He looked different from Leo but around the same age. The air around him was electrifying, literally. A calm demeanour about him made everyone present realize that his power was way above that of everyone present, combined! Even though Roman's perk was still active in Lucas, his powers returned. Liana realized that it was because of the amount of energy that the machine absorbed. And the reverse seal she used must have shielded him from the 'single perk' effect; that two people can't have the same perk. Roman looked at all the terrified faces, friend and foe alike. Although Alice caught his attention, the aura he picked from Lucas completely shifted his focus. "So, you're the one with my perk," Roman said. Like a flash of lightning, he closed the gap between himself and Lucas and pierced through Lucas's chest with his hand coated with lightning. "We can't have you standing in my way now, can we?"
Lucas couldn't muster any strength. He felt his life force fading. Roman's hand in his chest was the only thing holding him up. But when Roman retracted his hand., Lucas refused to fall. His team mates beckoned at him at the top of their lungs, with Erica being the most furious of them. Lucas threw weak punches at Roman, but one punch from Roman was enough to end the deal. "I like your spirit. You're a worthy wielder, but I don't have time to spare,"
Kiro got to Roman first and charged a large amount fire at him. Intensify. Heron's perk was 'intensify'. The ability to multiply his physical and fire prowess. The fire ball engulfed a very wide area. However, Roman dispelled it effortlessly with his lightning. "Before you all rush to your deaths, know that I currently have no interest in any of you, other than Liana." He stared at Alice for some time. "It appears this one is just an empty shell." And with that, lightning struck Roman, Kai, Esther, Goliath and Liana from the sky. And as the lightning disappeared, so did they.
They rushed to Lucas's side. He was barely hanging on. Erica cursed heavily. She wanted to be bait, to protect Lucas. That was why she lied about her perk when she knew Kai would be watching. But now it was all for naught. The plan, the sacrifices, everything. But Lucas's final words angered Erica even more. "Save… Auron… Heress… still lives." he muttered with everything he had left.
"You still care about that witch! I'm here! I've always been here," Erica whimpered. Her tears were uncontrollable and nothing that didn't involve Lucas remaining alive could comfort her.
"She did it for us." And those were the last words Lucas ever spoke. He had such a warm smile on his face.
No one could think straight. Alice pranced about and she noticed a small pool of water. A remnant of Esther's wave. She rushed over to it and spoke to her reflection with every hope that Heress would hear her. "Heress… Heress… We need you… I need you," she whimpered under her tears. But she got no response. "Remember our promise Heress, Ma'an, ilal abaad."
And with that Heress spoke. "It would appear I'll always be a part of you."
"As will I always be a part of you. So, take my body and end this." And for the first time, without a matchstick, Alice drew her golden circle in front of the pool of water. Nothing noticeable happened but a lot had changed. Alice was the one now in the pool of water. "Thank you," Alice said, and she faded away from her reflection.
Heress stared at everyone present but her eyes stuck on Kiro for a while. "No need for the small talk. Head to where the others are. I'll go get Liana. Sorry about your friend too," She said.
"I'm not going anywhere. If you want to fix anything, bring Lucas back!" Erica cried.
Heress walked to console Erica. "I'm sorry about everything you had to go through. But you and Lucas fought for something. Lucas died believing in that same thing. Fight for it. Fight for him. Honour him the best way there is. Finish what he started,�� Not long after she said that, Lucas coughed. He was still barely hanging on. They rushed to him. Erica called his name endlessly, desperately holding his hands but he couldn't respond. The best he could do was to keep his eyes open, even barely. He hadn't given up yet. "I'm sorry to ask this of you, Lucas, but can you hold on a bit longer. Even with his powers, as long as you are alive, Roman can't use his perk. And if you give me a large enough window, I can take him out once and for all. Can you do that?" Heress asked and Lucas barely nodded.
With that, Heress got up to chase after Roman. She closed he eyes, focusing her power into one goal. Finding Roman. Her golden flame circle appeared within the fingers of her outstretched palm. And when she opened her eyes, they were covered in golden flames.
She started to trace them and noticed that they were travelling through the sky in lightning form. She teleported the second they landed, but Roman took off immediately. With every blink of her eyes, she changed location, trying best to stay as close to them as possible, waiting for them to land. But Roman was well aware that Heress was on his tail. Heress stopped following them. She conjured up a gigantic flame circle, more than ten times her size. In that moment, she shrunk the space between the sky and the top of a mountain, forcing the lightening to collide with it! But they landed unscathed. Heress's perk wasn't teleportation, it was space manipulation. And that was what earned her the name; the goddess of space.
Roman chuckled. His betrothed had finally returned. A large golden circle appeared before them and from it, Heress walked towards them with six suns behind her! Six highly condensed golden fire balls accompanied her as she walked towards them. Each fire ball was about half her size and the gods gulped. Heress had created the sun! Not one, but six of them. "I can't believe you forced me down," Roman teased. "But then again, I didn't expect anything less from you."
But Heress remained silent. In a split second, Liana disappeared from beside Roman. "Roman, you go ahead. We'll try to stall her," Kai proclaimed. The chance was slim, even with the three of them, but Roman needed to regain his perk first. They were aware that he still hadn't.
"Stall me? Don't flatter yourselves," The three gods were forcefully teleported to different parts of the world. Esther to a desert, Goliath to the middle of the ocean and Kai to the north pole. "This is the end, Roman," She said and she took him to within a volcano!!! She was a fire goddess, so being in a volcano had no effect on her, but Roman coated himself with lightning quickly, although he had already sustained some damage. She jumped out of it by controlling the lava, combined the six balls into one and shot it at Roman within the lava! He wrapped himself in a lightning cocoon, completely defending himself from her attack. The same attack that completely vaporized the volcano!!! Nothing remained, not the lava nor the volcano itself. Even the rocks completely dissipated into thin air. But Roman was within his lightning cocoon, staying afloat, with nothing to stay on. Heress frown. Roman's shield was as impenetrable as she feared.
Heress tried to move him out of his shield, but he didn't budge. "Heress, fall back. He's perk has returned. I'm sure you can feel it too," Alice called upon Heress from within her mind.
"Alice? How are you still---?"
"Together forever, remember? You can't move him again. And in a few seconds, you won't be able to leave either."
Heress cursed under her breath. Alice was right. And the fact that Roman's perk had returned, meant that Lucas was dead. "Are you going to just stand there!!! Come at me if you dare!!!" Heress challenged Roman. She hoped he'd attack her. Maybe she'd have a chance if he dropped his shield. But he didn't. why would he? He knew he only needed to wait a while. And Heress would lose all her cards.
"Coward. You got lucky this time. Know that the one who will kill you, is me." She threatened as she disappeared.
"And so, the war begins. This should be fun." Roman grinned.
***
Rain poured, as the world mourned the loss of the strongest god killer, Lucas Evans. Everyone said so much about Lucas. And very few could do so without crying.
"I don't think we stand a chance now. We've lost our seal and losing Lucas was a big blow to us," Liana said, when she was alone with Heress.
"I know that. But we don't have a choice. We have to do what we know how to do best. Making the impossible, possible. We have me and most importantly, you," Heress replied.
"Me? That's preposterous."
"Don't stress it too much, Liana. We'll get through this, like we always do."
Later that evening, everything had settled a bit. They were at the Niagara Falls, with hundreds of eccentrics and god killers. They had just completed Lucas's funeral and the group was still sober. Heress, Kiro, Liana, Erica, Zora and Damian were together. "So, what do we do? They will come for us. And most people here don't think we can win. Especially since we lost our ace and used up the seal," Liana said.
"Ace? He was way more than that," Erica interjected.
"Let's all calm down. We will take on any enemy that is foolish enough to approach us. We are way stronger than we were. We will protect what Lucas gave his life for," Heress assured Erica.
"I wish everyone could feel that way too," Damian added.
"Gather everyone together," Heress ordered.
It didn't take long for everyone to gather together. They were wondering what the fire queen had to tell them. She didn't talk to them from a height, she walked in between them to address them. "I know the odds may seem against us, but fret not my people, for the flame goddess is with you. I, the goddess of space hereby declares to all those who stand against me. Let them come, let them see and let them know. That when a god decides to punish a people, he punishes them by fire!" she proclaimed and a deafening cheer ensued. With that proclamation, the battle line was drawn. And the world would know that what it meant for gods to be at war.