"I can't possibly do this." Chikyū shook her head with a sigh.
"Please, you are the only one I can trust," Opal pleaded.
Chikyū glanced at the throne Opal sat on, the courtroom lined with other seats currently empty. The banners fluttered in the cold breeze blowing through an window. "This is your kingdom," she mumbled.
"Yes, and so I entrust it to you." Opal smiled, her bright eyes glowing in the light of the setting sun.
"Fi won't forgive me," Chikyū sighed. "She trusted me to take care of you till you are able to rule fully on your own."
"Yes, and you are doing just that," Opal pointed out. "I can take care of myself combat wise, this sigil of that war you told me about is proof of that."
"There are many reasons the sigil could appear, power is only one of them," Chikyū informed. "Participating in that war is something I will not allow you to do, Fi will kill me if she finds out you are participating."
"You are so scared of her, aren't you the Primordial?" Opal questioned with a tilt of her head.
"Yes, I am the Primordial, but even I am no match for an Immortal like her," Chikyū sighed. "She could destroy an entire world if she so wished."
"I didn't know she is that powerful," Opal gasped. "It should be fine if she doesn't know, right?"
"How do you think I am supposed to do that?" Chikyū sighed. "She will be keeping an eye on the war and all it's participants, and if she sees you I will be dead in the most brutal way imaginable."
"How about, I don't participate in the war. I will remove this sigil, and then you have nothing to worry about." Opal suggested as she got up from the throne, walking to Chikyū.
"Thank you for not leaving." Chikyū breath a sigh of relief.
"I am still leaving, I will remove the sigil so you can rest assured I won't involve myself in that war," Opal shrugged.
"Why are you leaving then?" Chikyū questioned.
"I admit I should have picked a better time to tell you this," Opal mumbled. "I want to leave because there is just so much out there that I haven't seen. I want to see everything there is to see, and find out about all the different kinds of things out there. I saw so much in that little journey, imagine just how much I will discover in a few years."
Chikyū opened and closed her mouth several times, staring at the ground. "Fine," she sighed, "have it your way." She wrapped her arms around Opal and pulled her in a tight embrace. "I will be keeping an eye on you, don't forget that. Stay away from danger, you might be strong but there are stronger things out there. If you go anywhere near danger willingly, I will drag you back here myself."
"I will not, you have my word." Opal mumbled as she buried her face in Chikyū's clothes.
"I hope this journey goes well for you," Chikyū sighed. "I have seen many which don't."
---
"I have no requirement to participate in this war." Niko mumbled, crossing her legs on the boulder she sat. She glanced at the setting sun in the distance, visible just above the ocean. Waves crashed against the cliff below, a strong breeze blowing from the ocean.
"Why not? Is it far too easy for you?" The old man in front of her questioned.
"Don't forget I am not an ally of you Immortals either, or of your leader, The Creator." Niko eyed him, her blue eyes surveying his body. "How many do you even have?"
"An educated guess? Or did you use your powers to tell?" He questioned.
"It's easy to tell apart a clone from the real one based on their mana," Niko shrugged. "Clones draw their mana from the original, afterall, all clones are connected to the soul of the main body."
"Perhaps that is why the Empress couldn't figure it out back then, now would be a different story however," he mumbled. "I do wonder if I should avoid her till the end, or go after since the beginning."
"You believe you are strong enough?" Niko inquired with a scoff.
"Perhaps," he chuckled. "The Empress is impossible to defeat, if you give her enough time that is. Even The Creator lost, only because he did not go for the kill right from the start."
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"Why is that?" Niko questioned.
"Why do you suppose I will explain it to you?" He questioned.
"If you do not wish to die, then it will be wise to do so," Niko sighed.
"Losing a clone would not matter to me, I have thousands more," he scoffed.
"Yes, thousands of other clones will survive, but you won't," she chuckled.
"Are you attempting to strike a deal?" He questioned with a smile.
"There is no benefit for me in anything you are capable of offering, other than what you meant when you said that." Niko replied, looking at her fingers and the sigil on the back of her hand.
"The Empress is the perfect Krystallite, capable of understanding and adapting to her enemies within minutes at most. Her adaptation is fast enough that no trick works on her thrice, unless she allows it to," he informed.
"Don't all Krystallites adapt?" Niko questioned with a tilt of her head.
"The Empress is far greater, she adapts on a level above rest. Simply being a Krystallite is not enough to be able to adapt everything, your brain and soul need to capable of adapting as well," he explained. "She doesn't simply adapt to attacks to resist them like most others do, she adapts to her opponents strategies, their fighting style, their soul, everything. Her eyes will be mostly useless for all except her, and she is only starting to understand their true potential. If one can't kill her or incapacitate her with the first attack, they might as well quit."
"She is that strong?" Niko mumbled, half to herself.
"She has been made to kill gods, immortals, mortals, it matters not. If something exists she is capable of killing it, and there are few which can kill her before she adapts to them. Even if you fought her and did not kill her right away, you will not win." He informed with a smile.
"I can kill her any moment, it wouldn't matter," Niko shrugged.
"Forget not, that girl is part Celestial Phoenix, the kind of Phoenixes so powerful that even gods feared them," He scoffed.
"Why does it matter?" Niko sighed.
"No form of Reality Manipulation works against Phoenixal Arts," he informed. "She has already seen how your ability works, she understands every last bit about it, perhaps even more than you do yourself. If you fight her, she will not waste any time and start with her Phoenixal Arts."
"Can't I still kill her before she kills me?" Niko questioned.
"How about trying out your theory," he suggested. "It won't hurt to try, the worst that may happen is your death."
"What is your name?" Niko inquired as she got up.
"Changing the topic because you can't win, I can't blame you for that," he smiled.
"I have no reason to fight her, she only does as told," Niko sighed. "She is just a puppet of fate, and I am not part of her fate." Niko shook her head, appearing right behind the man in an instant. "I grant you the honor of stating your name before leaving, I may try to remember it if you live."
"I will not," he informed. "All Immortals who participate will truly die in this. Our lifespans have reached their end already, we are simply living on borrowed time. The others will also participate, knowing only if they win can they continue to live on this borrowed time."
"Must be sad," Niko shrugged. "Say your name already, or is it so horrible you have to avoid it in such a way?"
"Lyranse, second of the six Immortals, also known as–" he informed.
"I need not know the titles of one I will never meet again, you are free to go die an honorable death at the hands of The Empress," Niko mumbled.
"That is what I intend to do," Lyranse smiled. "I will accept death only at the mercy of the god I believe in, and it would be my pleasure if that god kills me herself no matter in what way.
"Creepy old man." Niko spat before she disappeared, leaving Lyranse there by himself.
---
"Are you really going to participate?" The girl questioned, her long purple hair fluttering in the stormy wind behind her. Her purple eyes were fixed on the figure in front of her, a person similar in appearance but taller and older. Both wore a similar purple kimono, marked by lighter purple and pink lightning patterns.
"It does not concern you." The older girl replied, looking at the lightning in the distance without even glancing back.
"What if something happens to you? I don't want to lose you, mom." The girl sobbed, clinging to her mother.
"I will be fine, Aki." The mother sighed, gently holding her daughter's hand and turning around. "I won't ever leave you alone for long, I will always come back no matter what."
"But you just returned from a war, I don't want you to go again." Aki tightly embraced her mother, tears streaming down her face.
"Shi, I have gathered the information you asked for." A crow informed as it landed on a red, wooden beam near them.
"Thank you, Klain." Shi sighed, gently caressing her daughter's hair.
"It is fine if you don't wish to participate, I know she is far more important to you than billions of other liv–" The crow mumbled before being cut off by a blade of electricity that went barely above his head. The crow looked in the distance as the blade moved forward, cleanly slicing through a tall pillar of stone several kilometres away.
"She is, but as a god I have a duty to protect all lives." Shi murmured as she embraced her daughter even tighter. "I will return no matter what, but I must do my best to save all those people while I can. I promise I will prioritise returning to you still, you are the most important thing in my life, Aki."
"Fine," Aki mumbled as she pulled away. "But that's a promise, don't break it. I won't ever forgive you if you don't return like father."
"How about you also promise me something?" Shi sighed. "You won't go anywhere without guards, and you will always keep the charm with you, and practice regularly, and also not forget to eat on time."
"I will." Aki agreed with a smile, again embracing her mother.
"If the mother-daughter talk has ended, shall we begin with our planning?" Klain inquired.
"Yes." Shi nodded as she pulled away. "Aki, go and rest for now, it's already quite late. You are free to sleep with your toys while I return, just don't make a mess and don't stay awake too late waiting for me."
"Okay." Aki called out as she walked down the path winding around the mountain they stood on.
"Call the others as well, Klain," Shi ordered. "Tell Ki first, I would like to talk to her."
"Now that is more like the goddess I know." The crow bowed as it raised it's wings. "The forty-eighth Goddess of Lightning, Raiden Shi. The rest of our strengths shall assist you till the very end." The crow announced as it flew into the air.
"Even all of your strengths might not suffice to win this war, or even make it to the end of it." Shi sighed as she stared back at the lightning, closer than before. "Aki still thinks you died in battle, just how much she would despise you if she knew the truth." Shi mumbled, sitting under a tree with orange to purple blossoms covering it.