End of the third Arc.

I hope I made everything clear and, if not, please leave a comment.

Also, added simple cover.

A veeery simple one.

Anyways, Enjoy!

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Emily POV:

“Please, stop!”

“Come back! Please!”

What?

“What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Those pleading eyes of them were purely affixed to me, not anyone else.

Why?

While still firmly grabbing onto me, they became quiet and looked into my eyes.

As soon as they saw me, they sighed with relief and hugged me more tightly, nearly squeezing the breath out of me.

Normally, I would’ve been annoyed since I never really liked this much contact, but I was still too worried to be bothered by it.

“Are you both alright? Do you need healing?”

But as soon as I said it, I could visibly see their wounds healing, bruises fading and even the clothes were mending themselves.

They have talent, being able to do this so quickly.

Especially compared to me, who could for so long only use brute force.

“Mother, please... not again... please...”

I heard Anna sobbingly utter in a hushed voice, her body shaking for reasons unknown to me.

Since when does she cry so quickly?

And could she please just tell me what is wrong, for crying out loud.

Luckily, Damien had always had a much more steadfast character compared to Anna, although even he seemed to be slightly disturbed right now.

At least, he should be able to tell what’s going on, right?

“Damien...”

Only these words were necessary for him to understand.

“You did this. ”

He spoke in an adult-like manner, though with a slight tremor in his voice betraying his emotions.

His words caught me off guard.

I.. did this?

I looked at the surroundings, the collapsed and half-torn buildings, the crater...

Everything came from the place I had previously been standing.

But that didn’t matter.

What did matter were the corpses.

Littered alongside the streets, there were at least a dozen of the Gold-masks.

Although I never really felt any deep connection with them, I still did not want them to die.

Who wants to watch their creations be destroyed?

No one wants that.

Especially after I practiced and refined the way to create bodies over and over and over again.

They were the culmination of millions of years of practice and research.

And now, they lay dead aside the road without any reason.

Unlike the time with Acedia in the palace, when they were trying to unnecessarily guard me from his madness, they now lay dead without purpose.

And then there were Damien and Anna, cut and bruised and hugging me to stop me.

Ever since I created them not long ago, I put more effort in them than I did to any before them, and I cared for them more than anything.

I did something to harm them?

My children?

God, I feel sick...

“You were... the same as that time. No, even worse.”

Damien said, this time a small sob separating his speech.

His words caused a tremor to run through me.

Again? That time?

“Please, never again mother. Don’t fall into the same trap again...”

The same?

“Don’t hate him again... Please....”

Memories from not long ago ran through my head.

I had finally picked up something resembling a meaningful life, when I caught him near one of the outpost I established to keep a watch out for anything interesting.

When they came to report the news, my newfound life crumbled and the anger that had held me for so long came rushing back again.

I found the need for vengeance locked inside me coming back to life once more and nearly ruining the entire palace, if Anna and Damien hadn’t been by my side back then.

And when I wanted to take revenge once more, they only reluctantly helped me after seeing me unwilling to change my mind.

Just like now...

But, unfortunately, I cannot let go.

Also just like then.

I have to do what I believe is right, even if it makes me feel miserable in the end.

I forced them off of me, which was surprisingly hard to do seeing as they clung to me with all their power.

“Please, mom! Don’t do this!”

Anna said as she saw the determined me.

“I’m sorry, honey, I feel like I have to do this or I won’t get any rest.”

I gave the both of them a sympathetic smile and turned around, preparing to leave through a portal heading straight inside the room of Acedia.

Just as I was about to go through, I heard a low voice growling with anger, disappointment and sadness.

“You’ll just feel miserable again. You were mistaken before and fell, and now won’t be any different.”

Damien said.

It honestly shocked me, the way he spoke.

He was normally a quiet, submissive boy, rarely one to speak out his mind.

Especially after the last successful attempt at fixing his soul did he become silent, but even before...

Never had he spoken to me like that.

I glanced backwards at the angry face filled with tears streaming down his cheeks.

I gave an apologetic smile and said: “Not this time. I know what he is; a tormented monster is still a monster.”

I turned my head once more and stepped through the portal, leaving them behind to confront the devil.

Acedia POV:

Of course, I never thought it would end by simply begging for it.

If that was the way to end this blasted cycle of life, torment and stasis, then I would’ve been able to end it long, long ago.

So I wasn’t surprised to sense Emily trying to disturb me once more.

Rather, I expected it.

Doesn’t mean I wanted it though, but still, seeing as how things have gone so far these last few weeks, I knew a last-ditch effort was to be made as soon as I finished dealing with the envoys and whoever was behind them.

Perhaps, this will be the something like the final confrontation before He or they allow me to sleep once more.

If so, that would be great.

If not, then fuck ‘em.

The bridge was quickly made and the portal opened, although it took a second for her to get through for some reason.

As soon as she entered the room, I said the word that must be familiar to her.

“...Leave.”

I said.

If she just left on her own, that would be great since it would just end it right then and there.

But if she doesn’t, I need to persuade her.

I can see it in her eyes.

The same look she had when we had our reunion in the throne room.

That look of hatred, as if I was everything that’s wrong with the world, filled her eyes again.

I knew I couldn’t use my power like last time.

Well, I could, but that would just make her come back again.

And again.

And again.

Unfortunately, I need to destroy her mind, and the easiest way to do that is with words.

It’s tiresome, but it’s the only way for me to get some rest and finally stop caring once again.

She noticed I hadn’t blocked her Energy yet, so she gathered a bunch and threw it at me in the form of a fast, slim spear.

It was more powerful than the arrows she used previously, and seemed like the once I used to kick her out of this room before.

But, naturally, it was of no use.

I simply lay there, unmoving, as her pathetic attempt disintegrated into thin air.

She took a stance as if she was preparing to dodge something.

If she thought she could somehow dodge my means of cutting her out of the Energy, she was sorely mistaken.

But before that...

“...Leave.”

I said again, following the same pattern as then.

I could see sweat forming on her brow and streaming down her face, but she remained here, determined and filled with disgust as she looked at me.

It was not the first time someone had stared at me like that, and it definitely won’t be the last time, but I’ll probably never be able to be completely unfazed by it.

It always reminded me of the nonsensical hatred everything had for me, just like her.

Seeing as I wasn’t doing anything, she once more formed the spear, but this time by the dozen.

The whole room seemed to be filled with them, leaving no part of my body un-targeted.

It was kind of surprising how she was able to do this, seeing it hasn’t even been a day since I showed her that.

Then again, once you figure it out, it is extremely easy to replicate it if you had unlimited access to Energy like we have.

She was planning to shoot them towards me, but before she could even think it, I simply deactivated all the Energy present in the room and placed them under my control.

She was locked out once more.

She lunged herself at me, supposedly taking me off-guard, and tried claw at me.

Of course, I wasn’t off guard and immediately blasted her back, though not enough to blow her away.

I wanted her to stay, after all, so I could finish it once and for all.

Seeing as she didn’t expect me to react that quickly, she stumbled backwards towards the door and would’ve fallen if the wall hadn’t been there.

She tried to grasp the Energy, probably thinking she needed to quickly make a barrier, but she failed miserably.

Her body shivered and sweat started to pour out as she quickly made a cross arm guard to protect herself, turning her face away from whatever would come flying at her.

But... nothing came.

“...Leave, now. There is nothing you can do and you know it.”

I said, hoping she would back off at this point.

She should be fully aware that everything she tries is impossible.

“Arrogant piece of shit! I won’t give up until...”

“Until what? What are you planning to do? Kill me? You know just as well as I that that’s impossible. Torture me? Do you really believe yourself able to harm me more than I have ever felt? Than I have done to myself? Now, who is the one who is arrogant here.”

As long as I keep my cool, there is no way I’ll lose out.

“Until I fix you!”

Huh?

Fix me?

Who does she think she is?

“Fix me, you say? To fix me, you need to fix this broken world first. Only when this hellhole called life is fixed will I be able to be fixed.”

Preposterous.

Sure, I know that something's wrong with me, but that is only because this world is wrong.

The only way to fix me is to become indifferent; to not care about the world so that the wrong of the world won’t reach me.

A fantasy, sure, but one I’m determined to make through, even if it won’t help me in the long run.

Let apathy be my escape.

She began walking towards my bed, gesturing angrily as she was shouting.

“This world is wrong?! This world is broken?! Just because you get hurt a little, you blame the world?! Blame yourself, you monster! The world isn’t perfect, but unlike you, it isn’t broken. If there’s something broken about it, then it is only broken for you!”

She said.

I stood up from the bed and started walking around the room, getting slightly overexcited by all the nonsense she was spewing out of that vulgar mouth of hers.

“Ha! Only broken for me, you say? What about the billions of people that live their daily life and die pitifully in the end? What about the civilizations that rise and fall everywhere, but never stay? Everything dies, everything gets extinct and everyone suffers, only to resurface somewhere else and live through the same cycle over and over and over again, forever in eternity. The only constant in this reality is the suffering everyone endures! Now tell me this piece of shit of a world isn’t broken!”

Who does this brat thinks she is!

I’ve seen it happen over and over again, there is no happy ending, no good end.

The only thing awaiting those who life is suffering.

I’ve bore witness to this for billions of years, and she thinks she knows better.

“I’ve been here for billions upon billions of years and you think, you miserable little brat, that you know the world better than I do?! This... thing is either broken, or its entire purpose is for a nonsensical, unending suffering!”

I began to get heated up, especially after standing there face to face with her, but it’s still well within my limits.

If this is what she needs to chase her off, I will happily oblige.

“So you’ve seen this happen over and over again, you’ve seen it happen again and again and not once did you ever think ‘I can do something about this’!”

“This world doesn’t deserve saving! Life doesn’t deserve to be kept! It isn’t something valuable, something glorious or something wonderful! The sooner one gets done with it, the happier you should be! Look at me! I live forever yet apart from a miserable thousand years, all I’ve seen, all I’ve done and all I’ve been done to is nothing but suffering! And even that small, tiny break of a thousand years ended in the worst possible suffering for everyone!”

“Then fix it! You have the power to do so! You can destroy stars, galaxies even with just a wave of the hand! Do you really expect me to believe you’re so inept that you cannot even fix at least one planet?! No, of course you easily can, but all you do is watch and sleep, hiding behind your tormented past like a coward!”

She nearly spat in my face as she said this.

“What fucking right do you have with your short existence to bring up my past! You don’t know what I know, haven’t seen the things I seen, felt the things I felt!”

“I have every fucking right to talk about your misery! Don’t think I don’t know what it’s like to be hated, to be tormented wherever you go, to be hunted down like an animal by everyone you meet! But you have experienced it again and again, you know already what is going to happen, yet all you do is sit and watch as misery unfolds around you, cowering behind your memories and faking indifference! Faking apathy to sleep away all your problems without trying to fix it!”

Those last words stung me deeply, making me stagger backwards away from her.

My indifference, the last salvation I have, ridiculed as fake.

“W-What do you know! My indifference, my apathy is the only thing in the world that doesn’t harm me, the only thing that has ever healed me! It is the only escape from this horrible existence!”

It’s the only way out I’ve found in all my life.

There is no other way.

Apathy cleanses everything there is.

Seeing me back off, she advanced forward.

“Your apathy is a farce!”

These worlds were filled with Energy, filling the room with echoes and cracking the walls.

Since I lost my calm, my hold over the Energy slipped away and made her able, albeit unconsciously, to use it again.

Your apathy is a farce, these words echoed in my head and heard.

For so long I’ve suffered, for so long I’ve been hurt by the world around me and only found reprieve in the apathy that came over me when it was simply too much for me to bear and ever since it first came over me, it has been the thing I look forward to the most.

And now, she was saying it was fake?

It is not as if I didn’t know....

“Your indifference is but a mask, a coward’s shield to hide behind when things get to hard for you to press on! When you get involved too much, you simply hide behind it and think that nothing ever happened or will ever happen! Even when you killed my father and tore my family apart, you returned into your coward’s hole! Even when your own wife died, you simply abandoned everything and adapted your fake apathy, as if to say it doesn’t bother you!”

She was guessing wildly and both she and I knew it.

Unfortunately she was all too right.

When she died, I simply froze the world, adapting it to my indifference and even then did a half-assed job at it, seeing as Solomavon survived.

And all I did was crawl back into the same state I had been in for millions of years.

Even when I found Solomavon, I never delved deeper, never took the trouble to ask if any of the other assailants were alive.

No, I simply returned once again into stasis, not bothering with the world as life tried to swallow me once again.

I’ve known it for a very long time, even before I met my wife.

I know that this obsession with apathy is but an excuse to cower away from everything that harms me.

Even my madness is simply just me trying to convince myself that apathy is the only way to go.

But what am I supposed to do?

How can I fix anything if I can’t even fix this about myself.

“Before you even thinking the world is broken, you should first fix yourself!”

Every word, every sentence, every truth she uttered hit me like a sledgehammer, tearing down the walls I thought would last at least until the next time I woke up.

She ruined my only escape and dragged me back into this miserable life.

I looked at her, seething in anger as she looked smugly at every time she was right.

But, you know, even if she is right about me, doesn’t mean that she is any better.

“And what about you?”

I said, trembling with rage and my voice low.

“Hmm?”

She was slightly surprised at me still being able to retort, but quickly took back her smug stance.

“What about you? What were you doing when you were treated like dirt? Did you try to help them? No. Did you try to fix what when society went to shit, huh? Did you try to stop people from hurting each other?”

This time, it were my words that hit her hard.

“No, of course you didn’t. You simply wallowed in your self-pity, just like me. No, wait, even worse, you killed. You killed and you slaughtered. You brought misery into life wherever you went and whenever things went wrong, you simply killed them all. You are even worse than me, who pretends to not see anything.”

Just like I did, moments ago, she staggered backwards in shock.

And just like she did, I advanced forward.

“You actively destroy the world!”

“Y-you’re wrong! Yes, I killed! But only to defend myself! Never was I the instigator!”

I could see it in her eyes: She was lying.

“You filthy liar! Don’t think I don’t know what you have done! Those Gold-masks aren’t things you made yourself! Neither are Damien and Anna! You simply made them from the souls of your victims and forced Energy in them to bind them to the world! And in doing so, you harmed them, tortured them in the most painful way possible! And why was that?! Because you were fed up with the society you knew and the moment it died, you rejoiced! Revelled in its destruction, instead of ever trying to fix what was wrong with it!”

With every word I said, her walls began to tear down as well.

Just like me, she lied to herself, convincing herself she didn’t do these acts of horror.

Where I sought out indifference as an escape route, she sought amnesia.

Purposefully forgetting the horrors you committed and blaming it on someone else.

“What was I supposed to do! I am not like you, with countless years of experience and immeasurable power! I am weak! I can’t fix everything that went wrong!”

With almost every word, a tear fell from her eyes, yet she still tried her final retort, still tried to shift at least part of the blame on me while making herself appear blameless.

But, she this was her final mistake.

With this, she will fall into the same abyss as I!

“YOU AND I ARE THE SAME! We’re born different ways, but we are the exact same! Born Immortals with complete and utter control of the worlds Energy network! You can do exactly the same things I can do! We are not different, you are not weak, I am not strong, we are the same! What I can do you can! You could’ve fixed the world just as much as I, if you had wanted to!”

I won’t tell her I needed an enormous amount of time to learn what I’m now capable of, but that doesn’t change the fact that she could have done something if she tried hard enough.

She had a much, much larger head start than me in both knowledge and technique.

If she had wanted to and dedicated herself, she could’ve kept her Era alive whilst catching up to me and, eventually, reach the same level with society still intact.

These final words hit her the hardest of all, making her crumple down on the floor.

But it didn’t make me feel better.

I, too, had lost severely something.

The only shield I had was now shattered by her.

Really, I too simply want to fall down and start crying, if I wasn’t already used to the misery life causes us Immortals.

Her shield of forgetfulness and made-up lies lay shattered before her.

My shield of apathy and coldness lay broken and irreparable.

But, for the first time, I was not alone in my pain.

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Wow.

Much conversation.

Again, any complaints or thank you's are appreciated and if something needs explaining, don't be afraid to ask.

I'll happily oblige.

And if everything is understandable, please do mention it and stroke my ego =).