Slade

I'm tired. I push through, he's not getting any weaker. It's becoming harder to keep my mind separate. I may have to try to split my forms.

Can I do that?

I think I must. I've never felt tired before. I chuckle at the absurdity of it all. I stop moving dissolving into laughter.

My father stands in front of me with a raised brow. "What's so funny?"

Blood seeps from my wounds. It's just an illusion really. As long as my spirits remain in tact it's fine.

"I let him kill me for a vacation," I grin, leaning against my sword.

"What?"

I shake my head before laughing again. "Orion. I let him destroy my mortal form because...I wanted to rest." I shrug. "Isn't that crazy?"

He says nothing. I shake my head once more. He doesn't get it. It's okay. I just thought it was funny. I...I never admired that. But I let him.

I was just so...tired of fighting him and feeling like...I deserved to lose. For doing my job. And I knew he was wrong. And I knew I had Monika.

And I knew Dion would feel guilty. But...I just wanted to rest for a moment. I just wanted some rest.

I stand, sighing. I'm tired. I've been doing this for so long. War after war, hatred after hatred every day.

I have given everything to this. Just to not be strong enough? I chuckle. Really? Just got it to be for nothing in the end?

I mean...I'm all for the Balance, I am a slave to the Balance but...it doesn't feel balanced. It feels unfair. Why should I slave for people's hatred?

Why do I have to fight for everything I what? Every single thing why?

I want to rest. I want to be happy and in peace. Just for a year or two. Just for a little bit. Don't I deserve it? Haven't I earned it?

Tens of thousands of years of this. Countless millennia.

"What do you want from me?" I ask. "What more do you wish to take from me?"

He looks at me blankly. My father. My mirror image.

"Hey...you're showing a pitiful face right now, God of War," he mutters, swinging his sword at me.

I block it tiredly, pulling Monika away from that goddess once more.

"Am I? I have always taken great pride in being the God of War. But now...I feel as though...perhaps I am more pitiful than I realized."

I lean back with a sigh. "Still, I have no choice."

My strategy is suffering. I am holding up the void, reinforcing Monika's shield, moving her, tracking the children, shielding them, and trying to discern the child's state.

I'm also parrying blows from my father, which he throws at me at light speed.

I can't keep doing this forever. If I drop the void I won't be able to kill them, and we'll most likely destroy everything without even coming to a conclusion.

I can't drop Monika. I can't leave the children. And if he gets the right hit...he might be able to kill me.

There is one thing...but it goes against the balance. And I...may be erased for doing it.

If I undo the void and send waves of death...or even better if I encircle the earth in the void, I will kill everything alive. It will make me stronger than them. I will be able to kill them probably.

But my existence will be forfeit. Monika and the children will suffer, even if I can save them.

I look up. I think...the best thing to do here... is to make sure my family is fine. If I can get rid of them, everyone else can live in happiness.

Monika is the new God of War. Nathaniel and Azareal too.

Yes. It's fine. I'll do this. This is the last I will give. My life. My spirit. Everything that I am.

"It's opening!"

I smile. Ah...I do wish I could've seen him. My son. Oh well.

It's just one more thing I have to give.