The following day arrived faster than I could have imagined. Training resumed as scheduled. The moment I was awake, a scientist took me straight to the White Room. Without a minute to breathe Terra threw me into an intense battle against her. The more we sparred, the more I grew accustomed to how Terra fights. I was beginning to adapt to her fighting style.

Terra dashed towards me and kept the pressure on with a flurry of punches. Her strikes were up close and personal. She didn’t want to rely on Earthshaker too soon. She was confident she could knock me out before she would have to resort to using the Mind Gate. But was she just being cocky, or was she unable to completely control her Gate?

I managed to avoid Terra’s strikes with ease. I felt like I was able to see every one of Terra’s punches seconds before they even came at me. I was seeing several seconds ahead. Terra never let up. Every strike was deliberate and calculated. She knew I had gotten accustomed to her attacks. She would try to fake me out. I finally saw an opening in her strikes and took it. I ran my light blade upon Terra only for her stone gauntlets to block my strikes. I countered with my dark blade. It seemed like I wasn't going to get any with swords alone. Terra already knew my techniques and telegraphs, so I had to improvise.

Light and dark gauntlets enveloped my hands in place of where my blades were once gripped. I immediately dashed towards Terra with my gauntlets ready. A massive explosion of sound echoed throughout the room as our fists collided. I leapt away and landed on my feet. Terra pursued me as I raised my guard. Terra threw two punches prompting me to dodge then riposte. I kicked Terra in her stomach pushing her back. Terra ran at me once more and threw a punch to my face. I leaned out of the way of the strike only to feel a stone plated arm crash into my hip. I tried to recompose myself only to feel Terra throw a jab at my jaw. The third punch came straight for my nose. I blocked the strike and kicked at Terra’s shin. Terra fell off balance and I drove my knee into her face. Terra grunted and stumbled backward. She used her hands to flip onto her feet and ready herself as I went on the offensive. I dashed at Terra and threw several consecutive punches hoping to catch Terra off guard. Terra blocked my strikes with ease and punched me in my gut sending me flying into the wall behind me. Terra smashed her foot into the ground as she unleashed a raging battle cry. Rocks and rubble surged up from the ground as a trail of destruction moved towards me with great speed. I reacted by pure instinct and dodged the eruption of stone and magma. I turned my head to see where Terra positioned herself after recovering. My gaze met with the head of an earthen hammer. My head was knocked back and I hit the wall once more. I could hear my bones breaking apart then snapping back together again shortly after. I got back onto my feet and prepared myself as Terra tightened her grip on Earthshaker. Terra dashed towards me and brought her hammer down onto the ground beneath my feet. The ground erupted in a violent explosion that sent me flying. I recovered from my stun and fired several light beams down on Terra’s position. Terra slammed her fist into the ground causing large rocks to pierce from beneath the ground and shield her. The beams shattered into particles on impact with Terra’s cover as I landed on top of the stone shield. My fist collided with the rocky tomb and shattered it to pieces with a single strike. Terra thrust her hammer up at me with immense force. I dodged the strike and brought my light gauntlet down onto Terra. Terra dodged out of the way and swung Earthshaker towards my nimble body. She was going to catch me off guard somehow. She knew that her victory depended on me making a mistake. I had to be completely perfect.

The fight dragged on for hours. Terra and I exchanged blows back and forth with little results. Though I think Terra and I both realized that I was improving. Mind Zero was proving itself to be a powerful state of mind. I was able to predict movements with accuracy and plan accordingly. I was fighting with an analytical mind. I would even shut out the voice of Hell if needed. I was completely undistracted and calm. My gaze dulled and my expression was bland. I let simple instinct and logic guide my movements. This was how I was taught to fight.

*****

Memories of my old life came back to me. I recalled the days I spent with my father training in martial arts. My father had a sparring room in our home. It was a place that he and I frequented. He always talked about making me strong. He taught me how to fight when I was just a little boy. He taught me how to defend myself and survive as well as how to defend others.

I could remember the discussions we had like I was watching a film.

"Why do people fight?" I would always ask him.

My father could never give me a straight answer. It wasn't until years later that I realized there is no straight answer.

"That’s a very interesting question kiddo," my father would say with a smile.

The two of us would be sitting down on the sparring mat. Every time I asked a question like that my father always returned it back to me.

"Well, why do you think people fight, son?"

"Because some people are mean?" I would ask with the thoughts of an innocent mind imprinted on my voice.

"Then if there are mean people, what makes them want to be mean?"

"I don’t know. Do you know the answer dad?"

My father would always smile when he had the opportunity to explain his own beliefs to me. They were ideas he wanted me to adopt, and I couldn’t blame him for that. His ideas were beautiful.

"I think people fight because people have to be mean sometimes. But those mean people aren’t born mean. To me, everyone has the ability to hurt someone. Everyone is born with an ability that allows them to do things that a lot of other people would say are bad. Some might even say some things are evil. But just because we are able to do things that are bad doesn’t mean we are bad people."

I would always look at my father with a bit of a confused look, despite how he would phrase things. When I was younger he always found it hard to explain his philosophy and he always had to use childish words. It wasn’t till I was halfway through high school that the question was brought up again.

"Do you remember when you asked me why people fight?" he asked.

"Kind of. I was, like, ten years old wasn’t I?"

"You asked me because you wanted to know why I taught you to fight. You didn’t understand what I said at the time. But I think now I can explain myself without having to worry about you misunderstanding."

I stayed silent and nodded to my father. My father read the signal and continued his speech.

"For a long time now, there has been a debate regarding the nature of good and evil. People are unsure whether evil is something we are born with or if it is something learned. What do you think?"

"It has to be learned. How can an infant, the symbol of innocence know what evil is? If you have only been alive for a few seconds I doubt you would able to know how to kill someone."

"Interesting hypothesis. What if I told you I agree with you, but I also disagree?"

"I’d ask you to explain."

My father seemed to smile at that moment. He really did enjoy explaining to me his beliefs.

"I believe you are correct. I believe that evil is learned. For instance, what if a child watches their parent kill someone before their eyes? If the child is easily influenced, the child might think that there is nothing wrong with killing a person. However, I do believe there is more to it than just simple mimicry. I also believe that every human is capable of committing evil, despite innocence. Everyone has the capacity to do evil in the same way they can do good. It all boils down to choice in the end."

It didn't take long for me to begin to piece it all together.

"Because humans have free will they have the capacity to choose the path considered evil. But how can someone choose evil without knowing what evil is?" I asked.

"It has happened before. Many people have committed evil acts because evil itself wore a mask. Morality isn’t as black and white as many believe. Many people can be manipulated into doing the wrong thing simply by telling them it is okay to do so. Morality itself is something humans dreamt up," my father answered.

"But don’t you think there is some merit to morality? Don’t you think it is good that we look down upon acts like rape and murder?"

My father nodded and smiled. He took a small breath before delivering some of his closest beliefs.

"I do. Sometimes we need complex systems like morality to help govern us. Morality is a system that can’t be controlled by humans. Over time what started out as simple laws became doctrines humans accepted at birth. Sure, laws change over time, but many remain constant. Those laws have become part of Nature herself and her laws are absolute. There is no denying Nature’s dominance."

"So then why do people fight?"

"Choice, my son. Everyone is born into this world with the ability to dream. Ambition is a powerful thing and it has driven humanity through history. But when ambition is halted, or ambitions clash with each other, violence erupts."

"So people fight simply because they want to protect their dreams," I concluded

"Yes. My dream was to have a family. I fought with my life on the line to achieve that dream and now I have a beautiful son. Though your birth cost the life of your mother, you still carry every ounce of courage she had. I’m sure someday you will have a dream worth fighting for."

A dream worth fighting for. Those words, at the time, made my dream sound like something grand. But dreams can be small, they don’t have to be larger than life. My ambition was to get to the truth, to understand who I was, what the Demon Project was, and to learn more about Nina. It was a small ambition I had, but it was an ambition worth fighting for.

*****

Terra and I stood apart from one another. We both knew this battle wasn’t going to go anywhere. I looked at Terra with an almost cocky grimace.

"This is almost too easy," I said with confidence.

Terra grinned with a similar amount of tenacity as my own.

"Think you can handle me going all out?" asked Terra.

"I’ll manage."

Terra’s face morphed into a blood-thirsty grimace. She stood her ground in a powerful stance as she closed her eyes in meditation. Gusts of wind began to pick up as I felt Terra absorb the energy of the room into her being. I watched as she muttered a single sentence to herself like an incantation.

"Time for you to wake up… Astraea."

I watched as Terra’s eyes lost all color and transformed into soulless white orbs. Hell began to chuckle to himself from within my conscience. Something about Terra’s power amused him.

"So that’s where Astraea has been hiding," Hell said to himself.

"Astraea?" I asked in return.

"Terra’s Second Personality. Astraea, the woman who believed she was a god."

I stood my ground as I watched Terra’s body move in ways so unlike her. The hulking posture Terra wore was gone and replaced by a confident and regal demeanor. She grinned with malice as she laid eyes on me.

"Finally… I am free!" Astraea screamed.

The voice of a goddess ripped through space and made the ground quake before her. Rocks shot up from the ground and began to float in place. Veins of magma coursed through the floating stones and pulsated with life. Astraea had manipulated the gravity of these geological shards. I had no idea how to face something so strong. Astraea flashed her grin once more and aimed her palm at me. A beam of scalding magma hurtled towards me at blinding speed. I dodged out of the way only for Astraea to guide the beam towards me. I took cover by a piece of rubble as the beam chased after me. I was safe for only a few seconds as magma surged through my cover and forced the rock to explode. The blast sent me flying back with shards of hot stone jutting from my body. I glared towards Astraea as she held total dominion over the battlefield. Her control was absolute and I would have to fight even harder to relinquish it.

Up until that point, I had placed myself upon a high pedestal. If I wanted to remain atop the pedestal I would have to climb to meet a god head on. I had gotten stronger and smarter from training with Terra. But her Second Personality was in a completely different league. While my pedestal sat within the clouds, Astraea’s had long since pierced the heavens.

I stood back up on my feet. Shards of rock began to slide out from my regenerating body as blood gathered in a crimson pool beneath me. I shot a glare at Astraea as a newfound determination burned within me. I thought that if I couldn’t win against her then I couldn't win against Nina. I had to defeat Astraea.

I focused all my strength on clearing my mind and channeling my strength. I knew that Astraea was more controlling than Terra. Astraea liked to fight at a distance, but closing the gap would be difficult. One wrong move was all it took to give her the upper hand. Once I was ready I charged forward at the goddess. I gripped my swords tight in my hands as I let out a roaring cry of war. Astraea smiled at me as I rushed forward. Columns of magma shot up in front of my path. I dodged out of the way as they emerged and continued on my course. Astraea sent a barrage of large stones towards me. Each stone detonated with immense energy on impact forcing me to stop my advance. Pyroclastic clouds gathered in the air. Dust and rubble littered the space around me. When everything settled, Astraea saw a large black sphere ahead of her. It dissipated and revealed my unscathed body still breathing. I stared at Astraea with a fearsome glint sparkling in my unwavering gaze. I gripped my swords tighter than ever as I prepared to charge once more. I was going to have to rely on my dark matter in this fight. Controlling the environment was half the battle. If I could control the battlefield and keep Astraea from being able to build a defense I would have a shot. I recalled my light blade and began to channel dark matter within my palm.

"You got an idea?" Hell asked with intrigue.

"Yeah. I'll erase her defenses faster than she can build them. This is now a battle of attrition," I replied.

I planned to put a theory to the test. If I could discharge light matter into a beam, could I do the same with dark matter? A sphere of black vibrated in my palm rapidly as energy built up. When the energy became too great, I raised my palm and discharged the matter. I felt a sense of achievement as a barrage of dark beams darted towards Astraea. Astraea put up a barrier of stone to block my projectiles only for them to blaze passed her. Explosions fired off behind her as she turned to see her arsenal destroyed. I made sure to only erase a small fraction of the rocks to allow them to detonate. If I could detonate a few mines in key locations, the surrounding mines would explode in a chain reaction. I knew that objects couldn't be completely erased if I didn't focus on them. Destroying them meant I wouldn't have to concentrate on keeping the stones erased. I watched as Astraea’s confidence turned into a blind rage fueled her superiority complex.

"Insolent bug!"

She gave me a look of pure disgust as she raised a new field of molten rocks. She unleashed a torrent of flaming stone upon me only to watch as I created a barrier of dark matter. I pushed forward as every one of Astraea’s projectiles were sent hurtling into the abyss. Finally, she let up her assault and raised her defenses. I took the opportunity to attack and dashed towards her with my dark blade ready. I honed my blade to cut through and send Astraea's pitiful constructs to the depths. Astraea attempted to overwhelm me with geysers of magma and large stone missiles. Explosions ripped through the area upon Astraea's missiles impacting the ground. I dodged what I could and erased anything that got too close to me, causing the stones to explode away from me. Finally, I was within arm’s reach. Victory was almost mine until a cold feeling overcame my sword arm.

My body grew heavy. Moving my body was a struggle. I felt a sort of numb feeling as I did my best to move. I couldn't go anywhere. I was stuck in place. What happened to me?

"Heaven. Don’t move and whatever you do, don't look down," said Hell with a shaking voice.

The second I heard those words I began to fear the worst. Anxiety and curiosity performed a depraved scene of love within my brain. Curiosity seemed to be the dominant one as it got the better of me and forced my eyes to gaze upon my sword arm.

Blood. Blood and bone greeted my eyes as I laid them upon the wound left by Astraea. My hand had fallen to the ground. My bone severed from the nerves. I looked at myself and saw the countless metal spires poking up from the ground and piercing through my body. I screamed. I screamed louder than I knew I could. Adrenaline was pumping through my body faster than I could think, but the pain was faster. I watched as my bone began to regrow itself. I continued to scream as I felt my arm begin to replace what was taken. My mind was reeling as the pain became the only thing I could think about. This was the same pain I felt before. The same pain I felt when I first met Nina.

"You shouldn’t have let her release me… Even I can’t control my power now~!" Astraea screamed in a blissful overdose of euphoria.

Astraea’s god like attitude was beginning to remind me a lot of her. She had the same attitude Nina did. Nina was the only trigger I needed to help me pull through the metallic hell that imprisoned me. I began to scream out, but this time, it was not in pain. I was screaming in pure rage as I regenerated my arm. With raw determination, I began to force myself through the metal that grounded my body. I pulled my body off the spires of metal as I cut and severed them in a blind fury. I would free myself from that jail. That prison. I was not going to die. I had to make sure I could win this fight and I knew now more than ever that there was only one way to do it.

"Hey, Hell… Want to give it a shot?"

I could feel Hell’s smile. The notion of taking control over my body made his metaphysical hair stand on end. He was overcome with pleasure at the thought of being able to finally use my body. But he enjoyed the idea of settling business with Astraea even more. Within seconds I felt my own consciousness get pulled into the back of my own mind as Hell seized control. I felt my own consciousness get sucked into itself. I found myself within the confines of my own mind once more. I was sat upon the Black Throne watching the screens floating by. Each screen depicted the sight through my own eyes. Hell was staring down Astraea as an air of familiarity loomed over the two.

"Remember me, darling?" Hell asked the god-like woman.

"How could I forget such a shit-eating grin," Astraea responded.

Hell’s "shit-eating grin" only grew wider as he summoned his swords to his hands.

"How fitting a goddess finds herself in the body of someone who controls the earth."

"It’s less of a coincidence than you think. My compatibility score is simply based on who I like. She was the only one who I grew fond of. Her power is an added bonus."

"Nice to know you finally found someone worthy of your presence. But from where I am standing, that pedestal of yours is rotting and ready to fall. Allow me to knock it down for you!"

"You can try, fool!"

Hell grinned and dashed faster than I knew my body could move. Within seconds he had Astraea within sword range. Astraea reacted quick and unleashed a blast of raw force that sent Hell back a few feet. He slid on the glossy floor as Astraea followed up her push with a rain of hellfire. Molten rocks hurled themselves at Hell in a frenzy. Hell grinned and opened up a rift with his dark blade and returned fire. The projectiles once thrown at me before were now hurtling towards Astraea’s bombardment. Sparks of magma flew as the rocks collided and smashed into each other. Hell took the opportunity to dash back at Astraea. Astraea pulled up a large rock from the ground and extracted the metal from it. She hurled the rock at Hell only to watch him slice it in half with his light sword. Astraea formed her extracted metal into a slew of razor-sharp blades which she sent after Hell. Hell parried and pushed back the blades as they soared towards him eager to grab a large chunk of his flesh. Astraea smiled with bloodlust as she watched her blades glide around Hell. Her razors searched with eagerness for an opening in Hell's defense. Hell growled in aggravation and swung his dark sword at the floating razors. He erased as many as he could before knocking back the others with his light blade. Hell took his opportunity to recall his sword of light and fired a barrage of light beams. Astraea shielded herself from the barrage with little effort. Light beams blasted apart the rock shield Astraea hid behind until suddenly ceasing. Astraea lowered her barrier only to see Hell had disappeared. Hell had dashed into the air and was descending upon his foe. A quick slash from his light blade was enough to convince the godlike Astraea of Hell’s strength. She lost her smile once she felt the warm sting of Hell’s sword of light.

"Hev… Finish her."

I regained control and kicked Astraea in the stomach knocking her to the floor. I pointed my dark blade at her throat and gave her a threatening glare.

"Move one inch Astraea and I’ll erase you and Terra from existence. Give Terra back her body."

Astraea hesitated, prompting me to give her an example of what dark matter can do. I sliced the ground beside her. Astraea watched as an empty gash remained were my blade struck. Astraea finally gave in after my demonstration and Terra resurfaced. I sighed in relief as I watched her eyes go back to their usual blood red hue. Terra smiled as I helped her up onto her feet.

"Guess I underestimated you. You are pretty strong," Terra said with a smile.

"I used to train under my father. Though fighting with powers like these is different, I can still wield a sword just like he did."

"Then let’s see you test your blade against mine," echoed a familiar voice other than Terra’s.

Terra and I turned to see Genesis walking towards us. His hands were gripping his sheathed Scottish Claymore. His eyes showered in a lust for battle. He longed to feel his steel meet another blade. I glared at Genesis as if to accept his challenge. He gave a slight nod and adjusted his glasses before speaking.

"This time I will be your opponent. Don’t hold anything back."