Elsewhere.
Shin’s face and body were full of fresh cuts and bruises while his body was in enormous pain, but that doesn't slow him down as he kept punching Hiro in the face while the god’s back leaned against a floating wall. The wall behind Hiro shattered after Shin laid his last punch.
Hiro gritted his teeth and kicked Shin away, giving them some distance.
“I don't understand this! How?!”
“How are you matching my power?!”
“I am a GOD! You are nothing!”
Hiro called upon his thunderbolt spear and it flew straight into his hand. The spear vibrated in Hiro’s hold, and he pulled it back, readied for a piercing strike. Shin quickly re-materialized his scythe and blocked the attack. This attack was different because Hiro is putting all of his power in this one strike.
Their weapons clashed, the force from that one strike shattered Shin's scythe and pierced his shoulder. Hiro laughed in joy as he drove the tip deeper into the wound. Shin cried in agony as pain shook his nerve, he quickly grabbed onto the spear and prevented it from going deeper.
"Now you die, cousin!"
"Son!" Hades slung his Bident at Shin.
Hiro backed away from the flying weapon, Shin, however, remained where he is and caught the Bident mid-air. The two-prong spear rings in his hand before he twirled it around him. While the weapon is spinning, it changed its form again to fit the wielder. At that moment, everything makes sense to him.
"Hades broke the rule, didn't he? That's why he never let you leave the castle. If other gods caught wind of this, he will be punished severely."
"What rule?"
"You're not a candidate, you are a god! That's why you were able to match my power."
"That can't be true."
"Look at the Bident, you fool. You just changed it to fit yourself, only a god can wield such a powerful weapon."
Shin looked at the newly shaped Bident, then he looked at his father, the guilt in his eyes were glaring. He didn't want to believe it but it's true, what Hiro said was the truth. Shin tightened his grip over the Bident.
"You didn't know, do you?" Hiro laughed.
"This is what I meant!" He swung his hand at the empty air.
"The lies, the secrets, the hypocrisy! This what they do, they manipulated, they contorted the truth, misshapen their own law whenever it suits them! And no one is going to stop them, why? Because they are gods, no one is above them, but now. I am above them."
Shin still froze after hearing the truth. But who could blame him, his entire life has been a lie, the one who he trusted the most has betrayed him.
"Listen, Shin." Hiro extended his hand to his cousin while letting his spear hovered beside him. Shin raised his gaze to meet with him.
"We can change this, together, we can create a new world for us. No more lies, no more secrecy. With your power and mine, we will be unstoppable." Hiro slowly gathered potent electricity in his other hand, behind his back.
"Shin! Don't listen to him!" Agnes shouted as he flew at the boy. Shin turned his gaze at the harpy and let his guard down. With the young god distracted, Hiro slung a compressed thunderbolt at breakneck speed.
Agnes was supposed to stand in the way of the thunderbolt, but Shin quickly changed their place. The thunderbolt hit its intended target, and Shin cried in agony as the bolt burned his back and spine.
"Shin! No!!" Agnes yelled out as she embraced the young boy before he fell.
*
Back to the battle earlier.
The power within me slowly slipped away as I blocked another attack from Daisie. The god killer smirked as she knew that her opponent won't last long. Daisie kicked me in the chest, and I was thrown to the wall. Debris and dust washed over me as I removed myself from the cracking wall and dropped to my hands and knees. Despite being in tremendous pain, I stood up again and breathed heavily.
"Your force is thinning and outnumber by mine. You have no one left, and you are slowly losing your precious power."
"As I said it earlier, you can't win this battle."
“It’s not about winning,” I charged toward her.
“You fool!” Daisie prepared herself for a piercing strike.
I charged toward her while my hand tightened around the grip. However, as she gets closer to me, I let go of my weapon and redirected her sword using my bare hand. The blade grazed my palm and stabbed through my belly. I gritted my teeth, then with my bloody hand, I locked her in an embrace.
"What are you doing?! Let go of me!" She tried to pull away, but I kept her in place.
"I'm not trying to win, I'm just the distraction. Ophre, NOW!!!"
In the floating room, there was a woman that everyone had forgotten about. However she was not an ordinary woman, but a good damn archer that never missed her mark. The heat warped and melted the entrance of the room, as a glimmer of light twinkled inside. That woman had been waiting for the right moment all this time, she had accumulated energy slowly and in silence, but now she doesn't have to hide anymore as she released every bit power she got and BOOM!
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"No!!!!" Daisie screamed.
The entrance shattered from the shockwave alone after Ohpre release it. The arrow flew at great speed with no obstacle whatsoever and head toward the Orb, breaking the sound barrier.
"I won't let you!" Hiro yelled and threw his spear to block the arrow. Suddenly, Shin woke up then used the chance to turn around and propelled his Bident through the air, and stabbed Hiro in his back. The man cried out his pain as he began to fall toward one of the floating platforms.
Daisie used her power in a last attempt to stop the arrow. With a blink of the eye, both of us teleported in front of the arrow, she intended to let the arrow kill both of us, but I won't let her have the satisfaction as I sent her flying with a kick.
Using what was left of my power, I propelled myself toward the spear and punched it away. The energy of the spear broke upon impact with my fist and I was licked by electricity. I lost control over my body as I descended toward the orb.
Hiro looked in horror at his failure, he gripped the dog tag around his neck tightly and whispered, “I have failed you,” With tears in his eyes, he crashed into the platform.
Time slowed down as the arrow hit the orb and exploded. A blast of energy expanded outward from the explosion, eating away anything that it came to contact with. In the distance, Daisie howled in pain as her armor broke off her and deteriorated into dust. I closed my eyes and felt the enormous heat slowly rising.
Is this the end?
It seems like it.
“I’m gonna miss that date after all.”
…
A few days later.
Cladded in black clothes, Shin walked up the brick path along with Agnes with a bouquet of yellow Daffodil. When they arrived at their destination, the young boy placed the bouquet on the steps of Adrestia’s temple. Agnes pulled Shin closer to his side, and let him rested his head against Agnes’s shoulder, in an attempt to comfort the boy. Shin wiped the single tear running down his cheek, and forced a smile on his face.
Someone else wrapped in bandage stroll passed Shin and placed a single Daffodil on the steps, next to the bouquet.
“It was kind of your father to create this place again in her memories.”
“Are you sure you’re okay walking around with your injury?”
“It’s still hurt, but you know, its nothing that I can’t handle.”
A griffin with bandaged wing trudged up the short steps and rested in the entrance.
“Ugh, I doubt all these bandages are necessary,” She tore the fabric and took off the bandage around her head to reveal a burn scar that covered almost half her face.
“Andre….you know that Apollo could make that scar disappear in an instant. I don’t think he would mind doing it.”
“The scar doesn’t bother me that much, besides it gives me character,” I ran my hand against the rough surface of my burned face, and smiled before walking up the steps and then laid against the griffin’s soft belly.
“Falcor, thank you for saving me. I owe you one,” I said as I gently stroked the feathers on his leg.
The fluffy griffin replied with a saddened howl.
“Me too, Falcor. Despite everything, I missed both of them,” My gaze raised to the vast blue sky, and inhaled the fresh air into my lungs.
“Are you sure about putting that crazed woman in the dungeon?” Agnes walked up the steps and took a sit on it.
“Not a popular choice, but no one would say no to the savior of the worlds.” Shin sat right next to Agnes.
“Shin, are you and your dad on speaking term again?”
“No, he deserved it after what he did.”
“Come on, lay off the old man. He still loves you like a son.”
“I’m giving us some time. I need time to think and process it. You know, it’s quite a lot to take in,” Shin pouted as he rested his chin against his hands.
“Take all the time you want, we have plenty of those right now,” I grinned because I know his anger won’t last long, Shin loves his parents more than anything else in this world. After a couple of dinners, they would probably forget about it and patch things up. Me on the other hand, It’s time. I stood up again and brushed off my butt.
“I can’t believe someone would mourn for Hiro at the funeral earlier despite everything.”
Shin sighed, “Although he did some bad stuff, he used to be a kind and loving man. We mourn for the past him that we know, not the…”
“The murderous version?” Agnes chimed in.
“Exactly.”
“I heard Tadao getting back with Kadence?”
“Yeah, who could have guessed it. I hope it went well this time around,” Shin said with a hopeful smile.
“Everyone needs a little bit of love, time to time,“ I walked down the steps and reach into my jacket.
“Where are you going?” Agnes asked.
“Now that everything had gone back to normal, I think it’s time for me to leave, but before I did. Here! Catch it!”
Agnes caught with his mouth, I smirked when the marble broke and released the power inside it. Agnes was enveloped by warm golden light, his body grown to the height of a normal man, two pairs of arms protruded out of his shoulders while his wing was shifted onto his back. The familiar mark on his belly disappeared while his bird-like legs were turning into a normal set of human legs. He looks like a beautiful angel that has a pair of orange wings.
He’s quite tall, a bit taller than me at least, but still noticeable.
“Woah...” Shin looked in awe.
“What did you do?” Agnes looked at me with his dashing face.
“Hades gave it to me, he picked me, but I decline, so he trusted me to pick someone and I picked you….You’re a god now, Agnes.”
“What? I can’t be a god, I’m not qualified for any of this. You’re the one who should be accepting this humongous gift.”
“Me? Agnes, have you seen my life? I barely got it together, I make bad choices, I would be terrible as a god.”
“What makes you think that this was a good choice?” He asked, but I started walking toward the edge, he followed me along with Shin.
“I just know, look when we got separated. I mostly wallow in my own pain, but you. You were out there making something out of that pain, you united your own people and mended your past, all without me...You’re independent, dependable, kind, a strong leader with a good heart, and a good little bro...I guess you’re not so little now. I just know that you will make good choices.”
“What if I make bad choices?” His gaze was downcast as he said it.
“Even your sad face is handsome, god damn, I starting to regret giving you the power now. I’m just kidding.”
“Andre, I’m serious. What if…?”
“It won’t be as bad as I did...so stop worrying about it.”
“I have no idea what to do with this kind of power.”
“Looked around you!”
Agnes glanced around himself at the small floating island he’s in. “You said it yourself, the monsters needed a home, so give them a home! This is a good place to start, remake it all you want, but the temple is off-limit,” I extended my arms at the sky.
“Where are you going? Won’t you be here to help me?”
“Ahhh...you will be fine. Besides, I got a date. So how do I look?”
“You look…” Agnes smiled as he closed his eyes then looked back at me with a thankful gaze, “You look weird, weirdo.”
“I guess, I am a weirdo, ciao!” I let myself fall straight down, then before I hit the water, a pair of wings made out of light grew behind me, and I flew up toward an invisible portal. A portal that leads me to a familiar world, in search of a person.
Who am I searching for?
I don’t need to tell you guys that because you already know.
THE END.