"Ah, I see... so that's why you believe that, huh? Isn't that rather poetic? Ya know, technically, you're both my mother and father, 'brother.' Or wait, rather, I guess our brain is? Then again, it's sort of just your brain, I simply reside in some of the soul," Stated the Superior Emperor gently with a condescending tone in his voice, pointing the tip of his index finger against his chin, his claw returning inside.
Stretching his arms into the air, he threw the chair he was sitting backward on to the side so it'd disappear into the Void, expecting it to disintegrate. Yet, there was something about it, something about the stronger part of the soul, the righteous area, that kept it... intact, so the shape was maintained, leading the Demonic Emperor to tilt his head in confusion. Curling his brow upright curiously, he snapped his neck back at the tone of his other self's maniacal chortling,
"Heh... ehehahahahahahaha! She always... she knew, all along, how could I have been so stupid not to notice it? She believed me so easily when I told her about Henry... she didn't even question where she was when that BITCH EMPRESS...!!! W-when... when that bitch Empress took her from me. But she believed in us, in me, Jason, Madi, she even got to see... her grandchildren..." Beginning with crazed laughter, he took time, voice breaking with sobs breaking out in the middle of his words.
Then inhaling, he reached the end of his sentence, wiping his eyes, the Righteous Emperor stood up using his palms to push his body into the air. He didn't hunchback, push one shoulder back or prepare to fight, instead, he stood tall and proud, gazing into the emotionless eyes of his other self, smirking in the delight of his prideful counterpart. The tears streamed down his tanned cheeks, staining them as droplets dripped down from the ends, nevertheless, however, through all the memories of his mother and father he'd gained, he stood proud. Clenching his fist as tight as he could, he unleashed the force of the Requiem Emperor of Time trapped within that feeble human soul, sending shockwaves out from every part of his body, leaving the Devil Superior's stranded-style hair to move back from the artificial wind.
Despite the strength of this output, however, he stood there, still with his hands in his pockets, as nonchalant as ever with that sadistic uncaring smirk painted onto his pink lips. Widening his mouth, then unhinging his jaw, he let out crazed cackles from his throat, bellowing out to echo through their shared Void. Leaning his face forward,
"I SEE YOU'VE FINALLY REMEMBERED THE TRUTH, RIVERA! DON'T GIVE UP NOW, BECOME A DEMON, ACCEPT ME!!! THROW IT AWAY AND PURGE ALL WORLDS OF THESE PITIFUL DEMONS!!! YOU ARE STRONG, THE CHOSEN ONE, MY BROTHER!!! KILL THEM ALL AND BECOME THE SUPERIOR TO ALL RACES!!!!" Insanely cried the Heavenly Superior Emperor, tearing out his hands from his pockets and bearing his claws at the True Self.
But what did he have to say to that?! As the choir sang, he launched himself forward, the memories of all those lost, all the deaths that had been caused because of him- sending him onward to drive this fist right into the head of THAT BASTARD IN FRONT OF HIS VERY EYES!!!
~You were wrong, Mother, I haven't made you proud yet! I'll set my heart ablaze, no matter how disheartened I am by my uselessness or weaknesses! I'LL FACE AHEAD THE FUTURE WITH A SMILE ON MY FACE TO PROTECT THOSE THAT DESERVE THEIR LIVES IN THE NEXT GENERATION MY CHILDREN WILL BUILD!!! I'LL STAND PROUD FOR YOU!!~
But just as those thoughts raced through his head, they were replaced by something else, because the second he was about to smash that creature's face in; their collective Void was destroyed. That moment was slammed into the flesh of the Emperor as he awakened in the arms of his sons, Alexander and Augustus placing him against that rock beside Kristina, for his brother and sister to arrive only a few minutes later. From that point thereon, we flashback to the present, to where Ben had finished recapping the time he spent trapped watching his mother's memories, everyone in that circle shocked to their core. All of them had heard stories of this woman, but the Mother of the infamous Requiem Emperor, she had seen all of them. Their futures and fates at the end of the path, where the light would fade out, leaving them devoid of God's spotlight to where they could carve out their destiny.
August's pupils widened, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, just at the thought that the grandmother he'd always wanted... had seen who he was today. That, before she died, she managed to see her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren, every bit of the legacy she left behind, seen to its fruition.
Madi and Jason were unable to bear this truth, that every action they'd taken from the moment their shared parent had passed had been witnessed. Every single one from the moment they stepped out the Kingdom's barrier, to the fading of their footprints as they passed on to be with her in the distant time beyond. Some of them felt guilty, but they couldn't, how could they? Every single bit of their mother's memories they were unaware of, her final thoughts before death... their mother was proud of them, no matter the sins they'd committed, she was proud to be their mother.
Azazel with Kristina was unable to think of anything, all they could do was comfort the man they were entangled with. Karlo stood up so his hand could gently rest on the shoulder of his rival, Kristie resting on the opposite one rubbing the back of the white-haired Son. Out of everyone, though, there was only one, Ben Rivera, with that dying smile over his lips staining his face, eyes sparkling with hope. Hana with her hands together, palms clasped against one another, tears swiftly dripped out the edges of her eyes, blossom petals dropping onto the world, she chanted,
"Namu Amida Butsu," Softly said the Master, remembering her home in Ancient Japan where she rested, it seemed as though she was one of the persons that believed in Buddhism. Namu Amida Butsu was a chant from Shin Buddhism, meaning "I entrust myself to the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life."
Rising, Ben rubbed at his beard, stretching his arms into the air so his bones beneath the layer of flesh would crack, leaving a satisfying response resounding through the insides of his frame. Patting the shoulder of the Warrior Master, he walked past her, waving his hand, Hana shook her head up and down, clapping her hands casually so everyone would turn their heads toward the loudness of the sound,
"Alright, everyone! We must begin the way toward salvation- do not grieve and mourn for the loss of your lost mother. She was proud of you, every single one of you, take what you will, but know this, it is clear that she always thought of you all as… worthy leaders for the legacy she left behind. You may suffer and torment from your own uselessness or weakness, but there is no need. There is no such thing as powerlessness, stand proud and when you are tortured by the thoughts of your horrible brain- set your heart ablaze. That is all," Hana's instructing words set them to turn their heads to one another, Jason and Madi staring into their bright orbs with August using the bottom part of his palm to wipe the tears from his eye's edges.
None of them could admit it, but they were scared, their mother had seen their end way before any of them could even tell. Jason was frightened for the family he made, what would become of them, Madi, scared for the son she'd leave behind, would he feel even more alone if she died just then… not even just him, but her daughter as well. It was the loneliness of this journey that ensnared them in its claws, this venture they'd decided to join their brother on, it was most definitely a road toward death. None of them could turn back now, despite how much they regretted the past, they stood tall and proud.
The shadows darkened the tanned skin of the Judge as he stood sulking in the shade of the Temple's edges of the slanted rooftop. Three connected by the whims of fate and the interwoven thread of time, Alex, August, and Ben would have to prepare themselves, for in ten days-
They will rise to action. The Incarnations of Obliteration's blessed ceremony for invoking the final Holy King, the Advent of Destruction's new and final date was July 22nd.
To Be Continued in Chapter 98!