《Reaper of That Which Was Sown》CHAPTER VII: Lust Brings the End in the End
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The building started to shake as the Daedalus screamed by the top of it, coming extremely close to it. Atlas never used Apochrimation on another without himself going as well, but he didn’t worry about that too much. He focused greatly, he reached out and teleported Anahira aboard the Daedalus, leaving the soldier worried. Atlas yelled both into his radio and to where the soldier could hear, “GET AWAY FROM THE PLANET NOW.” Karee punched the throttle on the Daedalus forward and the massive ship lurched forward out of the planets atmosphere and very far away. Atlas dropped to one knee, the building shook harder with every second. Atlas placed the power shielder and activated it, it wrapped around the planet in seconds and Atlas teleported it into a state of non existence and existence so it wouldn’t be destroyed by what was about to happen. Atlas, when ready, brought the Fourth out from within him, using his power to manifest himself into a physical form. Once this was done, Atlas was still kneeled, but clearly visible in front of him was none other than the Fourth of the Three, Veruchion. The towering being stood tall, moving his arms and closing his hands only to open them again, getting a feel for once again being free. “I have been restored….” directing this towards Atlas, “.....Thanks to you, Reaper. You have been much a greater Reaper than I. I gift you my life, my power, and my soul. You are now Veruchion, The Reaper of that which was sown. Take this gift willingly, and forcibly remove me and it from this plane. Show my brothers their mistakes have consequences, show them, my version of balance. You know what to do Reaper, it will be the most dangerous thing you will ever do or ever have to do so be prepared.”
Atlas said, “I accept this gift, thank you Veruchion, I will not fail.” Veruchion replied, “It is good to hear my name with my own ears once again, and I know you will not fail.” Atlas reached out a hand, and used Soul Harvest on Veruchion the Fourth of the Three. As Atlas slowly absorbed Veruchion he felt the most power flow into him that he had ever felt. This was more than the entire planet, the Seer and all of the other’s he soul harvested before put together, they paled in comparison to this moment, Atlas was near the point where he felt almost as if he would be ripped apart by this, torn into the thousands of pieces he felt sharding through him in the form of memories, experiences, feelings, and power. As Atlas watched Veruchion slowly being transferred through the familiar fiery red energy he was surprised to see the Fourth smiling. When the Fourth was nearly gone he said one last thing to Atlas, “Show them your own Fate. Your own Destiny, And do it in your own Time. They will fall to their balance, and you will become more powerful than even He mayhaps. You’ll find out soon enough, Farewell Reaper, good luck.” Suddenly the world went black, Atlas dropped unconscious. He awoke several minutes later, the air around him loomed with a very different weight to it, like something was as it should not be, something was missing.
Atlas stood, feeling as though the universe around him, was so very small compared to himself, feeling as though he was excluded from it in a way he could not explain. His thoughts were interrupted by a fumbling noise behind him. He turned to meet the gaze of the soldier who threatened to kill Anahira. Atlas removed his helmet revealing his face, with a sly smile he said, “I told you you should’ve stopped did I not? Now the only one to blame is you, how would you like to die, extremely painful and extremely fast, or extremely fast and excruciatingly painful?” The soldier paused for a minute and said nothing so Atlas closed his helmet and said, “Guess its a bit of both then.” He charged up immense amounts of energy, calling upon the Fire within to come and have a taste of some true power, making a deal with him in the process. The ability to use the power of Veruchion, with the duty to only be called upon when Atlas wanted and to always stay dormant within until needed. The soldier started to slowly back away, when Atlas started to float off of the ground, rising about 10 feet in the air. Atlas curled up into a ball, and started to burn with the intensity of thousands of suns but nothing near burned. At the height of this the Fire let loose a yell, releasing the charged energy in a planet devastating blast the ripped the planet into pieces, effectively killing all life on the planet and showing one hell of a sight to any who were watching.
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The Fire faded back, accepting the offer and Atlas returned, floating within the rubble of what once was a planet. He looked over towards the Daedalus, proud of what his once tiny ship had become. He teleported to the Daedalus from where he was which surprised him only a little bit. He asked but one thing when he got on board even thought he already knew the answer, “Where is she?” Karee answered, “She is in your private area, not the prison block but the other one. I’m assuming your box worked as well, judging by that massive explosion but I could’ve sworn I heard someone yell as it happened but that might just be me going crazy….” Atlas replied jokingly, “That job will do that to ya’, but yes it worked great, hopefully it will continue to when I have more made, that one was a prototype. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must attend to something, I will return shortly with our next stop.” Karee nodded and kicked her feet up onto her flight console and Atlas teleported to his meditation room, which was also what he used as a sort of bedroom even though he never actually slept, he only meditated. As he appeared Anahira jumped and asked, “how did I get here? Is this real? It can’t be, Jack is dead, your not him, you can’t be, you just can’t be.” she sank to her knees, clearly not able to comprehend the real gravity of the situation. Atlas retracted his armour to seem less threatening and he said, “I know it sounds like I am lying to you, but I am not. Look at what I showed you, and think about who I am, or who I was. Look at me, I did not change that much over the past several years.” “Several years? It’s been seven years since Jack died. He died and I saw him at the funeral, you can’t fake those things.” Anahira interjected.
Atlas replied, “You were just teleported through space into a part of a spaceship that has enough firepower to level galaxies and faking a death is the part your still stuck on. This is real, I am real, I am not dead. You saw what actually happened, you know everything I know, so you can tell that I’m not lying to you. Not that I would anyway, you know how I felt, how I still feel in fact. I never stopped thinking about you. There were times when I thought that I could disobey the Three to see you, but they would find out. I found a way to change that. I found a way to make them pay for all of the things they made me miss out on, for what they doomed you to, and for what they doomed me to do. So come one Anahira, don’t fear the Reaper…” Atlas reached out his hand and continued, “....Now take my hand, and let me prove to you that I am Jack.”
She took his hand and he helped her up. He led her to a room that had a table and chairs in it. “Take a seat here, I will explain everything you saw in some detail, sparing the gory parts. I know now that it may have been too much at one time, I’m surprised you were able to handle it as well as you did.” “Now, I will start with the Seer…” Atlas slowly explained to her in depth the reason why he was taken from Earth, and who he was destined to be by means of an uncontrollable fate. He explained the Three in great detail to her, and touching on Hebrechrion and Arcurion mildly describing them as bickering wives who sometimes went to a more violent way of solving a dispute. I can show you how I handled, well how the Fourth, handles one of their disputes if you want.” Anahira said, “I mean, sure, this is still all a lot to handle.” Atlas replied, “It is, even more so when it is you that is being told you are to become the most powerful being in existence. It is immensely heavy, but you get used to it eventually.”
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“I don't even recognize you anymore, regardless of how you make me remember, your face is different, your body is different, your actions are different. You may have been Jack, but that was in the past, you are the Reaper now, and the things I have heard leave me in even bigger shock in trying to believe you were once Jack.” Anahira said after Atlas was finished explaining everything. Atlas responded, “Yes, that is true. I have changed, as my fate has destined me to. This still does not change how I feel about you. I thought I would never get to see you again, and that I would not have to return to Earth after thousands of years until the Three tried to cover up their mistakes. Me and the Fourth have become one, we are one and the same, I have his power and then some which means I hold the cards now. I will get them all in one place and one by one take them from their thrones and cast them aside like they are nothing because they made a mistake.” Anahira asked, “What mistake was that?” Atlas responded, “They wanted me to destroy Earth, along with you, and I can’t do that. I couldn’t do that, and it made me angry. They also turned their backs on the Fourth, they failed to keep him in check and he brought about his own end and eventually to me.”
Atlas continued, “I saved the Fourth from a a fate he no longer wanted, I sealed his fate, in his own way. I will bring about true balance, in the sense that what happens will happen, and there will be no nudging from any other super powerful beings.” Anahira asked, “Are the Three all powerful like we saw God?” Atlas responded, “No they are not. The one who brought them into existence is part of a much large spectrum which I have yet to find and make sure nothing comes through from that into this Universe. This being made 5 other's, the Three, Hebrechrion and Archurion. Theses 5 all had a fraction of their power, meaning together, the 5 equal the one. When the Three brought the Fourth into existence as a means of help they inexplicably brought on their own end. They pooled their power together, making the Fourth as powerful as all 5 of them together. Making him as powerful as the one who created them. This means, that I am more powerful than all of them put together, I can overwhelm them and obtain me and the Fourths envisionment of the Universe.”
Atlas paused and asked, “Sticking with me so far?” Anahira answered, “Yes, it is all making a lot more sense when you can explain it like that instead of actually seeing it through the memory transfers thing you did earlier.” Atlas said, “Good, that's good to hear. This life is not at all what I had imagined for me, or you for that matter. I figured you would be able to live your life and be long gone before I had to add the Earth onto my list by command of the Three.” “What do you mean on your list, like destroy it?” Anahira questioned. Atlas said, “Sadly, yes. I also wouldn’t recommend grieving their deaths, it is a waste of time, although difficult to bear. I felt the same when I first had to leave Earth, and leave you.” Anahira looked at him and said, “You are not Jack anymore, you are Atlas. I cannot see you the same as what I used to, I cannot. You just aren’t the same.” Atlas sighed and looked down at the floor and he thought to himself, ‘I have changed haven’t I?’ He looked at his hand, he made a fist and opened it again. He said, “You are right about me changing, but I still feel the same way, no matter what I have done in between. I can get you comfortable aboard this ship wherever you want. Or you could have this space, I don’t sleep anyway.” She looked around the darker room and said, “Whatever is easier for you, I don’t want to be in the way.” Atlas said, “You won’t get in the way aboard the Daedalus, all here may go wherever they feel, except the southern door labeled with hazard signs, that leads to the construction wing, I’m having more added on towards the rear to increase speed and reduce engine size. Feel free to wander around for a bit, make yourself at home, it’s the only one we have left.”
Atlas left Anahira alone, and walked to the bridge. When he got there Karee asked, “What happened out there? We saw a large explosion and we thought something went wrong.” Atlas said, “No, it all went to plan, the box worked great. We will need to make haste towards this Hypersystem….” Atlas typed in some coordinates on the navigational directional chart and let Karee start off into that direction. Atlas continued, “.....Get there as soon as possible, I must start preparing for something big nearing completion. A plan is in motion, and it will not stop, at least not soon.” Karee nodded and set off towards the direction Atlas put into the console. Atlas teleported into the research lab and asked, “Any new inventions in need of testing, preferably ones of mass destruction and capable of extreme power.” Gerault chuckled at that and asked, “Did the box not work?” Atlas shook his head and said, “Yeah it did, this is for the rest of the plan, mainly the build up to the final blow.” Gerault said, “Then we got you covered…” Gerault led Atlas over to a firing range near the rear of the complex which was near infinite in size and Gerault continued, “.....Pick your poison, we got a nice grouping for you to select from.” Atlas surveyed the bench in front of him, seeing about 2 dozen weapons laying on it. He looked over every one of them before choosing one, going down to the first on in line and he said, “I’ll start from the bottom. And work my way up.”
Atlas walked around the table and up to the shooting bench and took aim at several targets downrange. He shot several short burst from the rifle he picked up to get a feel for the kick and power of each shot. Impressed he let loose the rest of the clip on the largest of the targets, firing full auto. He fired until the clip was empty, he walked back to the table and set it down opposite of what it how it was sitting before he shot it. He did the same thing for the rest of the weapons on the table. Once he was through all of them he went back to the first one and said, “I will rate these weapons now on five things, Boom, Accuracy, Feel, Kick, and Look. They will be out of 10 so 2 in each of the things. Let's start from the beginning again shall we.” Gerault said, “We shall, we are eager to know how you like our weapons.” Atlas began at the first gun, then moved to the next and so on and so forth. After Atlas had finished rating the weapons he removed all of the ones with scores less than 7/10. This removed about 80% of the weapons from of of the table leaving only 7 weapons left. There were 3 rifles, 2 carbines, a pistol and a lmg.
Atlas once again went through the weapons left, testing their concealability and ease of carrying. The rifles were not concealable or easy to carry so he threw them aside. The carbines were somewhat concealable but not at all easy to carry on account of their awkward shapes so he threw them aside. The pistol was by far the easiest to conceal but due to the slopes of his armour he could not comfortably place it in an easy to reach spot so he tossed it aside. He lastly came upon the lmg. This was the worst to conceal but the easiest to carry as it fit very well with the type of sling and was not too heavy to become a problem. Atlas chose the lmg after a little deliberation of the weapons. He told Gerault, “Make some holders for this instead of the sling, I want ease of access and I prefer they are able to be controlled by the suit so I can easily activate and deactivate them. Place some on the gun as well, on both sides as to not unbalance the weapon. Atlas once again departed from his research realm and arrived upon the bridge of the Daedalus, all eyes were on him. He stared out of the frontal viewport for a couple minutes before saying, “To the Realm of the Three. I have news to tell the Three.”
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