"Come back here you motherfucker!"
I watched a wall get blown away right next to me, making a hole that led all the way to the outside. Just how strong is this guy?
I looked back at the boy named Menoetius who was chasing after me with all his might before stopping.
"Huh!? Finally decided to let yourself die yah punk?"
I shook my head. "No, I just needed to catch my breath."
I watched as more veins bulged out of his body. "Stop screwing With ME!"
He let out a vicious roar that shook the entire building, sending a blast of wind hurtling straight towards me.
"That was unexpected," I muttered, watching the blast narrowly miss me before going up towards the ceiling, blowing out the debris it caused into the night sky.
"What the hell is up with you!?" He roared out, his brown eyes glaring at me as he cracked his knuckles once more. "How the fuck did that miss yah!?"
"You just can't aim, like the peasant you are," I said, glancing at my surroundings. The walls had faint blue lines pulsing through them, fading in and out due to Meno's rampage. There were plenty of boxes around, although I couldn't use any of them to my advantage, however.
Ah well, back on the run I go, I thought before running away once more.
"You little son of a bitch! Stop running around and fight me!"
I started to run backwards, looking at Meno. "You're just not worth my time. If you really wanna fight, actually hit me with those hits of yours."
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Hey Lachesis, how far away am I to the security room on this layer?"
"Eh? Shouldn't you be fighting right now?"
"Nah, I'm running away right now," I said, another one of his hits barely missing me, sending its way through the other layers like a boxer punching through cake.
"I told you he wouldn't be able to do anything Lachesis! He's useless!"
"Nah, I'm the greatest. I'll get to King before anyone else does Nyx. Now, answer please."
"Oh, just take a right down the hallway, then the next two lefts should take you too it."
I nodded, sticking my tongue out at Meno.
"FUCK OFF!" I tensed up as he slammed one of his toes into the ground, causing the ground around us to rupture and split off.
I leapt to the right, just barely making inside the hallway before the building fissured into two.
"As much as it pains me to say this, this guy is ridiculously strong. He's just tearing through the building like it's nothing." I commented, looking back at him. He was practically glowing with anger as he wrapped something around one of his fingers.
"If I can't even take you out, how the hell am I meant to help big bro!?" He roared out, causing sharp gusts of wind that tore through the metal in this building as easily as a hot knife through butter.
It once more narrowly missed me, only tearing up my shirt as I went left.
"Just a little bit longer King. This peasant ain't nothing to me."
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"Hey, let's all be friends here!" Epimetheus said, walking around to all the guards that were fighting us.
One of them tried to rush at us before stopping, a glassy look on his face as he started to bang his weapon on the ground, babbling to himself.
"See, we can all be friends!"
"Damnit, I tried to warn you," one of the guards muttered, looking at his comrade.
"We absolutely can't have fighting here anymore! Fighting is bad after all, so let's all have fun!" Epi said, clapping his hands together, an aura of innocence coming off him. And yet…
"Why do I feel so creeped out by this guy?" I thought aloud, holding onto my necklace in angst, glancing at Hemera.
"Oh, it'll be fine Nyx! He doesn't wanna fight us, so all we have to do is just go around him!" Hemera said, giving off her own aura of innocence.
"If it means no fighting, then go ahead!" Epi said, and all the guards gritted their teeth as they moved out of our way.
"Yay! We can just go save King now!"
"King? Who's that?" Epi asked as Hemera started to walk towards him.
"Oh, the guy who's trapped here! We're here to save him!" Hemera said, pounding her gauntlets together.
"Does that mean you'll fight my Father?"
"If he tries to stop us, then yeah!" Hemera said, stopping in front of Epimetheus.
I suddenly tensed up. Something is most definitely off about this kid, but what? His demeanor hasn't changed along with that baby face of his, but…
"So, you have no intention of not fighting?" Epi said, frowning at Hemera.
"Nope! But don't worry, we won't fight you!" Hemera said, patting his shoulder.
"Biggest Bro, what would you do?" I watched as a faint white aura appeared around him. "I don't like violence, so everybody just stop!"
Oh no. "Hemera, get out of there now!" I yelled out, raising my right hand up.
I watched as all the guards around him turned into similar states as the first guard, and Hemera looked back at me, frowning.
"What's wrong Nyx?"
"Wait you two, don't attack him!" I stopped at Lachesis' words, lowering my hand.
"Whatever you do, don't attack him!"
"Then what the hell are we meant to do then!?"
"I'm working on it! Just don't do anything, got it!?"
I gritted my teeth, looking at the boy named Epimetheus.
"Damnit King, you're just gonna have to wait a little while longer."
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"Stay back my lost sheep~!" I yelled out, blocking the oncoming blows from Prometheus.
"You're quite tough, aren't you?" He said, putting in another clip of bullets into his specially made gun.
"You really should take those glasses off~," I purred out before he unloaded another clip into me, bullets made entirely of flame nailing into me.
"My, those really do burn," I murmured, brushing off the ash that had collected on my body.
"I have no intentions of falling for your tricks. I know exactly what'll happen if I look at you without my glasses on," he said, putting his gun away before pulling out a flamethrower.
"Love Master Eros, please let us help you!" I glanced back at my newfound comrades and gave them a warm smile.
"Alas, I cannot do such a thing. You are my lost sheep, and I must protect you with all my might! Please, allow me to do that!"
"Idiot." I felt the flames engulf me, and I gritted my teeth as I slowly moved forward, feeling my hairs get singed off.
"You really are a fool," Prometheus said before turning his flamethrower off, frowning as he saw me. "How are you not dead yet?"
I put out a fire that had started in my blondish-pink hair and winked at him, sparkles darting all around the hallway. "Love shall always prevail over trivial attacks such as that!"
He sighed, changing the mode on his flamethrower. "Fine then, your body can't last forever, and I can do this all night."
I felt lances of fire get impaled into me, and I let out a small gasp, watching the flames disappear before taking out the little needles that accompanied them, only gaining small puncture holes all around the front of my body.
"You really should try something different~," I purred out, flicking my hair back.
"Lover's Embrace."
The sparkles all darted their way towards Prometheus, and he pulled out three grenades, pulling their pins before tossing them towards me.
Ad explosion of fire embraced me, and I gritted my teeth, blocking it so it wouldn't reach my lost sheep behind me.
"EROS!" They all yelled out as they watched my sparkles and I get engulfed into the flames.
"What a pain. If it was Big Bro, you would be dead already," Prometheus said as he readjusted his glasses, frowning as he watched me emerge from the flames.
"I am absolutely smoking today, aren't I King~?" I said, smoke pouring off me as my hair was left singed and frayed.
"Die already," Prometheus responded as he pulled out another weapon, a minigun, before it started to whir to life.
"Oh my, you really know how to treat a guy, don't you~?"
Just a bit longer and I'll have him King. I swear, I will save you…
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What the fuck is up with this punk? I thought as I sent off another punch using only my right middle finger, blasting a hole through the walls once more, leading all the way to Layer Nonagon.
"Are you actually strong you fucker?" I asked, the punch narrowly missing the boy once more.
We were right outside the security room, the hallway around filled with boxes of explosives that we could set off just in case anyone made it this far.
The boy finally stopped running, frowning at the sealed door. "That's a problem."
I could feel my rage growing again as he continued to ignore me. If it was Atlas, he would've beaten this boy up to a pulp way faster than me. I gritted my teeth, letting out a growl as I wrapped my middle finger.
I'm not strong enough yet, to bring him back. But once our family is reunited, then I'll finally be able to…
"But first is you, yah motherfucking piece of shit!"
He sighed, finally turning around to me. "Looks like it's about time then."
"So, you're actually gonna die for me here? I'm glad, absolutely can't fucking wait to kill that bastard who's been tearing through this building, thinking he can just go after us immediately."
"No." His entire demeanor changed as his light blue eyes looked down at me, causing my rage to grow once more.
"Huh? All that running, and you think you have what it takes to actually beat me you motherfucker!?" I roared out, causing sharp gusts of wind to tear down the hallway, about to tear the boy to shreds.
"Oi, how are you doing that?" I watched as his shirt got torn to shreds, showcasing his ripped upper body and abs, and he continued to glare at me. However, the boy in question wasn't even hurt.
"Peasants like you should know their damn place. You're far too weak to be facing someone of my caliber."
I felt a drop of sweat fall from my face, and I gasped, glaring at the boy. What the hell is going on here?
"There's absolutely no way I'm gonna lose to a fucking punk like you!" I roared out, throwing a punch with my left middle finger this time, and he narrowly avoided it once more.
"That was close, but you should try harder," he said as the blast blew upwards into the ceiling, causing his silver-grey hair to fly upward.
My breathing started to grow heavier, as all the boy did was glare at me. I clutched my shirt, gasping.
Am I actually afraid of him?
I shook my head, my rage growing to it's highest yet as I took a step forward letting out a ferocious roar.
"I'LL KILL YOU, YAH MOTHERFUCKING PIECE OF GODDAMN PATHETIC SHIT!" And I threw a punch with all my might.
The entire hallway exploded from the force, the ceiling ripped apart, the floor torn asunder, all of the debris hurtling straight towards the boy along with the wind that could level entire towns in its wake, slamming through him, bloodying him to a pulp, nothing left of him, not even a drop of blood.
And yet…
"How?" I gasped out, all the bones in my right arm broken as I looked upon the boy, the debris going around him, the wind blowing around him, leaving only the security room left intact, the rest of the building blowing through the surrounding hills, causing the ground to rumble in its wake.
"Because you're a peasant who can't aim at anything at all."
I couldn't catch my breath, hyperventilating at the sight of this terrifying monster, fear taken ahold of my heart as I collapsed onto my knees, my vision hazy as the boy turned around.
"Still, I guess I'll tell you who I am." He said, putting his hat back on.
"I'm Aether of the Sky, Embodiment of Perfection, Ruler of Those Beneath Me."
I guess I'm still not strong enough, Atlas…
I fell forward, blacking out as he told me one last thing.
"Thanks for opening the door for me. At least you can aim for that at least."
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What's up with this guy? I thought, throwing out more grenades at Eros. Despite getting burned countless times by my many weapons, all he had was a singed look, with some of his hairs alight.
A loud boom shook the building as my grenades exploded, and I frowned, feeling the ground rumble beneath my feet.
It looks like Meno is going all out. How strong is his opponent? I thought as Eros remained standing, that stupid look still plastered on his face.
"Is that really all you got Prometheus~?"
I can't help but admire this guy's durability though. Seriously, just how tough is he? He must have some sort of weakness, but all I'm able to come up with are countermeasures. If only Atlas were here…
I shook my head, sighing to myself. My twin isn't here, and that's all there is to it. But soon, soon we'll be able to…
I tossed another grenade at him, an explosion of flames engulfing him once more. At this point, the once white halls were blackened beyond repair, the pulsating blue lines now a darkened purple. And yet…
"You really treat a guy rough~!" Eros said, his entire body steaming as he let out a cough of smoke.
"I'm tired of this. Why the hell did I get stuck with you?" I grumbled. It seems like just fire won't cut it, nor my spears of fire. It looks like I've gotta use something more physical…
I pulled out a mechanical whip, landing down on the ground with a loud thud. He frowned, the playful look in his eyes now gone.
"Masochistic Tendencies."
Something new this time? And what the hell is that even meant to mean? I readjusted my glasses, hoisting my whip in the air as I flipped the switch, it roaring to flames.
Guess there's only one way to find out then.
I swung it overhead before it snaked its way towards Eros, flames filling the hallway before it hit him with a loud crack followed by a scream.
"Damn finally!" I yelled out, continuing to whip him over and over again, his screams and the flames licking off my whip filling the air alike, raising the temperature higher and higher with each crack of my whip.
I narrowed my gaze as I continuously whipped him, frowning. Something feels off, but what?
I focused in on his screams of pain, before realizing that they weren't screams of pain at all.
"You bastard, you're enjoying this, aren't you!?" I yelled out, reeling the whip back as the flames turned off, and I was left to face a red-faced Eros, who was breathing heavily, holding himself tightly.
"Oh my, when was the last time I was played with so ferociously~? You can keep going, it turns you on too doesn't it~?"
"Fuck off," I said, sighing to myself as I looked at his body. He had welts from where I whipped him, his skin turning bright red. Despite him enjoying it, it looks as if I can actually hurt him this way, so I might as well keep going, despite me being entirely creeped out.
I swung my whip overhead once more, alighting itself as I flipped the switch back on, and Eros let out a smile.
"Lustful Infatuation."
Before I could stop myself, I had already sent the whip flying towards him before I heard the inevitable crack and the scream that followed.
I collapsed onto the ground, gasping as I felt a searing sensation across my chest. "The hell was that?"
"Oh my, you really are quite strong Promie~. If those two girls had faced you, they surely would've lost," Eros purred out, winking at me.
I pulled out my gun and shot my bullets of flame at him before screaming out in agony, the burning sensation growing worse.
"Oh dear~! You know, you should stop now. After all, there's no way you can beat me now."
What did he do to me? No, beyond that, how am I able to feel everything he's feeling right now? I got to my feet, bringing the whip back towards me, turning off the flames.
No, I haven't lost yet. If I can feel what he's feeling, then surely it works both ways then! I pulled out a flaming knife before stabbing itself within my arm, crying out in pain.
"Oh wow, didn't think you would try that one," Eros said, glancing at his arm, brushing off the ash that came from my attack. "But I already told you, it's no use."
I gritted my teeth, my mind racing through all the possibilities. There has to be a way, some way for me to win against him!
I felt someone take one of my grenades, and my eyes widened as I watched Eros walk back away from me, giving me a warm smile.
"It was fun, but all good things must come to an end."
He pulled the pin out, and what followed was searing, white hot pain that engulfed me, pain that hurt so bad that I didn't know what to do with myself, pain I wanted to go away.
"H-how?" I managed to ask, steam rolling off me as I collapsed onto my knees, gazing at his figure.
"Love, dear Promie~. It's all Love~!" Eros said, picking up his hat.
My eyes widened at his back, filled with scars of many kind.
"If you honestly thought those attacks could hurt me, you're sorely mistaken." He put on his pink beret before turning back to me, giving me a warm smile.
"After all, those cold flames don't have an ounce of passion in them."
What an idiotic boy, I thought before falling forward, passing out…
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"STOP, FIGHTING ALREADY!"
"Hey Lachesis, come up with something already damnit!" The girl named Nyx yelled out, watching as everyone gave up their will to fight.
No violence, no fighting, if there weren't those things, then everyone could get along, right, Biggest Bro? You did what you did so there would be no violence and no fighting, and I wanna do the same.
"NO, MORE VIOLENCE!"
The girl named Hemera looked between me and her partner, thinking to herself.
"SO, WILL YOU KEEP FIGHTING!?" I asked, pleading at her.
"Hmm, yeah, but I'm not gonna fight you, so it's okay!" Hemera said, beaming at me.
"Hemera, get out of there already! What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
"But I can't disagree with him. He doesn't wanna fight. Not many people want to willingly fight you know."
"SO, YOU AGREE!? THEN, GO HOME!"
She frowned at my statement. "I already told you I'm here to save someone silly. Of course I can't go home yet."
I hate fighting. I hate it so much, why must everyone fight so much. My Big and Bigger Bro's fight, Father fights, even Mother fights as well. If everyone could be as carefree as I was, then we could all be happy together.
"SO WHY MUST YOU FIGHT!?" I roared out, causing the building around me to rumble, the roof just about to cave in.
"We fight to save our King!" Hemera responded.
"IF YOU WON'T STOP, I'LL MAKE YOU STOP!" I pointed a finger at her, and the other girl's eyes widened.
"Aw, I really don't wanna fight you, but okay then!" Hemera said, banging her gauntlets together.
"Wait Hemera, don't-!"
"HAPPINESS, PUNCH!"
I got nailed with an uppercut that sent me crashing through the roof, flying up into the night sky.
"Huh? I got, punched?" Wait, that wasn't meant to happen. I crashed back down into the floor, gasping out in pain.
"Why did I get punched? Why did I get hurt? Huh?" No, why didn't she give up fighting? Fighting, violence is bad, but why didn't she stop?
"Duh, because I have to!" Hemera said before throwing another punch at me, slamming me into the wall.
"I see, so that's how it is," Nyx muttered, her light grey eyes locked onto me. "Fine then, hit him up into the sky one more time yah big ball of sunshine!"
"No, you can't fight BACK!" I roared out, and Nyx shrugged.
"I have no ill intent towards you, so you can't do anything to me."
"HAPPINESS, PUNCH!"
Huh? Before I could think further, I got sent flying up into night sky once more.
But, how can you fight without being bad?
"NIGHTFALL!"
I was surrounded by the night sky on all sides, no moon in sight, falling endlessly down.
"I, don't understand at all. How?"
"We mean you no harm, but stay here until Daybreaks, got it?"
So, you can fight without harming? Is that what you would do too, Atlas…
And so, I fell for what was an eternity until Daybreak, passing out sometime between then.