Chereads / The Answer. / Chapter 34 - All You Feel Is Free

Chapter 34 - All You Feel Is Free

January 13th, 2037. 12:38 P.M. at the Venetian located in Las Vegas, Nevada, where teeth buried into the softness of hero bread, egg falling out the rear to scatter into several pieces along with the plate. Whining irritably, the Lovers dug her finger into the yellow food so it'd stick to her skin and she'd be able to throw it into the insides of her mouth. Wiping the bottom of her palm against the side of her face, the Priestess, her older sister, couldn't help but shake herself in disappointment- the Reaper exited Mei's quarters and rose his arms to the sky. Since they shared a room, with twin beds, of course, he'd used the free time he'd been given after the spat in the desert to rest his back a bit. That seemed like sort of an understatement, though, fixing his messy snowy-white hair, August sat beside his adolescent sister, Genesis, so he could rest his cheek against her shoulder. Dropping her sandwich onto the table abruptly, so it'd splat onto the plate, Gen wrapped her hand around his head so her finger could slide through his curls. Clasping her hand against the side of her brother's head, his consciousness lulled back and forth between the realm of slumber. The reflection of their father bounced onto the light of their pupils, deviating from his usual glasses to enhance his vision to something more stylish, darker- like sunglasses. Laidback as he listened to the reporter interviewing him,

"Anything else, Mr. Rivera? {Ben: Uh- no, not that I recall, anyway} Actually, I have one more question, sir. See, the accident that happened out in the desert earlier this morning, it seems extremely convenient that this supernatural occurrence happened a week after you arrive in Vegas. Do you have anything to say to that?"

"Nope. The unexplainable happens all the time, the fact that I'm a magnet for those sort of 'occurrences' has nothing to do with me-"

"And what about the construction workers in New York City? That claim they saw you at a site they were working at, defeating a black-haired man... with superhuman capabilities,"

Checking his watch, tsking his tongue, cracking his neck, and leaning his head back so it'd spin like a rotation wheel from right to left, he shrugged. Rising from the seat that'd been given out for him, orbs of the Emperor mysteriously let out a certain blue-violet luminosity differing from the white he'd been stuck with for 17 years. Responding to her question with a vague sort of 'answer', if you could even call it that,

"You just ran out of time,"

The camera cut off at that point as he strutted to the side, a 'Technical Difficulties' sign blaring with a signature sound that belonged to it. the Emperor let out a gentle sigh of relief as his body manifested from a snow-like white glow in front of his children,

"Smooth, old man,"

"I hate the press. So fucking nosy and annoying, anyway, I managed to get the information you wanted, kid. Managed to touch her skeleton- turns out dear old Uncle Kuno assigned each of the three to their specific location and obeyed any requests they asked for. Advanced underground facility with tons of glass, check. Cemetery with lots of rocks and soil, check. I doubt the next guy's gonna be in Vegas like the other two. Either I go in and take them out with your Uncle or the three of you go in together,"

That suggestion caused them all to lower their heads in doubt, August had seen it first-hand, how everyone had become bed-ridden and their bones creaked upon a single movement. But, at what cost? The defeat of some low-rate thugs that pathetic excuse of a Doctor called his 'Elite'? Maybe if they hadn't defeated them at all, none of this would've happened... that was, until Em stood up and helped his head up with both of her hands, stared into his heterochromatic pupils. Filled with regret, guilt... determination, a fiery ball replaced the orb he called his eye,

"Seems as though you've already made up your mind. Because you came to me this time and didn't go off on your own, destroying public spaces... there's no doubt this final encounter with the last of Kuno's 'Elite' will likely be the most dangerous of all. I'll be dividing some of my energy equally within all of you, we need some people for the raid tomorrow, so don't wind up like the other three. I'm not going with just... Karlo,"

Each of his kids, the two daughters, and his only son received a burst of power that emerged from the center of his ribcage. Holding it gently between his hands, pulsing with the life of a Requiem superhuman, he snapped for it to divide evenly and slide into their souls through their chests. Gasping for air, the trio of siblings fell over onto the couch, with Gen collapsing onto her brother's lap, though it was stored inside themselves, they were still... too weak to handle the energy that Ben harnessed inside himself. Walking over slowly, he checked their temperatures, the back of his palm against their temples, and checking their pulses. Thankfully, they were okay, and a few hours later, they'd be off to their first lead- an area where rain that fell from the skies above was increasing exponentially, and the darkness reigned.

The moon's shine was pure, white, beautiful, reflecting its way onto his face, the illumination leaking from the astronomical body spreading across the emerald field. Kneeling, his newly-regenerated bones cracked as he examined the crater left by the battle between the Crow of Justice and the Reaper of Death. A breath of fresh air emerging from the insides of the Doctor's mouth, the Boss took a whiff of the pipe close to his lips. The smoke popping out of the top of the boiler, the rain that continuously fell from the sky had suddenly halted as it hit the shield protecting the liquid from hitting his darkened elegant attire. Emerging out of the invisible shield, spreading his long fingers across the rocky crater, a grunt emerged from the interior of his lungs. Reeling back from the spark that touched the tips of his extremities, the Aether groaned in anger.

The worst will come to pass, the remnants of the past had come back to haunt him just as they did to destroy his brother 17 years ago. Lavender luminosity radiating around his soul, bursting out from his chest to extend throughout his body, he snatched the glasses off from over his orbs of sight,

"Báisteach Berne, obey my command and come down here, adsignatos,"

The rain suddenly halted its continuous flow around this specific hidden area, concealed by the forests that had been lifted back to their previous position, before, having been flattened by The Reaper's latent Requiem's abilities. Pushing the hood concealing his icy-blue watery locks back, the final 'Elite' fixed his hoodie, blanketing his hands into the pockets. The strands of hair covering his pupils looked to the grass, and Berne listened to the Boss' words,

"There's been a change of plans. Bicherre Giovanna and Juhanshi Iwamisao have been killed by those wretched brats, it seems that their potential far outweighs any sort of mastery the other two had. I won't allow them to slaughter you too, Berne..."

"W-What... do you m-mean.. by that..?"

"I'm not sorry,"

The back of his head met the grass, the back of his skull cracking against a lone rock hidden amongst the emerald blades, his eyes rolled to the back of his head while blood poured out from his duo nostrils. Stepping over his body, Kuno twisted his fingers to the side and cracked his knuckles so a slice would appear in the middle of his subordinate's chest. Guts squelching, the echoing beat of a heart entering his ears, that same vital organ was brought up to hover above the palm of the Boss,

"The same species Rivera and Hill identify as aren't superhumans, they're vampires. Thanks to my brother's blood, Rivera is immune to the sun and unkillable, it seems. Hill isn't special and the same as any other vampire 'brethren' he has. To ensure you don't get killed by those imbeciles... allow me to give you a gift,"

Spears made of pure blood slid out of his temples to pierce the heart levitating amongst the air, fueling it with the blood of a poor deceased heated vampire he'd slaughtered a few months back in the early days of 2036. Replacing the simple modified superhuman beating gland that leaked with the red fluids it had been enveloped by for 23 years. This vital body part was drawn by a 'magnetic force' sticking to the veins and organs it had been attached to, inside of Berne's ribcage, protected by those lengthy bones. The cut carved into his breasts reattached itself, healing as lines of blood and flesh snatched the skin to bring it together once more. Vampiric blood sliding through his veins for the heart to continually pulse, Berne's duo front teeth on the right and left lengthed and sharpened. Serrating to an edge that could cut through even the strong hide of human skin, he touched the tip of his teeth so blood could be drawn, and easily be recovered in a split-second.

"What did... what the hell did you do to me-!?"

Spotting his meekly subordinate strut toward him with anger in his steps, Kuno readied the back of his palm so it'd connect with the lower half of Berne's face. Pieces of flesh launching off to be caught in a water bubble by the rain, the side of his face and skin hovering as it wettened, resting against the wide bark of a tree. Groaning in agony, spitting out blood as he bit the bottom of his lip, rubbing his knocked-out jaw so it'd reveal that part of his skull. A bluish-red burst out from the Boss' soul, prohibiting the 'Elite's' movements, the wood slipping out of the grass so it could snap around the wrists of Berne. Cracking his knuckle, Kuno dug splinters into the arm of his subordinate that spread out of the wood around his wrists. Screaming out in anger, blood squirting out of his wounds, the distorted, eardrum bursting voice of the Demiurge emerged from his vocal cords born from this human figure,

"Kill them, bring me Augustus Rivera unless you'd like to experience true pain. You know where to find me, Báisteach Berne,"

As quickly as he'd appeared to the cherry-blossom heavy area, purple teleportation energy enveloped his body like a wormhole sucking in debris from space. The wood cracked and fell into pieces on the grass, seeping away as the piece of skin that'd been slapped off of his face reattached by strings of water coming to the rain. Burning like a laser cauterizing a wound, Berne wiped the blood from his limb with a wet cloth he'd taken from his jeans. Shaking his head, he rose from the slouch and cracked his neck an exasperated breath. Berne didn't have a choice, he would have to kill the second generation Rivera siblings and capture the Reaper... or die trying.

Awaiting some sort of lead on the Boss' last Elite subordinate, the Emperor heard beeping repeated audio echoing from the device snapped around his wrist. Pushing his index finger against the center and pushing out his duo limbs concealed by the sleeves of his suit jacket, a projection of a map emerged from the technology over his hand. A continuous fading and reappearing circular red leading Ben's attention to a certain location across the world, spinning the globe as it hovered above his extremities with his left hand,

"Artemis, identify the unique energy signature in Tokyo. Send coordinates to the kids' phones when you're done,"

Enhancing the image she had captured with the satellite hovering above the planet, the Requiem Emperor spread open his fingers, taking a drink of the water he'd poured into the glass. Rewinding a few seconds so the footage could be clear, the words spewing from the black-haired Doctor's lips were inaudible. If anything, this could've just been a weird meeting for nothing, however, this was indeed Kuno. Witnessing the Demiurge vanish, smoke evaporating from the point of Its disappearance, the CEO differed his attention to the man standing idly, frozen in the hologram created by his technology,

"I'm guessing this is the final 'Elite', seems like the asshole can manipulate rain, and in addition to that... something else. Keep on watching, I want all eyes on this battle. Have the coordinates locked into your database, I might send you if shit gets bad,"

"Understood, Father,"

Taking a bite of the sandwich he'd made earlier, August felt a vibration in his phone, halting his walking with his two younger and older sister. Stopping, just as he did, Gen was about to step forward and question her elder sibling why he did so. That is, until she, too, felt the vibration of her phone as a message was sent to the said device. Understanding the gravity of the situation, Emma pushed out her right hand, fingers tilted as if holding an item before a sheath manifested from an icy shape. Melting through the chilly element, it retook the leather appearance it had when she battled Doctor Kuno, a golden horizontal line towered over the pale Kanji for Ocean. That being Kaiyo (海洋), which was in the middle of another horizontal golden line beneath the symbol. August and Emma turned to their younger sister in sync, who giggled weakly, both of them were suited for the winter and the cold rain that'd hit their bodies. The Reaper of Death, for example, had a black trench coat with a green turtleneck, then some black jeans he had, and then, boots. And the Freezing Priestess, she had a blue hoodie with a fur-snow hood that rested behind her neck, and sweatpants with sneakers. Beneath the sweater was a samurai shirt tinted red... while Gen was suited with a crop top with a short pink hoodie hiding her chest. Swaying her hands up and down, she slid between her elder siblings, who shook their head in unison as she returned in a split second throwing more battle-ready clothing over her body.

Engulfed by the energy of the gateway, they were spat out in that same forest the Justice and Death battled for a strong alliance that would last to the death. Slicing through the leaves prohibiting their vision, August pulled Gen out while Em slid out through the created by the duo of trees pushed together. Watching the trunk fall, Genesis' pink aura burst out of her soul, holding out her right palm so a buzzsaw of water from the rain falling could bounce off as it ricocheted to slice through another lengthed grown sapling. Dust flowing from the point of impact, the longer half hitting the grass, the rosy leaves threw off of the branches they were attached to. Wrists snapping in sync, Gen yelped out as she sucked in the air through her clenched teeth, while Emma just let out a gentle grunt feeling it gentle snap back into place as time went on, hearing the water sloshing as their enemy's feet moved the puddles away generated by the rain. August was the one to not react, instead, he stepped forward, realizing something; the way his wrist had been snapped- three singular whips had encircled around their arms.

"No offense, I don't- I just... have trouble with that. I assume you're the-uh, other Rivera Triplets?"

Tilting his head, the Reaper stood closer so he could catch a glimpse at the enemy's appearance, levitating amongst the rain with his legs slouched upon the liquid. Holding a regretful look on his face, Berne chuckled at the son of the Emperor, he seemed sort of... human. Compared to Giovanna and the Devil, they were comparable to 'cultists' convinced by a simple goal, admirable but flawed. However, that very laugh that exited Berne's mouth, was extremely tragic,

"You're him, aren't you? The final 'Elite',"

"I mean- I suppose. Not my choice, though, I'd rather be back in my country drinking with my friends..."

Their limb hands were the first thing that Judgment could direct his pupils upon as they revealed their bodies from behind the trunks of the trees. Hiding his smile, knowing the lips would part and show his vampiric teeth, instead, he landed onto the grass, and the puddle he would push his hidden feet into would curve into a ball of water. Hovering above his palm, twisting his hand to the side, knuckles cracking, the Judge of the Ocean snapped their wrists back in place as the rods once around the siblings' hands.

"Thanks, mister!"

The Lovers blurted out, while the Priestess stood ready, hand on the handle of her katana still hidden in her sheath. Poking her baby sister for a moment so she could catch on to the thoughts she was sending her telepathically. Tilting her head, Gen nodded, with a disheartened heavy sigh, and put her arms behind her back so they'd hidden from Berne's sight. The middle Rivera twisted his head to his sisters for a moment, holding his tongue metaphorically, but biting his lip before turning back to their 'opponent,'

"Tell me something, Mr. Berne, why do you work for Kuno?"

"Work for him? Oh, no no, I don't 'work for him', I'm his slave. Well, not his slave in THAT way, he just makes me do stuff I don't want to do. By, uh, keeping a miniaturized explosive device in my balls. So, ya know, all's well that ends well, basically,"

While he was informing August of his unfortunate situation, in the corner of his eye, he managed to catch a glimpse of his sisters. They seemed to be communicating, his eyes, for a split second, taking in the image of her hand on the grip of her blade, and the sudden disappearance of Genesis' hands behind her back. Laughter, filled with a nervous aura around it, forcefully burst its way out of his mouth,

"B-But why? Why'd he do that to you? Were you his friend, his co-worker?"

Holding up one finger with an aggressive way of pulling up the extremity, Berne let out a final chortle he'd been refraining from loosening from his lungs. His voice reminded August of something like another personality taking hold of the man he'd been talking to for 30 seconds, growing deeper and deeper while his aura emerged from the abyss of the Judgment's soul,

"I can see what you're doing, goddammit. I can see you getting ready to attack me; to hurt me, like I'm even doing ANYTHING wrong. For fuck's sake, I attacked you, people, because I thought you were coming to attack me-"

Attempting to reason with the man, who jumped to conclusions, Emma widened her eyes; realizing quickly what she'd done. Throwing the sheath to the side, she stepped forward, interrupting her brother, attempting to convince the man that he'd been mistaken,

"That's not what this is about! I apologize, we were just wary because of what happened to our friends-!"

"Oh, and then you slice through me whenever I try something like take a simple step forward, r-right? If anything... you're just like Kuno, fucking bastards,"

Once more, the rain lifted him from the emerald plain beneath his feet, raising his arms from blandly staying by his sides, and slowly targeting the tips of his fingers into the center of his palms. As if they were whips as well, extensions, or better yet, streams of water expanded off of the droplets reigning from the clouds. Choking the relatives in unison so their supply of oxygen could momentarily be cut right off, August gasped for air as he searched for something. Something to be able to cut through the fluids that had tied them all together like handcuffs prohibiting movement, before it hit him. If water hit a lightbulb, it wouldn't go out, so as his aura burst out from his chest, resonating from the fiery look of determination on his eyes, his tendril of light charged through the center of Berne. The tip piercing the Judgment's heart, so a straight beam of blood could gush from the organ, slowly raising but eventually falling. Gasping in surprise, both of his arms were burnt to a crisp by the rosy plasma beams shooting out in a shine of illumination, originating from Genesis' eyes.

The lasers faded, and the triplets were dropped, with them all rubbing their throat as they coughed out for the air. Her throat dry, Gen stuck out her tongue for some water and reeled back in disgust as she felt the taste, however, the Priestess just went back to action as she rolled forward. Pushing out her palm so her blade could fly out of the sheath it'd been concealed within and enter her grip, she readied to pierce his throat with it so they could be done with this. Instead, Berne, on his back, had snarled in anger as his arms quickly regrew, and emitted those same dual lasers Genesis had done from his eyes. Holding out her hand so she could manipulate the light and twirl it back, the rain was used as another barrier to protect the Judge. The ricochet was sudden, swift, and clean, as the two slices pierced August's knee, time began to halt, however, the quickness of the light had already made Death fall to the ground.

Pushing out his wrist so the darkened tendril could emerge from the depths of his flesh, an oval-shaped barrier of water from the rain encasing the lengthened whip-like weapon. Flicking his wrist to the right, a bubble of liquid surrounded August's face especially, snowy strands of the mop of hair on the peak of his head wettening. Reaching out to try and breathe before his oxygen supply was cut right in half, he coughed out as the transparent water slid down his throat, slowly filling his lungs,

"Bro!"

Yelped out the Lovers, afterimages of her figure made of neon-pink illumination following her rear as she attempted to reach her brother in time. Two clean cuts, formed by droplets of miniature water pushing together to create dual swords, sliced through her forearms. Screaming out in pain, she attempted to turn around, utilizing the remaining adrenaline flowing through her veins to discharge another duo energy lasers from her eyes. However, like before, as the heated plasma swam through the air, rain hailing from the skies, the trajectory changed and Emma widened her eyes. Flipping over Berne, she swiped the sharpness of her blade so she could create a diagonal cut on the cheek of their Judgment opponent. Grunting irritatedly at the pain that swept through her nervous system, the energy was sent right at the metal so Emma would get launched into the bark of a tree behind her. Spine cracking against the platform beneath Berne's soles, and the back of her skull spouting out crimson fluids, the Priestess shook her head, vision blurred by the blunt force her anatomy had unfortunately endured.

"Augustus Rivera be taken to Doctor Kuno, the rest of you shall be executed after I render him unconscious. Be thankful that I remain merciful to such despicable creatures such as yourselves,"

The enemy's feet didn't even touch the ground, brushing against the blades of grass, lifting the droplets of transparent chilly liquid pushed against the emerald terrain. Dragging the current of water trapped within the Reaper's organs and transforming it into a boot he could slip against his right foot, he kicked upside August's face so he could slowly awaken. Spitting out remainders of water in her throat, Rivera reached out to attempt and grab his opponent's face with his fingers. To flow out an emerald beam of plasma, his hand was sliced right off by a levitating dagger of rainwater and dropped to the ground. Without any motivation or registering any pain so he could have a scream emerge from his mouth, August was punched in the nose which snapped to the side and rendered him unconscious. Emma, striving to stand up and protect her younger brother, fell back as her head hit the bark of the tree once more. She couldn't do anything- she was tied to this wide part of nature... and with her sword's metal blade melted against the floor, she was powerless.

But... even then, she had to do SOMETHING. She couldn't remain powerless here, she needed to protect them, that was the job she was entrusted with. Flashes of the past entered her brain as the back of her head rested against the wood, a lone tear sliding down her left cheek- her brother's thanks replaying in her mind. And the parting of the clouds so they could see the sun together, the sun would shine on them again, all she needed to do was stop being weak. Not for her brother, but for herself, and at that moment, as her palm slid its regression energy through the bark- it was changed into widened spikes. And a beam of pink radiation burst out of Gen's parted lips, to change trajectory up a slide of ice so it could pierce the darkened clouds. The moon was visible, and the rain halted. Turning as the audio of the rain pattering and spreading into particles began to stop, Berne whispered solemnly,

"No..."

Piercing his arms, he was unable to use the remainder of his powers, dragged by the projectiles to fall face-first into a puddle of water. His cheekbone breaking and cracking back into place, Berne turned, and he saw the sisters of the Reaper standing side by side. The Priestess's icy blue aura charging her determination while the Lovers' fleshy pale arms were replaced by mere imitations of pure rosy light that matched that same atmosphere around her soul. There was no decision to make, they needed to kill him, here and now, if they were to survive and rid the World of any more remnants of Kuno's reign. Though he felt outnumbered and over powered, Berne prevailed against these disastrous odds, with the rain all over the leaves of the trees, the blades of grass, and even the siblings' bodies, the Judge continued to fight!

"Ready, sissy?"

"Like we have a choice..."

Responded Em to her baby sibling, hunching over as her sword burst out of its melted metal and froze over to repair itself, obeying her command to return to her hand. The ground beneath Gen's feet spread apart to reveal metal bars that attacked like whips, bending as the edges sharpened to point directly, intended to pierce the chest of the Judgment. Hardening and changing to a solid, a lengthed beam made of ice intended to crush her where she stood. Lucky for her, she simply leaped forward, jumping upward on the stream as it faded back into the water, feeling the sinking wet feeling that touched her feet for a moment. Launching herself up with a propulsion system made of light, she cut through the barrier surrounding him simply with a dagger popping out from her knuckles.

Knocked back by a diagonal wave of liquid, the Lovers pushed out her hands as she made her descent to the ground, the bars of metal piercing through his flesh. Entering his bones, he snarled in anger, coughing up blood, the High Priestess spun her katana in hand as she leaped from left to right, left to right on pillars of ice. Spinning around as droplets of his red fluids oozed out from his insides, Berne pushed out his right hand so she'd be pushed back by a circular shield of water. Slicing right through it, she held a cocky smirk over her lips, throwing the tip of the blade into the throat of her opponent so he'd cough and chokes. Standing in the air for a moment before she fell, her back to the ground, she pushed her fist to the air so all of the trees could feel the regression of her powers. Bursting out in a beam of icy energy, she slid back on a slide of ice as the bark regressed to tiny splinters, all intended to simply touch his face.

Circling his body while the water collapsed slowly, fading away as the heat of the Lovers' body surrounded it, gradually destroying the liquid beneath her feet- Berne was left to utilize the rest of his vampiric abilities. Bursts of lasers exploding from his eyes to destroy some of the splinters as his head snapped in different directions at breakneck speeds, destroyed and turned to ash, he wasn't fast enough. Levitating still as his barrier of rain dissipated and dropped to wet Gen's hair, the younger sibling groaned while Berne simply took the blade out of his throat while the rest came to him. About to slice through them all- BOOM! His brain was destroyed by another bar of metal that had slid out of the ground, rendering that vital part of his insides to chunks of pink matter, the metal weapon wrapped around his body while a widened chunk of wood pierced his chest to destroy his heart. Gasping out in surprise, Berne fell to the floor as his blood oozed from his insides, reaching out to stretch out his limbs and heal, all he could see were the determined faces of the Priestess and Lovers. Their auras fading as time went on slowly, the look on his face was not that of hatred, disgust, or anger- it was simply... relief.

"I'm... free,"

Widening their eyes, August came running over, having healed the hole in his leg. Snapping his wrist into place with a new hand, Gen fell over to lean on her brother, energy drained- the Triplets heard as the Judge of the Ocean spoke his final words. The widened projectile of timber shrunk and regressed to its normal state, the Priestess kneeling beside his face as she held his hand, and the metal prison he was confined to had snapped apart,

"I... was a slave. I... was a minion, under his rule- here, I thought it'd feel... painful. But, even now, at the cause of my demise... I don't feel anything. No pain, no hate- thank you for letting me free. Don't waste... don't waste your lives... and kill Kuno- for me,"

Taking gasps of air as he continued to speak, August nodded, his sisters had fallen over- he was the last one to remain. As the life from his eyes was drained and the light of the moon shined on their faces, Rivera could feel the remaining drops belonging to the rainfall. Losing their balance as they were kept in the clouds, the Reaper's head of ivory hair was drenched as he looked to the sky. A crow passed the body, and he turned to see his black-haired rival, azure orbs mesmerized by the beauty of the night.

"We should bury him,"

Gently stepping over their bodies, Azazel Karlo copied the motion Emma once did some time ago and kneeled to check Berne's pulse. Though he'd died on January 13th, his soul had passed some time ago- in a way, this man reminded him in the worse ways possible. Tightening the adult's extremities around his own, the Detective gave a somber nod as his back was turned to his rival-

"Azazel..."

"We need to go,"

Though he hated that he was right, August agreed with his friend, watching him stand and tighten his fists. The leather of his gloves creating a sound as his fingers dug into the center of his palms, tightening the material, Karlo spun around. Vanishing into the darkness of the night, shadows created by the trees, Rivera reached out his hand- but he was too far. It seemed that everyone was too far, gone. They always fade away into nothingness before he could even try and help, that's how it stood, but this time... it was different. He would save everyone, he had to- that was the only way to avenge her death, he needed to make sure she was proud of him. Celine watched from the Void, her fists punching the watery platform beneath her knees, sobbing loudly as she held her face and screamed in terror. As she saw the future and reached out to touch it- all she was met with was... nothing. No way to prevent anything, instead, all that was left, was the World.

The Gateway closed with a bright burst of light that illuminated the grave, his body submerged in the ground, covered by dirt as his soul emerged from the depths of his figure. As the sun rose on Japan, and the Judgement flew to the Heavens above the clouds, the Day of Fates began.

On January 14th, 2037 in Japan, the Judge of the Ocean, Báisteach Berne was freed from the Aether's manipulative schemes. And the Reaper and Crow went on, to face their fate.

To Be Concluded....