The city was consumed by chaos as two armies fought in the streets. Energised guns sent bolts of blue energy screaming through the air, exploding on anything they made contact with. In between the firefights, soldiers fought with energy weapons humming through the air, slicing clean through metal and stone. Each side believed they were right and was willing to fight to the death for that belief; the bystanders were nothing but collateral.

This was a fight to push back against extinction.

The soldiers howled war cries as they bombed the buildings, seeking to destroy any opposition. A deadly war where no one would win. How could anyone win when there wouldn’t even be a ruin left? Yet this mattered more than leaving behind their world; they needed to survive at all costs.

They simply could not agree on how to survive.

In the fighting, a dignified warrior wielding a dark rifle came forward, relishing in the destruction and the flames. “Push forward men!” he called out as he led soldiers through the streets, opening fire on anything that moved. The Titanic commander lifted his rifle as it hummed to life and pulled the trigger. A bolt of blue energy screamed from the muzzle with a bright flash and impaled a Titan through the chest down the road, punching a hole in the creature’s chest.

After the successful assasination, Veldkarhei ducked behind one of the houses just as fire was returned from the opposite side, raining down bolts of fire on the resistance fighters.

“We have to keep going!” Veldkarhei shouted while opening the chamber of his rifle, ejecting a small glass phial and inserting a new one, glowing and humming with blue energy before cocking the humming weapon. “We have to reach the temple or all of this is for nothing!”

One of the resistance fighters came next to Veldkarhei with a worried look on his face. “But sir, the Elders are there,” he told Veldkarhei with fear in his voice. “That means we’ll have to fight them. We can’t survive that fight.”

“We either die trying or we all die,” Veldkarhei said in a stern voice while peering through the streets ahead to find an opening.

“Then you will all die,” a booming voice sounded through the air as the air shone with a bright silver light. Suddenly, thunderous blasts filled the streets as explosions of pure white light devastated everything in their way.

Veldkarhei moved backwards to find better cover while covering his eyes from the blinding light. Through the light, he could see a shadow wielding a longsword. As the lights faded, Veldkarhei could make out a tall Titan in white and gold regal robes with long and flowing silver hair and a silver sword in his hand that shone with a brilliant sheen.

“Fuck! Adalfheim’s already here,” Veldkarhei cursed under his breath while looking for anywhere he could hide.

“An Elder is here!” another Titan shouted upon seeing the Elder Titan approach. A haunting scream then sounded in the air. Just as the resistance commander could get out of the way, the white Elder Titan swung his sword and the air exploded with white flames that sent deafening shockwaves through the streets.

Veldkarhei rolled into a side alley just as the blast went past him and his ears rang. Sweat dripped from his brow as the heat of the flameless light was beating down on him like an unrelenting sun on the desert. The commander turned and readied his weapon, sighting it on Adalfheim’s head. Yet before he could pull the trigger, Adalfeim disappeared without a trace.

Veldkarhei looked around, trying to find the Elder Titan. His heart sank as he could feel the air change and just what it could mean. He turned around and lifted his rifle up just in time to catch Adalfheim swinging his burning sword down, the weapons grinding and spitting sparks off of each other all the while.

“So I find you at the helm of this little revolution,” Adalfheim growled as six pure silver wings unfolded. “What is it that you hoped to accomplish? We are all going to die regardless.”

“There has to be another way,” Veldkarhei grunted while pushing back against the Elder Titan’s strength.

“You are too young to understand,” Adalfheim growled in a deep voice as he lifted his sword and lashed out at Veldkarhei who caught the sword with his gun again. Adalfheim kicked the commander back. Before Veldkarhei could recover, Adalfheim followed up with more strikes from his sword that were caught by the commander’s rifle each time. Adalfheim’s sword shone brighter as each strike against the rifle made the gun’s metal go red hot until Veldkarhei struggled to hold onto it.

Adalfheim smiled as his strikes came at Veldkarhei harder and faster, the air growling with each strike as the sword began cutting away parts of the rifle until it was finally cut in half. Adalfheim took his opening and lashed out with one final strike, cutting off Veldkarhei’s arm and sending him to the ground as orange blood poured from the wounded Titan’s shoulder.

Adalfheim stepped forward and brought his burning hot sword to Veldkarhei’s throat. After silently regarding the Titanic commander, Adalfheim raised his sword and went to cut down Veldkarhei as his allies shouted and ready weapons to take on Adalfheim.

The Titans fighting in the streets were interrupted by a ferocious roar sounding overhead as fire filled the skies. Veldkarhei and the other Titans looked to the sky and felt dread in their hearts as a firestorm formed in the sky.

Veldkarhei jumped up and ran away from Adalfheim, running behind a wall for cover just as the flames in the sky rained down. The flames consumed the warzone in the road with searing liquid flames that screamed with fury, consuming any living thing in their wake. The heat melted the crystal walls and sent gusts of whirlwinds through the air that knocked over buildings and rubble.

Veldkarhei could do little but remain behind the wall he was hiding behind as the storm roared through the streets and the heat became too intense for the Titan. He gripped the stump of his arm tight to keep blood loss under control as the ground shook under the weight of the plague of fire.

The flames eventually slowed their advance and coalesced back into a singular point. Veldkarhei looked on as the flames gathered and gave form to a massive creature of flames and shadows. It was wearing a dark red and black cowl that covered its face leaving only the light of piercing glowing red eyes as the only feature. Atop the cowl rested a crown of metal and stone and chains ran along the creature’s body all the way to its taloned hands and feet of stone and metal.

The creature roared as four wings of blackened stone expanded from its back and the flames around it coalesced into a wreath of flames in the shape of wings that stood tall and proud. The creature gripped its fire-bathed glaive as a long metal tail whipped around from behind. The creature growled as it saw the ruined city in the midst of the war and groaned in a soft sound that Veldkarhei thought was a whimper.

Adalfheim stepped forward from one of the buildings and examined the creature. As the two locked eyes, the tall creature roared with enough force that wind gusted by as it readied the glaive in its hand.

“Brother, what has happened to you?” Adalfheim lamented in a soft voice as he lowered his sword, feeling sadness come to him. “This war really has taken everything from us.”

The creature growled softly as it lowered the glaive and turned its attention to the rest of the city, lost in thought as it watched the ruin of war. Veldkarhei limped out of the shadows and looked around, seeing the city ruined by the approach of this creature and seeing that there weren’t even bodies for the men that were left in the creature’s wake.

“Can’t you see, brother?” Adalfheim asked the creature softly as they examined the dying world. “We have to push back the apocalypse before it destroys all of us.”

The creature growled as it turned towards Adalfheim and a familiar Titanic voice rang through the air, the haunting words piercing Adalfheim’s mind. “The apocalypse has already come; you are only aiding its advance.”

Adalfheim shook his throbbing head as he tried to get his fear under control. “Brother, we only want to–”

“End our world at the expense of another,” Arylos’s roaring speech filled the air.

Veldkarhei took his chance while Arylos’s back was turned. He reached down and picked up one of the guns and prepared a shot, firing a bolt of energy towards Arylos’s neck. Upon impact, the shot exploded and Arylos dispersed into a sea of flames that ran violently through the road. Veldkarhei tried to run but was grabbed by the flames as they coalesced once more with Arylos resting a taloned foot on Veldkarhei, pinning him to the stone.

“Brother, that’s enough!” another Titan’s voice called out. Arylos turned and saw Vulonheim come out from the shadows wielding a tall scythe. “Please, with you here, we can sort this out peacefully.”

“Peace is no longer an option,” Arylos growled. Adalfheim and Vulonheim looked on in horror as Arylos lifted his foot from the groaning Veldkarhei and ran his glaive through the Titan’s chest. Veldkarhei grasped at the burning glaive before screaming in agony as his body was burned from the inside out, leaving him as a burnt husk of a Titan. Arylos pulled the glaive from Veldkarhei’s body and rammed the corpse with the side of the blade, sending it flying through the air and slamming into one of the buildings.

“It doesn’t have to end this way, brother,” Vulonheim warned while putting his scythe behind his back.

“It has already ended,” Arylos roared as he lifted his glaive and eyed his two elder brothers, waiting for who would strike first.

“Nothing has ended yet,” Adalfheim called out, lifting his sword up. “We can still stop this, Zjornfer–”

“DO NOT CALL ME THAT!” The Elder Titan roared as flames poured through the street and the ground shook. Adalfheim took the opening and ran towards the furious Titan, yet his sword found no purchase, slicing through flames themselves. One of Arylos’s taloned hands came down and pushed Adalfheim against one of the buildings, causing it to collapse. Adalfheim took his sword and tried running it through Arylos’s hand, but found that he was once more cutting formless flames.

“What have you become?” Adalfheim asked in disbelief as the Titan of Fire’s grip on him tightened.

“I have become Arylos,” the creature growled as he lifted his glaive and ran it through Adalfheim’s chest, warranting a shout from Vulonheim as he watched Adalfheim burn from the inside just like Veldkarhei, screaming in agony as the flames consumed the Elder Titan of Light until nothing was left but a smoking husk.

Vulonheim clenched his fist as his body was consumed by shadows. “If you love those mortals so much, you can join them in extinction!” the Elder Titan of Darkness called out.

“No, I am your extinction,” Arylos returned while lifting his glaive. The two Titans clashed until their world was consumed by flames.

At the end of it all, he was alone.

Arylos walked through the broken streets, dragging his glaive behind him as he walked towards the ocean’s edge, dropping the glaive to the ground as its roaring hum fell silent. Arylos fell to his knees and looked into the waters, looking upon the worlds and the stars within. He then lifted his taloned hands and saw the orange blood of his people drip from them.

He looked to the sundered sky as fire rained down from above. His people were now gone and yet the end of his world could not be averted.

But maybe none of that mattered.

Arylos gripped his spinning head and screamed. His wails went unheard by any of his world as the only one to hear his suffering was only himself, and he only had himself to blame. He screamed louder, praying that someone, anyone, could hear him.

Yet no one answered the last Titan; a silence to last eternity.

The memory was interrupted as the vision was violently pulled away, sending Arylos hurtling through reality at blinding speeds with stars and worlds passing by. The colours of the endless ocean surrounded him in a rainbow of colours, like a prismatic tunnel that burned with a violent energy. The surge of power pulled him along until he felt himself fall to the ground, landing on a carpeted floor trying to catch his breath with tears streaming down his face.

As the blur of his vision faded away, he could see a strange man with red eyes and black hair and a beard call out to him, his voice muffled by a ringing in his ears. Arylos tried catching his breath, feeling the heart in his chest pound rapidly like a rolling thunder. He lifted himself back up and looked down, seeing that he was in a woman’s body dressed in a white dress.

“Where am I?” he asked while looking around the house that had passing familiarity to him.

“You’re home Iris, it’s over,” the strange man returned in a growling voice.

Arylos reached for his face, feeling the tears come down and the strange sensation of this strange body. “Aralym, where’s Aralym?” he asked while looking around and trying to get to his feet.

“Iris, Iris!” the man continued while trying to hold Arylos down.

“Let go of me!” Arylos called out, trying to push against the strange man.

“Aralym’s gone,” the man whispered in a growling voice. “Her and everyone else; you’re the only one left.”

Arylos felt a pain grip his chest and as he broke down into tears, he looked up to the strange man and felt a strange emotion come to him; a strange affliction that was alien to him. A deep pain in his chest as the knowledge that his friend was gone stung his heart. The emotions muddled together with another’s, mixing around like a confusing maelstrom as he began to question just who he is.

And then it hit.

It took Iris far too long to remember who she was. Her memories came flooding back to her and the vision she was shown faded away as she began to remember who she was. She reached up and caressed Arylos’s cheek. She began to remember her friend, her Titan. Fresh tears welled up inside her as she lurched forward and gave Arylos a tight hug while crying.

“I’m so sorry,” Iris cried while choking on her tears. “I didn’t know, I shouldn’t have known. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, it’s alright,” Arylos assured her with a gentle patting on her scalp. “It felt good to share that with someone. I’ve never had that luxury before, so thank you for that.”

“It doesn’t hurt?” Iris asked in a soft voice.

“It does, but the pain tells me that I cared and that means a lot,” Arylos whispered while holding Iris tight.

Iris shook her head and pushed away, wanting to look Arylos in his eyes. “I’m sorry about what happened to Aralym. She didn’t deserve that and she seemed like such a good woman.”

“She was a dear friend, and that was exactly what I needed,” Arylos responded while holding Iris’s hand. “You and her are a lot alike. I pushed you both away at first, but you always had my best interests in mind. Regardless of what I thought, you were what I needed and you always pushed me where I needed to be.”

Iris returned the Titan’s grip on her hand. “You do the same for me,” she whispered softly. “I could say I know what it’s like, but I can’t say that anymore. The pain I feel can’t compare to what happened to you.”

“No, but you help me heal,” Arylos explained while rubbing Iris’s scalp. “You give me what I rejected from Aralym; a life of peace, even if it’s fleeting. And I have learned to treasure these fleeting moments with a dear friend because there may be a tomorrow where I no longer have these moments.”

Iris rubbed her face, clearing up her tears as she sniffled. “Thank you for showing me that,” she whispered softly. “It means a lot for you to trust me with that.”

“Of course,” Arylos returned with a laugh. “You are the only person I’ve shown.”

“Eh? Really? Not even Bellona?” Iris asked in shock.

Arylos shook his head and laughed. “She doesn’t need to know. She probably would have seen the war and thought it looked fun.”

“You have a point there,” Iris wondered aloud while rubbing her chin. “So that makes me the only person alive to know what happened to the Titans.”

“Yes, that is true,” Arylos answered with a firm nod.

“Doesn’t that frighten you?” Iris asked.

Arylos shook his head while rubbing the back of his neck. “It should, yes, but between you and me, my people deserve to be forgotten. We may have created your reality, but we sought to destroy it when it was convenient for us. It would be best if we were forgotten so that no one else repeats our mistakes.”

“But what if I repeat your mistakes?” Iris asked softly.

“You’re better than we were,” Arylos explained while holding Iris close. “You have compassion and love, something we lacked. I highly doubt you will end up like me and wipe out your people like I did mine.”

Iris thought for a moment before nodding gently and returning Arylos’s embrace. She remembered her promise to him; her promise for her to be better than what the Titans were.

She was determined to commit this knowledge to memory; to never forget the conflict in her friend’s heart.