James watched as the cruiser slowly got closer and closer. Eventually it would have to land, but what if it never got the chance to do so? James smiled as the entire cruiser came into view covering the entire sky in the process. He looked at the cruiser for a moment. The ship lacked any form of offensive weaponry, despite the fact that it was designed for the purpose of attacking enemy installations. He looked at the sword, smiled, and started to spin it in a counterclockwise motion. The blade changed from that of a traditional sword to that of one bound to the hilt via a chain. James continued to spin the sword for a little while until the cruiser had moved forward just a little bit more. Once the cruiser was close enough, James threw the blade towards the glass window in front of the bridge.
The blade slid down the top of the glass and eventually buried itself halfway down the window. James smiled and dove off the ledge and into the endless darkness. He stopped after a couple of seconds and looked up at the chain dangling above him. The only thing preventing him from falling forever was the blade’s hilt which was thankfully still attached to the blade itself. James yanked on the hilt once as the blade began to retract the chain, pulling James up in the process.
The men inside of the cruiser were scrambling to try and remove the blade which had just implanted itself in the window. The director watched as the cruiser stopped moving, all so his men could remove a single pest from their windshield. He rolled his eyes and yelled at them to return to their stations.
”Gentlemen, do not worry about this one insufferable pest. Let Virgil come to us, so that we may remove the heretic ourselves.” The director ordered.
By the time he finished speaking, James had already reached the window. He removed the blade from its position and smashed through the window. He then looked around at the bridge of the cruiser and chuckled. All the men rose from their seats and pointed their rifles at him.
”Of all the interior designs you could have used, you chose an Imperial Star Destroyer!” James said.
”Well, it wasn’t my idea, frankly I’m not sure who decided on that.” The director responded.
”Uh Benny, I’m pretty sure you decided that.” James replied.
He then looked around at all the guns which were pointed at him and uttered a nervous chuckle.
”One wrong move and I will have my men open fire on you, capisce?” Benedict said.
James nodded and Benedict rolled his eyes as he stared at the man before him. Virgil was completely consumed by the darkness; he had given himself over to them. His left arm was nothing but charred bones which were loosely held together by strands of various tendons and muscles. His lower ribcage was completely exposed as well. Benedict sighed and approached his former comrade. James looked up at Benny whose head barely touched the ceiling. He had a relatively small ginger mustache along with some semblance of a beard on his face. That and the lab coat he wore made Benedict seem far more sophisticated than James could ever be.
”Oh Virgil, what have they done to you?” Benedict asked.
”Nothing, I’ve done this to myself, all for the greater good.” Silas responded.
“Lies! They did this to you; I have seen it firsthand. They tear apart my men and send their desecrated corpses back to me. What greater good is that, tell me Virgil, what kind of greater good is that exactly!?” Benedict yelled.
”Oh, so you’ve met my sister? How was she? Or did she just toy with you like she does with all her prey? Of course, she toyed with you, you’re nothing to her. You send your scouts to “research” her, but I know better Benny, I know better. You sir are a heretic, you have taken my actions for heresy and yet you do not look at your own. You invade foreign land without good reason and threaten the locals. You’re no better than the Spaniards or the Romans for Pete’s sake!” Silas answered.
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“And? You let her do this, you let your “sister” kill all those people. Should I not hold you to those same exact standards? After all, you left us for dead, did you not? You sir cannot tell me how much of a monster I am without acknowledging your own actions.” Benedict responded.
James looked at him and dropped his sword. Benedict walked up to his old comrade and patted him on the back. He then took James by the hand and walked him over to the window at the front of the ship.
”Look at it this way, I want you to be better. I want to have an enemy which I can call my equal. So, I will be generous, not for their sake, but for yours. Go, prepare your armies, and come back to me once you are ready.” Benedict said.
”You sound just like my sister Benny. Did she teach you that?” James chuckled.
“Is that so? As for whether I learned it from her, it’s called being a fair opponent Virgil.” Benedict smiled.
“Yes, I guess you are being fair, as is my sister. Yet there’s one small problem with your request. They won’t help me, I tried asking them, and they told me that it was my problem to deal with.” Silas groaned.
”Well then, we’ll just skip the whole army preparation thing. Just come back here once you’re ready. I want to see my colleague again, don’t disappoint me.” Benedict answered.
“I won’t.” James muttered.
James did not look at Benedict and merely stared out towards the spire off in the distance. The cruiser began to lower itself and eventually touched down on the surface of the Abyss. James walked back and picked up his sword before leaving the cruiser. Benedict waved at his former comrade as he left, perhaps he had made the right decision, perhaps not.
James turned around and began walking back towards the spire. He had no idea what to do now, he had merely argued the same point which he had made all those years ago. Now he had failed to eliminate the enemy, or at the very least try and delay the conflict. Now he had to bring to his companions the news of war, he had to try and rally some support here and now or else they would all fall.
”You know what, I want to see what Ceres thinks about this.” James told himself as he began to open a portal.
The portal in front of him led to a rather ornate throne room of steel and stone. James sighed and slowly walked through the portal. He stood before a massive throne carved of jade and embroidered with silver. Atop the throne sat a man in armor forged from the scales of dragons. He looked down at his visitor and frowned upon seeing that it was James who had come to see him.
”Silas! Why exactly do you come to the domain of a man who has declared himself a pacifist?” Ceres asked.
”Since when was the Aspect of War a pacifist? Oh wait, you decided to be a pacifist after obeying your own oath. You swore not to intervene in the conflicts of man and yet when mankind had brought ruin upon themselves you took the blame upon yourself. You who, need I remind you, took a self-proclaimed oath to never intervene in the conflicts of man! You did not cause their suffering, so why should you blame yourself for what they have done? Some Aspect of War you are, sitting there on your throne like you’re some kind of Kratos!” Jame answered.
”That doesn’t answer my question now does it?” Ceres replied.
”No because you sit here and choose to ignore the atrocities around you, even when your own people are at risk.” James responded, lowering his voice.
”At risk of what exactly?” Ceres inquired.
”Wow, just wow, the Aspect of War does not know that his people are at war with man! In all seriousness, how could any of us, other than me of course, have known about this?” James answered.
“So, you took dealt with them as you usually would?” Ceres asked.
“No sir, I for one ended up losing my temper to some degree. They simply overwhelmed me both in numbers and in armaments, as such I could not possibly win against them. ” James responded.
Ceres nodded as James dropped his head and exited through the portal.
“How exactly am I going to explain this to Beth?” James asked himself.
His feet touched the warm sands of his sister’s island. James sighed and laid down underneath one of the palm trees, watching the sun disappear beneath the horizon. He heard the leaves above him shake a little but did not lift his head to investigate.
”I know you’re up there; you don’t need to hide yourself.” James said.
He heard his sister grumble as she jumped down from the tree and landed in front of him. James looked up at his sister, there was a mixture of anger and playfulness in her eyes.
”What were you thinking, going out to face them all by yourself!” Bethyinine hissed.
”I lost” James replied.
“Wait a minute, did you just say that you lost? You, Silas James Mori, lost? How could you possibly lose against the Bureau? You who planned for every possible scenario could not have won this one, why is that?” Bethyinine asked.
“I wanted to protect you, they were going to kill you. Now we’re at war because of what I’ve done. I could have killed them then and there, but I stood my ground for you.” James responded.
Bethyinine blushed and chucked a little bit. She looked at her brother and hugged him as the two of them watched the sunset together. Fear gripped James’s mind as he tried to prepare for what was inevitably going to occur.