIM!" I yell while continuing to keep myself afloat in the water, watching her hair extend and wrap around him, forcibly removing him just in time for the globe to break.
Instead of the expected sludge leaking out...nothing drains, instead it all remains perfectly circular. Giving me time to swim back to the others before it contaminates the water.
Just as we all get together, eyes begin to form along it. Replicating Theta's old form before teeth begin to smile at us, curving the eyes into a gaze of amusement before wrapping and tightening into a swirl. Smaller and smaller it concentrates itself, leaving nothing behind but a singular standing woman with her hair dropped in front of her face.
She leans down, picking up the small remaining piece of what Irene tossed and begins staring at it. Lifting a piece of her hair from her face so we can see her blood lust filled eyes..."What. Did. You. Do."