September 21st, 2022.
The wind whistled through the ashy abandoned streets. Every normal establishment in the City was devoid of humans. The same phenomenon was occurring worldwide. As Eightfold walked down the street with Talen, Uriel, and Alora at the forefront, the pressure around their feet indicated this to them.
"Mom and Ava are with me. Alora, you're with Lily and Aella. Uri, you're only with Marie. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" They all said.
"Good."
Eightfold dispersed at the Head's command. Walking down the street, Valentina and Ava lagged behind him. Sighing, Talen invoked his aura and raised his hand, cracking his index finger.
"Let's move."
The Amit family vanished, leaving blurry afterimages in their wake as they soared down the street.
Gradually entering the City's boundaries from the forest surrounding the path leading out the warehouse entrance, Apollo was followed by his nephew and the Zol siblings.
"By the way, you two can do as you please. When we get into the City, go for Atlas. I don't care."
The Displacement's words were shocking. But… only a little bit.
"You never told us why you let us live back then," Xenos said.
Apollo shrugged. "I don't have to explain myself. Not to you, at least." He smirked, glaring over his shoulder back at the Warrior. "Slaughter the Progenitor. If you can."
Sucking her teeth, Hail stepped past them both, dragging Xenos to stand beside her.
"We don't have to listen to him. Let's go," she said.
After the siblings vanished, Samael abruptly halted, leaving Apollo to take a few steps forward before stopping himself. Moloch looked back at his nephew.
"What's wrong?"
"Why didn't you tell them?" he asked. "If you told them, they would've thanked you. To have someone help them in a world of chaos with beings like Atlas and Monstrum—wouldn't that have assured them?"
Apollo looked down. "I didn't save them though." He shook his head. "I doubt they would've completely forgiven me for my part in the massacre of their clan. But they would've been able to trust me. I don't deserve things like that. Xenos and Hail should continue their lives. Far, far away from me. At least… that's what I think."
"I see. And you think sending them off to fight Atlas is the best way to do that?"
"Dunno," Moloch shrugged. "It'll sure as hell give them a wake-up call if they survive. After all, if they want to fight him, who am I to dissuade them not to?" Apollo looked away.
"What will you do?"
"Find Talen Amit and kill him for letting that beast Monstrum live to slaughter my family," Samael said.
Moloch nodded. "Alright then." He patted his nephew's shoulder. "Good luck."
The way his voice sounded was odd to Sam. Then again, he would never see the Displacement again, so he didn't think anything of it once he vanished from beside Apollo. Looking up at the deep red sky bathing his face in colorful lighting, Moloch sighed. He looked down.
"Right," he said. "Gotta find Raven."
As Apollo vanished to converge into the City, the Amit Progenitor's deep black eyes tracked the Displacement's swift movements. In the mere blink of an eye, Apollo leaped across five rooftops, and at the speed he was going, he wouldn't stop there. Atlas smiled.
'I see. So Moloch's human memories returned him to the person he was before imprisonment. No wonder I haven't seen him in a while.' Atlas shrugged. 'No matter. All's well that ends well.'
The Progenitor crashed into the middle of the road below the Gate. Rising from the crater and the smoke surrounding it, Atlas started walking down the road.
'Apollo served his uses. I now possess the skill to mimic 'Eternal Constellations'. Though, I doubt anyone who challenges me will wield an intriguing enough technique for me to use it.'
Withdrawing a phone from his pocket, Atlas put the device to his ear. On the other side of communications, Muhammad, Luna, and Monstrum picked up simultaneously.
"That's you, isn't it, Amit?" Malum asked.
Atlas sneered. "Who else? Malum, you know the plan. Do as you please no matter how twisted. From this point on, our contract is void. It was nice working with you… old friend," he said.
"I agree. Unfortunately, we won't meet again in the ruins of the battlefield a thousand years from now."
On the other side of the City, the Disastrous rose from his crouch on the rooftop of the Progenitor's quarters. White locks swaying before Monstrum's countless red eyes, he flashed a fanged smirk and opened two hands, summoning and gripping two darkened weapons.
"I'll remember you… Amit!"
The Disastrous Monstrum leaped from the platform and soared on the air, gliding past everything while cackling ever sadistically. While Malum left to search for his prey, Atlas had other plans for Muhammad and Amana. Holding the phone close to their ears, the siblings listened to the Progenitor's orders.
"I'm sure you sensed an odd signature appearing around the area you two are inhabiting. If you did but are too lazy to look outside, then I'll inform you about them. The Three Gate Families control the massive criminal underground of the City of the Gate. Their ranks accompanied by the Bosses' technique make for a deadly combo the average Fate user wouldn't survive against. But you two aren't any average Fate users, are you?" Atlas grinned. "Butcher them. Every last one."
Muhammad nodded. "Roger that," he said.
In the main room of Atlas's quarters, Muhammad finished hanging up the phone and looked at Luna—sitting atop his desk. She lifted her rear from the surface to pace around it, examining the objects decorating it.
"What should we do?"
She opened a drawer, revealing a pack of cigarettes and a lighter within. "What do you mean?" She looked at it a while before stepping away.
"Atlas won't be coming back. Neither will Monstrum or Apollo. We were nothing more than pawns to them, so I don't expect them to care about us when a little war is about to break out. Do you?"
"No." She shook her head. "I'm surprised Atlas didn't tell Apollo to take my technique when we were stuck doing their bidding," she said.
"Me too. Then again, it's not like he didn't make you use it for them. Remember touching the Monsters in those test tubes he showed us?"
Luna nodded. "I do. Whatever Atlas has planned, probably involves those things. What do you think it is?"
"Honestly… I can't even imagine. The only reason we're not dead right now is because he made the Gate and we touched it because we were curious. When we met, it should've just been us running Apex Predator alone. What was the point of targeting Atlas, to begin with?"
"Don't lose hope just yet. We can still fight."
"For what? Survival? I'd rather die—" Muhammad averted his gaze, starting to walk away.
She grabbed her brother by the shoulder. "Not for survival. For each other." She turned him around. "Don't you still want a future for yourself? Maybe as being an uncle or aunt to the others' children? We don't have to be tied to the Apex or Fate anymore! You'd rather keel down and die than run away with me to the future?"
"No…"
"Then what?" Luna grabbed him by the arms. "Why're you submitting so easily?!"
Muhammad slapped away her hands. "BECAUSE I'M SCARED!" As tears leaked from his eyes, he looked down at the floor. "I'm scared of dying. All our lives, we lived on the brink between life and death. And yet, we'd never seen or done things as horrible as the stuff Atlas makes us do! We are monsters. We don't deserve to keep living. Or at least..." He sniffled. "That's what I think."
"So--" She stepped back. "You'd rather stand back and die than fight for the sake of a better life in the future?" Sighing, her eyes closed. "I guess I can't change your mind. If that's so, I can't make you fight."
Turning around, she yanked open the doors to the balcony, letting the wind flow in to start blowing around her short purple hair.
"But I can't sit back and do nothing. I have to fight." Luna faced her brother. "Please... don't die before me."
Muhammad's eyes widened once Amana's leg extended and her sole pressed into the railing over the balcony. She looked down at the literal mobs of people surrounding the building. All of them were Fate users, but that wasn't what worried Luna the most.
'So these are the ranks of the Three Gate Families combined. Their signatures don't differ in the slightest. That must mean they're fodder meant to widdle me down until I reach the main threat--their bosses. I remember Atlas saying their names were Enma, Jenna, and Anna. That's...' A sweat drop appeared on her face. '...weirdly confusing.'
Luna raised her right hand, enveloping it in purple-colored Fate. 'But that doesn't matter. All I need is to touch them once with my technique and I grant them a Predator. From that, my conditions are met and I can instantly kill them.'
Muhammad perched up on the railing beside her. "You're thinking you'll be able to run through them easily, right? Don't be stupid. The bosses probably know that their pawns are weak, so they're being used as a distraction to divert attention from thinking about where the bosses are," he said.
"I thought you didn't wanna die," Luna teased, smirking.
He scoffed. "I don't. But dying for the sake of saving my sister or making sure she at least lives a little longer would at least be noble. After a life stained by blood, one good final deed is a fine way to go out. Wouldn't you say?"
Facing away from her brother, she closed her eyes and smiled. "Do as you like. Alright. We should start moving. Talk is cheap."
"I agree."
Emerging suddenly from behind them, Luna and Muhammad's eyes simultaneously widened. Unfortunately, their pupils' expansion was the fastest thing, because the second their heads turned—Enma's dark-skinned fist entered Muhammad's view.
Invoking his technique at the last second, the woman's fist cut the doppelgänger apart, causing Muhammad to stumble off the railing and fall toward the mob. Luna's palm aimed at the rooftop. A blast of Fate flew from her hand to destroy the side of the building as Enma jumped away, landing in front of Amana.
Luna punched Enma's cheek. Stopping her fist, the Boss stomped forward, releasing her aura's maximum output and uppercutting Amana. Blocking the damage with both arms, Luna briefly flew back in the air before falling back to her feet.
Her muscles twitched. 'Shit…'
"Good reflexes." Enma grinned. "One of Amit's pawns?"
"Not anymore."
Enma has brown skin and ragged black hair. She has a stitch mark over her nose, pink lipstick, and bright red eyes. Her neck was decorated with a black butterfly choker. Wearing a red dress, she grinned, cracking her index finger's knuckle.
"But if that's so, why haven't you fled? This isn't your fight. We're only interested in settling our debt with Atlas. If you wish to leave, I don't mind letting you," she said.
Luna glared. "You punched my brother. I won't leave until you perish by my hand."
"Heh…" Enma grinned. "Fine then. Have it your way!"
In the center of the City of the Gate was a circular intersection where all roads converged. While vacant cars littered the streets, Atlas stepped past them, occasionally glancing at his reflection in the windows. Smiling, he stepped past the vehicles and reached the intersection's sphere, where a statue of the Progenitor was imprinted in the stone.
Atlas looked up at the resemblance with disdain and a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. It spoke of a past longing to be forgotten. Well, from one side, at least.
"Atlas Amit," an ethereal voice resounded.
The Progenitor turned around and leaned his head back. Having fallen from a portal swirling amid the vast bloody skies was none other than the same Celestial hovering over him now.
Atlas tilted his head. "Only one? And here I thought I could spring for the whole pack," he said.
"We thought it best to deal with you using only one of our brethren. You should be honored you get the chance to stand in my presence to begin with, mortal."
"Enough talk." Atlas stepped up and raised his sword, aiming it at the being. "You and The First know what I want, yes?"
The Celestial nodded.
He smirked. "Just a confirmation? You didn't even try to dissuade me by saying it's impossible."
"What you wish for isn't a concern of ours. The Kismet Empire is our domain. What you do with the rest of the world matters not to The Firstw. We are only fit to judge if you are worthy of the power necessary for actualizing your ambitions."
"And?" Atlas asked with a raised eyebrow.
The Celestial averted their gaze from looking down at the Progenitor to flying higher in the air while idle. Both the wide metropolis scenery before their eyes and the crimson-painted sky were an indication of a bygone era. A reminder capable of making the Celestial release even the slightest impressed snicker.
"I'm impressed. Mere mortals can't bring about change in this world without holding a different kind of Fate."
Amit's eyebrow raised. "What do you mean?"
"I'll tell if you can land a hit on me. The way you are right now, while impressive, isn't even enough to contend with me." The Celestial lowered to float before Atlas and extend their hand. "Give me your sword."
Atlas stepped forward, handing his blade to them. As the Celestial reached out to take it, the Progenitor withdrew his hand and glared at them.
"What?" they asked.
Atlas pushed his hand forward again. "Forgive my caution, but my son is imprisoned here. A powerful hindrance to my plans. Be sure to keep him entrapped in there."
"I see."
The Celestial took Amit's sword and examined the two signatures flowing around it. Their purple eyes glistened at the blackened steel sharpened to the hilt. Rising it to the sun illuminating the bright red sky, their galactic hands released an almighty pressure of innermost Fate.
The tranquil signature dormant within them reshaped the plain properties of Atlas's sword. What was simply a Fatebreaker imprinted with an imprisonment technique was renewed. And lengthened.
Atlas watched the Sword fly from their hand and into his grip, rising the blackened edge so it could glisten under the sun.
"So this is the gift you give to humans once a millennium. An object imbued with Celestial signature. The same as Fate's Crown, yes?"
"Don't ask me questions you already know the answer to."
The Celestial and Atlas released the nigh-infinite reserves of their Fated aura in unison. The accompanying shockwave carried enough pressure to flawlessly shatter their surroundings' glass windows and alert all nearby combatants to the two fighters' presence.
"Alright. It's been a while." Stepping forward, the Progenitor's black hair covered his deep dark eyes. "Awaken... Chaos."
To Be Cont.