-Chapter Twenty-

The Grand Return

Beneath the night sky, the lonesome villa lit alight homely-like with a fireplace on the sand out front.

Gathered around it were the six.

They looked anxiously at one another, knowing something was amiss about all this now.

“I didn’t know there were others,” Kyle began to say with a deep breath. “Like Jason said, let’s do our introductions, and compile our information. I’ll go first.”

The others encouragingly nodded to him, silently waiting for him to continue.

“I’m Kyle, I turned twenty-one this year. Ehm, ever since I can remember, I felt like… well, basically something was missing from my life. I also had horribly vivid dreams trying to speak to me. Then one day, those four guys came and… whisked me away here,” Kyle shrugged, looking to Rachel.

“I’m Rachel. Twenty-one as well. My life is very similar to Kyle’s, with the weird dream. I was just going about my life one day when I met Kyle, and those four… and they dumped us on this island, saying we’re supreme beings of some kind. That’s all Kyle and I know,” Rachel looked to the girl sitting to her side.

She straightened up and cleared her throat. A girl with long hair and a stern gaze.

“My name is Auora, I’m twenty-four and it’s the same for me with the dreams, and feeling like my life was a daze. I got kidnapped by…” the tall girl clicked her tongue sharply. “That blonde girl. Diana. And then all of a sudden, she brought me somewhere out in the middle of nowhere to… him,” she pointed to the young man beside her.

“We didn’t talk for long before she and her other friend - Taylor, brought us here. But they did briefly mention something about those golden eggs. We have to save them from something. Diana didn’t say from what. If we’re meant to be ‘powerful’…” she scoffed. “I’d like to fucking see what’s gonna happen.”

“Alright, alright,” the other young man laughed heartily at his partner’s spiel. With a cheerful smile, and head of bright orange, he began his turn.

“I’m Max, twenty-four as well. It’s obvious now, but we’re all in pairs. Each of our partners holds some sort of special key to us. It’s gotta be. The only question is, what? How?” he wondered.

“Well, they got Magic,” Rachel responded. “So they’ll probably take us through it.”

“Then all we can do is wait at their mercy,” Max sighed, sitting back.

“What a rant,” the young man beside him chuckled. “I’m Sean, eighteen this year. Same for me. Weird dream, then I got kidnapped. Heard some sketchy shit about being powerful beings or something. That other guy who never said his name, the black spikey-haired one. He said it’s time we cleaned up our mess. Sounded sort of like he wanted to fight,” Sean shrugged and looked to the girl next to him.

With light blue hair resembling Aira’s, her hair was actually closer to silver.

“Lila,” she softly said. “Eighteen. I also had the dream, and was forcefully brought here. “I asked the blonde - Jason, a few questions. Didn’t get much out of him but he says we’re not human.”

The six fell into silence for some time.

“You two are older, huh,” Kyle remarked, looking to Max and Auora.

“Yeah…?” Max raised an eyebrow back at him.

“They said for us to get along. It was quite ominous,” Lila lowly spoke.

“I wonder what they’re gonna do with us. And what the hell they man by this whole not being human,” Rachel sighed, slumping down.

“I don’t think it’ll be something bad. They might be trying to lull us into a false sense of security but look around us. They’re treating us quite well,” Kyle remarked. He hoped his words were on point, because he didn’t want to make enemies with those four.

Rationally, they are defenceless human beings against four people capable of using Magic. They really were at their mercy.

“Let’s just hope so,” Sean grunted.

“We’ll find out tomorrow morning just what the fuck we are, if not human,” Auora huffed.

The six dejectedly regarded the fire, absently waiting for the time to pass.

Morning came after disgruntled sleep.

Rachel was the first to wake and woke the others when the four Mages had arrived.

They waited for them all to file out onto the beach.

“You’re all surprisingly cooperative,” Jason remarked as most of them, yawning, stood in a line in front of him.

“We just figured if you wanted to hurt us, you already would have,” Kyle responded.

“You know, average humans would be acting way differently to this situation than you guys, just saying,” Jason said interestingly. “It really seems like your subconscious is still there. Well, I’ll be looking forward to this.”

Jason turned to Diana and Taylor.

“You two found the right place, yes?” he asked them, and they nodded.

“Guarantee those coordinates,” Diana responded with a grin and a thumbs-up.

“Good,” Jason sternly said, and turned back to the six.

“Come through this way,” he gestured his hand and a golden portal of light and vortexing winds manifested above the sand.

None of them could see through to the other side.

“I’ll lead,” Jason offered with a friendly smile, and quickly stepped through, completely disappearing.

“Okay…” Kyle slowly stepped up to it, and as he was hesitating to go, a hand appeared from the other side, took hold of his collar and pulled him through in an instant.

Kyle’s feet found stable footing as his vision became blinded in a blurr, and then quickly returned for him to find himself standing on dark rock, in the hot sun.

He looked around him, finding Jason standing next to the portal, waiting for the next person to come through.

Rachel quickly followed, almost stumbling, straight into Kyle’s arms.

“Whoa,” he caught her and pulled them back from the portal. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she responded with a soft nod, her face slightly flushed.

Kyle silently retracted his arms, since she’s caught her balance now, resisting his twitching lips to smile and instead, casually back away.

The others came through shortly after, followed by Taylor, Diana and Andrew.

“So this is the place?” Andrew asked as he floated into the air to get vantage.

Taylor waved his hand, and Kyle and Rachel watched on in fascination as a window of dark blue light appeared with various complex graphs and numbers on it.

Diana joined Taylor, examining the numbers while Jason led them to the centre of the crater, when she noticed Kyle and Rachel walking beside them, looking at the same Mana screen.

“Hey, you two can see this?” Diana asked with a raised eyebrow.

Taylor briefly stopped, turning to look at them with a tilted head.

Jason also stopped, turning over his shoulder, wondering what was going on.

“Yeah?” Kyle answered.

“That’s… they couldn’t earlier, right?” Diana wondered.

“It’s this, right here,” Taylor gestured to a figure that was rapidly rising. “These indicate the number of Mana threads being calibrated in each of them. They’re naturally being stimulated right now,” Taylor said.

“So they’re already capable of perceiving Mana,” Jason concluded. “Good, we’re on track. Let’s keep going. Down to the centre now.”

The group of nine looked down to the bottom to find Andrew already waiting there, already setting up the altar.

As they approached, Jason suddenly stopped dead-still, and Kyle’s eyes widened as a sudden, bulky figure appeared in the sky and shot down into Andrew, tackling him mid-air.

They went cometting down into the dirt nearby, out of sight.

Jason turned around with a glare of fury at Taylor and Diana.

“The Apocalypse are here. Get back to the Trinity and ensure their safety. I will guard the Masters. There are six of them, okay?” Jason’s voice was filled with seriousness as he directed Taylor and Diana, who nodded.

They disappeared in a flash of purple and blue light, leaving Kyle and all of his friends alone with Jason to defend.

“I’ve been somewhat waiting for this day,” Kyle heard Jason comment as he gestured for them to keep going.

They suddenly felt magic cast on them, pushing them down to the altar faster.

“Whoa!” he heard Max’s voice call as they rushed up onto the altar, and then came to a gentle stop at it.

“Alright, get up close up to it, go,” Jason waved.

Kyle was looking at him when he suddenly saw a silhouette up in the sky appear, and come rapidly toward them.

“Behind you!” Kyle pointed and Jason spun around just in time to block what turned out to be a huge man with a sword.

“Get to the altar!” Jason shouted as another silhouette appeared from the side, attacking Kyle from a different angle.

“Fuck!” Kyle shouted, flinching when a golden barrier appeared in front of them.

The shadow knocked into it and was sent flying.

As Kyle stood there, he felt Rachel grab his hand and pull him up to the altar.

“We have to do something with this!” Rachel exclaimed. “Everyone get around it. It takes all six of us, I’m sure!”

The other Masters quickly arranged themselves around the altar.

“Okay? So?” Sean asked, looking to Rachel.

“Put your hand on it, I guess?” she shrugged.

Kyle did as she suggested, trying to drown out the sound of the raging battle behind him, when he felt the altar begin to drain some sort of mysterious force from within him.

Could it be… Mana?

He looked around at the others in bewilderment, to see they were experiencing the same thing.

After sometime of the altar absorbing their Mana and starting to glow, Kyle felt the ground beneath him begin to melt away.

Then the air felt like it disappeared, the light faded and he was pulled into the altar.

All was left black, but he could see five other glowing orbs around him.

They were familiar.

Each a familiar colour.

Especially the red orb.

He wanted to go closer to it.

Everything around him turned to white, absorbing him into… everything.

By the time Taylor and Diana returned to the Tokyo headquarters of the Trinity, the place was already up in smoke and fire.

He knew from a single glance that they were also beings who had transcended the human limit.

The ultimate adversary.

Those people going after the Trinity was like… slaughtering defenceless animals.

Taylor shot down to the ground, running past the debris and fallen bodies of students.

“Please…” Taylor pleaded.

Diana followed behind him, mass-spamming healing spells on them on her way past.

Taylor rounded a corner, just in time to find standing in a clearing, one of the Apocalypse standing, holding a familiar figure up by their neck.

Feeling rage rush over him, Taylor’s eyes and body lit up with power and he willed his entire being to move forward.

Time seemed to slow, and he appeared at the foot of the demigod in a single second.

Mercy was slowly in the motion of struggling against the choking.

Taylor wondered for a short, non-existent moment, what attack would be effective against a demigod?

Ah, probably what Jason described. The principle he had fused with.

Ambition. Vengeance. The strength he wields today is because of the loss he suffered in the past. The purpose of this strength is to sneer in the faces of the people who put him through torture.

As though saying, look, I’m stronger than ever. I won’t let you get away with the things you’ve done.

With the full authority and justification of his entire existence combined into one strike, he manifested his principle of vengeance.

Taylor sent a powerful punch into the gut of the demigod.

The blast sent the city before him cracking into two.

It was war now.

Mercy was released and Taylor quickly caught her, gently sending her Diana’s way and turning to the other students in need.

Another Apocalypse was getting ready to slice Percy.

Taylor flung himself at it, and with a shoulder barge, sent the Apocalypse sprawling through the walls for dozens of metres.

Turning back, Taylor turned his focus to the first Apocalypse, wrenching in pain from his earlier blow.

“The finishing blow,” Taylor said under his breath as he rushed back up onto it.

What is the ultimate strength of vanquishing? And envy? Jealousy? The desire to be loved?

After all Taylor’s been through, his desire to be loved has twisted into a greed to monopolise and rule all things.

Vengeance drives him to the edge of sanity.

Being able to steal another person’s Mana means nothing against an opponent who is manifested from principle power.

Taylor needs his own principle.

Vengeance. And envy.

He will become a demon of hell who will swallow all things.

Violently, Taylor reached down and grabbed the Apocalypse by it’s large skull.

It reached up, grabbing onto his arms, thrashing side to side as Taylor’s low voice growled into it.

“Cease your existence.”

It immediately screeched as it shattered, and Taylor felt it’s strength flow into him.

He didn’t have time to examine the new ability.

Instead, he spun back around to defend the remaining students.

Diana had woken up Mercy and Percy, and the three were working on gathering the remaining students.

The second Apocalypse emerged from the debris into the sky, and with a screech, shot several large beams of energy from low range at the trinity building.

“Pointless!” Taylor shouted back as he flung his arms.

A wall appeared in the air and swiftly absorbed all of the enemy’s attacks.

The wall then transformed into a ball, and shot the beams back at the Apocalypse, sniping it out the sky.

It went tumbling down out of sight, but Taylor knew it wasn’t finished.

He could leave the other students here to Diana, and go pursue this Apocalypse.

Taking off in a flash, Mercy could only watch as her beloved charge forward to save them all.

Jason looked behind his shoulder to see all six of the Masters had been taken into the altar.

Perfect.

He turned back to face the three Apocalypse before him, with Andrew shoulder to shoulder beside him.

“Watch and learn, Andrew. I’ll take two, you hold one off,” Jason smirked and stepped forward.

“Come on,” he taunted them. A sigil appeared in the air above his head.

An eye made of golden energy, brimming with power.

“Behold, the eye of judgement. I will expose your sins and with divine retribution, carry out your punishment,” Jason chanted and a shockwave shot out from around him.

“You work for six villains. I will erase you from their tyranny,” Jason lowly growled and his energy suddenly turned red and black.

“Become corrupted.”

A wave of hands shot forward from the ground from Jason’s feet, to the two Apocalypse a dozen metres away.

They tried to dodge but the hands swiftly latched up onto their ankles, and then began to drag them downward.

Slowly, they begin to be pulled down into the murk.

“Divine retribution cannot be avoided. I had the power of fate on my side,” Jason chanted again, and the black puddle swiftly swallowed the two up, leaving nothing behind.

“What the fuck?” Andrew asked as he dodged blow after blow from the remaining Apocalypse.

“Principle power,” Jason explained. “You have also begun to fuse, Andrew,” he added.

Andrew wondered what he meant for a moment, before he suddenly dashed backward, and straightened his back.

“Obey me, you weakling! You dare to cause trouble for the Emperor? I’m not ruler only in name,” Andrew shouted.

His voice sent the Apocalypse into a trance, and it rigidly, stiffly knelt down before Andrew.

“Heed my decree. Erase yourself,” he commanded.

The Apocalypse, screeching in resistance, began to glow brighter and brighter.

“Andrew, get the altar,” Jason could urgently, as the Apocalypse began to self-destruct.

“I’m on it,” Andrew answered as he absorbed it and then warped several hundred metres away with it.

Jason quickly joined him, and as the two landed on their feet, they saw just in time the crater go up in a violent explosion of green and blue lights.

For a moment, the two stood there, gazing at it as it faded away, and then Jason cleared his throat.

“Alright, let’s go back.”