THE END BEFORE THE BEGINNING

"If you could go back in time, would you change anything?"

Laughter ensued in the group of friends traveling through the sky on a stingray.

"What kind of dumb question is that, Anchieta?" Asked Ulysses, an athletic man with long purple-hair tied in a ponytail. "Of course I would make my own harem, that's my biggest regret after all." He sighed.

"With your looks, I doubt it would be that hard," Theo answered with a smile as he swatted away one of the flying lights around him.

Anchieta rolled her eyes. "I'm serious, guys. What could we have done differently…" she paused for a while. "To save everyone."

"Save Hamon and kill the enchantress." Said Hilda, a hulking woman with passion burning in her eyes.

Everyone stayed silent. The enchantress was the one who took Hilda's son's life, after all.

"Yeah, that's a good start." Said Lucas, after a while, the one holding the energy reins and guiding the stingray through the sky. "But I guess I would begin by gathering us all. Isn't it easier when we have some friends to share our burden?"

Everyone gave a wry smile. Only Lucas would say something like that in the abyss. This never-ending compassion was what brought him all the way here, after all.

"Well, I would still build my own harem. Everyone here is welcome, by the way." Ulysses laid back, laughing.

"You guys are hopeless, and you, Theo?" Anchieta stared.

Theo put a finger on his chin in thought. "I guess I would try to not kill half the population I came in contact with early on… For starters." He answered, eyeing Anchieta with an accusing smile.

With a defeated grunt, she gave up on this hopeless group, "I need to vent," and hopped down in the dark pit below full of creatures of nightmares.

"There she goes again, bullying the creatures of Tartarus," Lucas said as he reined the stingray to slow down a bit. "Whatever, she will catch up soon."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"To tell the truth." Ulysses continued. "I think only Theo would make a difference if he went back to the past."

"What? Are you underestimating me, soyboy?" Hilda huffed.

Ulysses rolled his eyes, and Theo cut up in front of him on the explanation. "My blessing, he probably means that."

Ulysses nodded. "Yeah, but not only that."

"What else?" Theo asked.

"You are crazy," Ulysses answered with a sage nod.

"Oh yeah, definitely." Lucas smiled

"Crazy crazy." Hilda approved.

"What? No way, just because-" Theo tried to defend himself but was interrupted by a bloodied hand grappling the edge of the stingray.

"Crazy," Anchieta said as she pulled herself up, drenched in black, blue, and red blood. "But the best." She gave him a wide smile.

"If the crazy bitch says you are crazy, you just accept it, boy." Ulysses patted his back.

Just like that, the group of five friends kept traveling through the hell-bent landscape. They were part of the elite of earth warriors. Each one of them offering their unique traits to the group. Traits that made them able to stand where they are. Lucas was compassionate, winning the loyalty of many. Ulysses was lucky, surviving everything through chance. Hilda was violent, battling on the frontlines and protecting everyone. Anchieta was violent, too, battling on the frontlines and killing everyone. Theo was crazy; a bit smart too, maybe.

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Depth of colossus

"Pitiful humans," Atlas stared down at humanity's last stand. "It seems you learned nothing about humility." The colossal stone-being talked in a slow and powerful metronome.

"It's impossible, Anchieta." Theo loosened his grip on his hair, "this time around, we really can do nothing," and sat down.

Anchieta, by his side, began laughing. "Funny, isn't it? All those years, and we never amount to something." Anchieta held her legs close to her chest, gripping her calves strong enough to turn her knuckles white. "Every time," she continued, drying a single tear just in time to hide it from Theo. "Every single time we advance, we fight for ourselves, for the others," she was never seen crying, and today wouldn't be the first. "Every damn time, we become weaker." She punched the cold black ground with enough strength to level buildings, but it didn't make a dent.

"We did great." He laid her head on his thighs. "It..." he hesitated, searching for the right words. "It just wasn't meant to be."

She chuckled. "Watching you give up actually puts me at ease." As he raised his eyebrows, she continued. "When the maniac of optimism and sheer determination says so, we should all just sit down and rest."

He snorted and gave them a light smile. They always pestered him, asking if his blessing wasn't boundless positivity and good vibes. He looked up to the colossal abomination, never before he felt so serene. "Maybe it was impossible…" as soon as the words hit him, he noticed where they did wrong. It is impossible, maybe we should have never even tried to have a chance. Maybe all this is to show us how utterly weak we will ever be. But if so… there is hope.

Atlas intensified his stare at the passers. Theo felt nothing. No one felt. They all were pressured into the ground with their vain hope of ever measuring up to what is above.