I had blacked out and woke up in a very dark space, the first thing that I noticed was that I was tied to some kind of table, with tentacles. When I looked around me, I saw Eris with her arms crossed, arguing with Limos. There were many other tentacled creatures nearby. They all had a different color. Limos looked at me, “He is awake.”
Eris grabbed her arm, “Let him go.”
“No, mama is hurt, this man hurt mama.”
“Yes, but I am fine.”
“This man, pretends to be a woman. He ate this woman?”
“No, he did not eat her, he absorbed her.”
Limos came closer to Eris, “Absorbing, is eating. It all goes into the core.”
“Limos! Let me go this instant, or I am kicking your ass.”
Limos had this sinister smile on her face, “I will make you so hungry, you will eat yourself.”
“Hold up, can she actually do that?” Eris simply nodded.
Limos waved her hand around, “Your children have missed you, mama. You are home.”
Eris sighed, “Don’t hurt him,” she walked over to one of the tentacle creatures and hugged him or her. She did so for every tentacle creature. Limos came closer, “Me tricksy human.”
“Yeah, you might need to work on your speech a little.”
“Is my speech not fine? I lured and killed many people with this body.”
“What? You killed people?”
“Yes, Limos was so hungry, and her siblings were hungry too. Normally, mama brings us meat, cake, and other delicious goodies. That way, we don’t have to hunt or kill people.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Yes, the man sees, he did this, all the people we killed to survive, it is all on you.”
Eris walked over, “Everyone seems fine but a bit hungry.”
“Eris, what do we do? We need to go on with our quest.”
“But, my children, I still need to figure out why they turned out like this.”
“Yes, I understand, but, we have to close the shadow world.”
Eris put her hand on her chin, “Yes, that is true. Limos, we must let him go. We really have to leave. We can find a way to get you back to Olympus. Where we used to live, how did you end up here anyway? This used to be our little secret hideout. Did grandmama not take care of you?”
Limos looked sad, “Grandmama got sad that you have disappeared. Grandpapa banished us to the underworld so that grandmama would not have to see us sad anymore.”
I sighed, “Limos, can’t we tell your grandmama that Eris is back? Then you might be able to go back again.”
Limos shook her head, “It is so long ago, I am not even sure if grandmama remembers us.”
Eris started pacing back and forth. “Limos, we really need to go on with our quest. Can we leave some food, and then you will let him go?”
Limos hissed at Eris, “This evil man has influenced mama. She would never want to leave home, unless she looks for papa or food!” Tentacles grabbed Eris and held her tight.
Eris struggled, “Limos, I order you to let me go this instant.”
“No, the evil man has influenced you.”
Limos walked over to me, “We will free your soul and recreate your lovely tentacled body!” Tentacles slithered over my legs, towards my rib cage. My shirt got ripped to pieces, next my body got torn open, and I screamed in pain as I felt my skin getting ripped apart, everything in between and my rib cage cracked open.
I cried in pain and when I looked down, I saw a bright, big orb inside of me. Limos looked at me, “There is your soul, mama is in there. Limos, please, I apologize for all the killing you needed to do to survive. I am also sorry for what happened to your mama.”
Limos came closer, “Limos is not falling for tricksies from humans, you are just saying whatever you need to get free.”
“No Limos, I am truly sorry.”
“Eris, please do something!”
“I am sorry, Steve, I can’t. It was good knowing you, I think we are both going to die soon.”
Limos smiled at Eris, “No Limos is going to save mama and make all my siblings happy!” A tentacle slithered over to my soul core and slammed it, it hurt like hell and I screamed. Eris also screamed. Limos looked at her, “Mama is trapped in this painful orb, we need to hurt her to free her. Alas, there is no other way.”
Limos rammed down again with even more force, I tried spawning my energy sword, or ice hooks, whatever. Nothing worked. I screamed in pain as Limos hit my soul again. She came closer, “This is an energy free zone, only beings with good control over their energy can use it here. You look tasty, once I have freed mama, I am going to rip your body to shreds and feed it to my siblings.” She slammed down her tentacle on my soul, and it almost cracked.
Eris screamed in pain, but Limos got ready for another strike. Suddenly, a pink portal opened up and a huge katana flew through the air and Limos’s tentacle got chopped off. A woman jumped through the portal, caught the katana and shot a gigantic beam at Limos, who got launched away. When she turned to look at me, I couldn’t believe my eyes. “Haley?”
She looked at me, she ripped the tentacles off me. Haley walked towards Eris, she cut her loose, Eris screamed out, “Stop hurting them!”
Haley jammed down her katana in the darkness, and a barrier of light erupted around us. She brushed her hand through her short purple hair. “Limos, and your siblings, I have been decreed by the Inner Circle to stop your mad rampage. You are the cause of at least 216 deaths. Surrender and be banished to Tartarus or fight and die by my hand.”
Slowly I got up, “Haley!?”
She just glanced at me, then she looked at Limos, who started to speak. “I will never surrender, the man who ate my mama must die.”
Haley grabbed her katana and put it on her shoulder. “Is that a refusal, Limos?”
“Yes, I refuse, and I am going to kill you.”
Haley charged up her katana, energy swirled around her “Then get ready to die.” Eris ran at Haley with a knife, with the intent to fucking murder her. Haley gently dodged aside and jammed her katana through Eris’s heart. She kicked her to the floor, “No backstabbing, please.”
“Haley, what did you do?” I slid over to Eris, she gasped for air as she coughed up blood, we both looked at Haley stepping out of the barrier.
She closed her eyes and let out a smile from the corner of her mouth. Tentacles flew at her, she started dancing between them and slashing them to pieces. Eris managed to speak, “Stop, please.”
“Eris safe your strength, you are about to fucking keel over,” this barrier allowed me to send energy through Eris, trying to heal her wound, to no avail yet. Then I saw a woman step out of Haley, wielding a spear, and they fought together to fight Limos and her siblings. Then Another woman stepped out, I recognized her immediately from pictures, “Molly?”
A giant blob of tentacles launched at Haley, Stevie stepped out and shot a red beam to disintegrate it. Eris cried. Haley wielded that motherfucking big sword with one hand, she transformed her other hand into a demon claw and ripped out the throat of one of Eris’s kids. I just did not know what to say or do. How did she get this strong?
It barely took five minutes for Haley to mop them all up, finishing with Limos, Haley skewered her with her giant katana, then she exploded Limos with an overload of void energy. She put the katana on her shoulder and walked over to me, I stammered. “From, when are you?”
Haley stared blankly at me, “Two years from now.”
“What in god’s name happened to you?”
Haley smiled, “I found myself, and I am fucking cleaning up your mess, isn’t it supposed to be the other way around, Steve?”
“Your hair, why did you cut it?”
“You always said you wanted my hair to be long, to be honest, I did not like it.” She looked at Eris, “She will be fine, just give her some of your life force.”
“Can we talk, Haley?”
She looked at her friends, “No, I am not in the mood to speak with you, or Lorraine. You can be glad, I am not cutting you down right now,” she looked at Lisa.
She nodded, “She is right.” I looked at Molly and Stevie. They both agreed with her.
“Stevie, Lisa, anyone, please, tell me what is going on, how can you travel through time? How did you get this strong?”
Haley shrugged, “I have things to do.” She started walking to the pink portal.
She glanced over her shoulder, “One word of advice, Steve.”
“Yes Munchkin?”
“One, never call me that again, I am not little, secondly, try letting people go when they die. What is dead, should stay dead, the end.”
“How could you abandon Shirley like that?”
Haley let out a deep sigh, “I did not abandon her, I let her go, she deserves that, and I moved on. Something, you might need to learn.” Then she left through the pink portal. I got launched upwards and found myself back in the swamp.
Lory and Funk got up, “Steve!?”
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Lory gasped, “Your torso, it is fucking ripped open.”
I ignored her, “Eris!?” “Eris?” She did not respond. I tried feeling her pulse, she had no pulse. “Goddammit, Eris, don’t fucking die on me.” Then I remembered what Haley said, life force, and there is only one way to directly transfer life force. “Lory, this is going to look bad, but I need to save her.”
I opened up Eris’s mouth and put my mouth on hers. I streamed some of my life force into her. Eris suddenly gasped awake. I shot back, “Oh, thank god, you’re not dead.”
She grabbed her wound, it had magically turned into a scar. Eris pointed at me, “You are going to goddamn die.”
She scrambled up and jumped towards me, she landed on top of me and tried to choke me with tentacles. “Eris, let go of me.”
“No! You need to die! I don’t give a fucking shit if I die anymore! This is all your fault! Everything is your fault. Goddammit Steve, goddammit Thanos! I hate you, I hate you so much!”
“Eris, please, stop chocking me.”
She growled at me with a demonic roar and her eyes turned adamantine colored for a moment, she was fucking furious. “No! Don’t you realize what you just did!?”
“I fucking didn’t do anything.”
“Exactly, you should have saved them.”
“How? I could not even use energy.”
Eris started to cry and slowly let me go, “I know. But your fucking daughter killed them.”
Lory walked over, “What is going on here?”
Funk slowly walked over, “Yeah, what the fuck is going on?”
Eris punched me a few times. Then she rolled on her back and crossed her arms. Captain rolled out of me, he pulled me up and fucking punched me. “There, that is for almost leaking the information,” he punched me again, “That is for the fucking pain.” He punched me again, “And that is for not being prepared.” He healed my giant wound with red energy, it turned into a scar. Captain threw me on the ground and vanished into me.
Eris looked at me, “You deserved that.”
Lory sighed, “Can anyone tell me what is going on, or am I going to be ignored?”
I sighed, “We failed.”
“What?”
“Haley. I saw her.”
“You did?”
“Was she glad to see you?”
“No, not exactly. She is a fucking badass now. Her hair is short, she has absorbed more people.”
Lory shook her head, “How do you know, and who?”
“Abby’s sister and Stevie.”
Funk tilted his head, “Huh, I wonder how that happened. And when.”
I slowly got up, “She came from a time portal, two years had already passed for her. She moved on, she had a wedding or engagement ring.”
Lory shook her head, “No, we learned her to get someone back if you lose them.”
“Yeah, that is not sticking, she told me to learn how to let people go. And, she killed them, Limos.”
Funk looked up, “Them?”
“All of Eris’s children.”
Lory looked down, “She killed them?”
“Yes, because they murdered over two hundred people.”
Eris called out, “That is your fault!”
“Yeah, I know, don’t rub it in.”
Eris got up, “Let me and Steve talk alone, please.”
Lory looked at her, “Are you giving me a choice?”
“No.”
Funk took Lory, “Come, let them have some privacy.”
Eris waited until they were out of range, she called out, “Don’t fucking use those ears, Lory!”
Eris looked at me, “Turn into a fucking man.”
I took my own form. “Is this better?”
“Yes, I swear to god, I am done with your bullshit.”
“What do you mean Eris?”
She came closer, “There is something I need to tell you, Steve. What I felt for Thanos was infatuation. You are with Lory, I understand that. But you have this, charm. You forgave me, you even took care of me. I always thought, we might somehow end up together.”
I hung my head, “Why am I giving everyone those vibes?”
She lifted my head, “Because Steve, you are special, something is, stirring in you, trying to wake up. I am not even sure if you are on the good or the bad side. And I think, you also don’t know. Because Haley looked at you, as if you were the enemy, not her dad.” She pointed at my head, “She must know about that information. Without Lory, you would have gone on a killing spree, don’t deny it.”
“Yes, you are right.”
“I lost everything, Steve, the reasons why I kept going on.” She shed tears, “I am, done. I am not in the mood to help anymore. Not at this moment.” She looked around, Lory and Funk were not here. She came closer, she gave me a gentle kiss, I did not react. “I love you, Steve. As in, you make my heart beat twice as fast. I won’t meddle in your relationship with Lory. I am going to step inside of you now, I am going to my new room, and I think Captain is hiding too. Stay true to who you are, and don’t keep hiding behind another form. Captain and I won’t be available for the coming time, solve things yourself. You can do that. I need to mourn, and learn to let go.”
Eris stepped inside of me. Tears started falling to the ground. I fucked up, I fucked up everything. I closed my eyes and focused on the damage to my soul. As everything started to spin, I got warped to a place I had not been before. A mysterious fleshy cave, a realm hidden beneath the surface of my consciousness. This surreal cavern pulses with an otherworldly energy, a manifestation of the complexities within my psyche.
As I ventured into this enigmatic space, I found myself surrounded by pulsating walls of living tissue, their hues shifting and morphing with the ebb and flow of all my emotions. The atmosphere is both eerie and captivating, a surreal landscape where the boundaries between the physical and metaphysical blur within me. This is, where people are stored. Cocoon like structures hang from the cave ceiling, suspended by invisible threads. Within each cocoon lies a dormant figure, their features obscured by a gentle veil of ethereal light. Unless I get closer. These are all people who have been absorbed, by me, the others, Micheal.
In the deepest, darkest corner of my fleshy cave, a foreboding cocoon stands alone, encased in an ancient seal with visible cracks that hint at the recent turmoil. Within this fragile enclosure lies a figure that bears an uncanny resemblance to me. The doppelgänger within the cracked cocoon, who is he? I walked closer, and then I realized who it was. Micheal, right here, inside of me. Just like Captain said.
As I came closer and wanted to put my hand on the cocoon, his eyes opened up, “Steve? Free me. Let, me go.”
Out of fear, I jumped back, No, I did not want to believe it, “This, this is not real.”
“Steve, I am real, free me, I will reward you, with great power.”
Captain spawned behind me, “Steve, I fucking hate your guts right now, but I sensed where you were heading, leave him alone, don't trust him.”
Micheal looked at him, “Captain, backstabber, how long have I been asleep? Recent events have stirred me awake, but I am not yet free, please, free me.”
I walked backwards, I turned around and ran away, I tried to find the exit, my mind was not working properly. I ran against the wall and saw something, peculiar. As much as I tried to give it a reason or rhyme, I could only explain it as, Eldritch in being. An eldritch energy bubble that defies the natural order of this surreal realm. This mysterious sphere hovers in the air, seemingly seamlessly integrated into the pulsating organic surroundings. Its surface shimmers with an otherworldly iridescence, casting an eerie glow that dances upon the surrounding flesh like textures.
The eldritch energy bubble appears to be both ethereal and foreboding, as if it exists at the nexus of dimensions, a reservoir of arcane forces waiting to be unleashed by me. Its presence is concealed, almost as if the very fabric of the cave itself conceals the existence of this peculiar anomaly, awaiting the touch of a specific key to unlock its latent powers. Whatever the key may be, it will act as a catalyst. A trigger that, when discovered and applied, has the potential to unravel the eldritch energies contained within the bubble.
This is what I am looking for, this can explain my origin, who I am, what I am. It will reveal truths and unlock pathways to deeper understanding within the intricate tapestry of my inner world. With a mixture of curiosity and determination, I extended my hand toward the eldritch energy bubble, feeling a strange compulsion to unlock its mysteries, my mysteries. As my fingertips made contact with the shimmering surface, a sudden surge of energy coursed through me. The symbols on the bubble flared to life, emitting an ominous glow that enveloped me in an ethereal aura.
The air quivers with an otherworldly resonance, and my surroundings blur as I am thrust into an unimaginable journey through the fabric of existence. Dimensions fold and warp around me, each transition accompanied by a disorienting kaleidoscope of colors and shapes. I found myself morphing into different forms with each leap between realms. Beings of light, shadow, and grotesque amalgamations of both.
In one dimension, I embodied the ethereal essence of a cosmic entity, traversing vast expanses of stardust. In another, I become a shapeless shadow, drifting through a realm of perpetual twilight. The transitions were rapid, chaotic, and accompanied by a cacophony of cosmic whispers that seem to echo the secrets of the universe. Yet, I could not understand them.
As I hurtle through these surreal landscapes, I caught glimpses of alien civilizations, surreal landscapes, and eldritch beings that defy comprehension. Time lost its meaning as I experience the ebb and flow of existence in ways that challenge the very nature of reality. Just when I thought the journey would become overwhelming, I suddenly found myself back where I started.
In the shadow world, gasping for breath, I realized that my attempt to touch the eldritch energy bubble has catapulted me through the cosmic tapestry of my subconscious and beyond. Nothing had become clear to me, just that I can be a being of light, or a being of dark. Two names were sung in my head as I slowly got my grip back on reality. The Warrior Of Light, and the Dark Lord.