They failed. Atlas completed his plan. And after that? He died. The Progenitor, a mastermind in all regards, didn't slaughter the rest of Eightfold and instead explained his scheme to them. At first, they were confused. Why? Why were they left alive when Atlas was so overwhelmingly powerful?
Under the pitch black sky of the City of the Gate, a black-haired man sat on a bench under the moonlight shining on his tan-skinned face. Rising the green lighter between his fingers to the end of the spliff sticking out his mouth, he flicked it, inviting the flame upon the air and bringing it closer to light the blunt. Talen, idle under the darkness of the world, leaned back and admired the plethora of stars barely brightening the atmosphere's infinite shadows.
The twinkle each one made reflected in the middle of the Unconquerable's emerald pupils shimmering under the lunar surface of the white celestial body. And with the luminary sparkles secreted by the distant constellations away from his gaze were the false Northern lights. An aurora borealis.
"Talen?"
The woman's voice was familiar. When his head lowered from bathing in the beauty of the scenery above him, he turned and looked at her standing in the middle of the destroyed road.
"Cait…"
Tears started building up in the corners of her eyes. "I… I thought you were dead! But you're—"
Talen was now towering over her. He looked down at Caitlyn. He took her hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing the back of her palm.
"I'm sorry." He looked down. "A lot of stuff's happened. I don't know how you got here but… I'll ask in a second. For now, let me tell you so you're not mad at me."
Talen guided Caitlyn to the bench. A few minutes after, she was staring up at the star-filled night sky brightened by the northern lights streaming below the clouds.
"Wow, I…" She looked down, then up at Talen beside her. "I'm sorry. I didn't know about them—your brothers. I'm sure they're proud of you."
He nodded. "I think so too," he said. "I got my revenge. Monstrum and Atlas are dead, and the evil Displacement version of Apollo is all but extinct. Another threat will soon come, he said so himself, but for now I should just be enjoying it. But this? This 'victory' I've attained by watching my grandfather die and personally slaughtering my brother's killer?" He stared down at his palms stained with blood. "It's despicable."
"Why do you say that?"
"I'm the same as them. I've killed people. Hundreds; maybe even thousands. But I'm still alive. And better yet, those I've slaughtered had no idea it was me. An unimportant assassin. I'm sure, even now, someone from the past is still chasing after the shadow of my sins trying to get revenge. And they'll probably never get it."
Caitlyn averted her gaze from the lawyer's face. She looked deep into the horizon at the green and blue aurora dazzling above her head, venting a sigh from her mouth.
"It's pointless," she said. "The more you think about it, the more guilty you'll feel. So don't. Plus you were a kid, right? Did you even have any choice in what you were forced to do?"
"No but—"
"Then why're you blaming yourself?"
Talen looked down, shaking his head. "I dunno. It's not like I'm doing it on purpose; I'm just reflecting. Because it's odd. I don't feel anything. Nothing at all. Monstrum is dead and so is Atlas, but my brothers are as well. Nothing can bring them back. They were… irreplaceable. To me at least."
"I would tell you to think back to before they died, but it's pointless." She sighed. "Life will never be like that again. You will probably always be tortured by the dead. But the skulls of those perished are nothing more than illusions. You don't have to be an agent of death like your father or Monstrum. You don't have to be someone violent. The Unconquerable doesn't have to be a symbol of fear."
Talen glanced at her, then looked up at the sky, reflecting the stars in his eyes. "Do you really think that's possible? I tried. I tried so hard to be a peaceful person and despite that, they dragged me back into the fray regardless. What's the point of trying to be good when there's so much bad in the world?"
Caitlyn sighed, bowing her head. What more could she say this soon after everything that's happened? It was then that she realized. At this point and time, they weren't working together. She inched closer to Talen, taking his hand in her own and interlocking their fingers. He looked down at her freckled cheeks.
"I'm with you, Talen." She smiled. "I can't really think of anything helpful to say though…"
Talen tightened the link between their hands. He brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed them, smiling sadly while shifting his gaze to Caitlyn's face.
"Thank you." He looked into her eyes. "How'd you even get here anyway?"
She grinned. "My technique awakened! I heard you call my name and just like that, I traveled the distance and appeared here."
"Across an entire span of the ocean? Hmm…" Tal scratched his chin. "Looks like it's a non-combative type. Depending on you're thinking about in the moment, you can appear wherever they are. Though it's probably limited by some sort of distance."
"Really? How'd I get all the way over here then?"
"Dunno." He shrugged. "It sucks Blessed Freedom is random and there's no manual on how to use it."
"Oh. There you are," Alora's voice said.
The Enforcer approached her brother from the right end of the street. Behind her was the white-haired Supreme King, tilting his head at the sight of the woman beside him.
"Hey, who're you sitting with?" Uri asked.
Talen shifted his gaze from them to Caitlyn beside him. "Oh, that's right, I never introduced you guys."
"Is that—?" Cait shot up from the bench. "Holy crap! I didn't know you were friends with King Uriel, Tal!"
Alora and Talen rolled their eyes. Meanwhile, Uriel enjoyed his five seconds of fame, chuckling at the sound of her surprised tone.
"Well, I understand. I wouldn't want to brag about it if I were him. Might come off as arrogant or something."
Cait nodded, then turned around to face her boss. "I'm kinda underwhelmed."
"Wha—"
Uriel stepped back and lowered his head in shame, hearing Talen's snickers echo from behind her. Cait approached Alora.
"You're his sister, right? Alora?" She smiled. "He told me about you."
"Wow, you're gorgeous. It's funny. He didn't mention a thing about you to me," Lora said, smirking.
Talen shook his head. "That's such a lie."
Uriel stepped forward, standing before his cousin. "The others are waiting underground with Eros. I'd say we're packing whatever resources we brought here with us, but we're really just taking the mainland food from the fridge. You ready to come back or…?"
Talen shook his head. "Not yet. Give me at least another day," he said.
"Eros?" Cait repeated. "Your dad?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Dunno why but… I don't think I'm ready to see him again."
"Why?" Lora interrupted. "Didn't you guys make up and stuff? What's wrong?"
"Everything. I didn't mind hearing out his story and acting along for the sake of appeasing my mom, but standing beside him like everything's okay when it's not is too much. Too hard. Even for me."
"What do you mean?" Uriel stepped close. "What exactly did he do to you?"
It was nothing more than a fleeting memory; forever out of reach, lost to the rampant fog cluttering Talen's head. However, digging through the mist, revealed the truth. The truth about the past and how he came to be 'the Unconquerable'.
He glanced down at the painful recollection soaring through his mind, then Cait stepped, sliding her soft-skinned hands onto his cheeks and manually raising his head.
"You can tell us when you're ready."
"Thank you." Tal turned his head, kissed the palm on his face and looked at her. Caitlyn's gorgeous face. "You're the best."
"I know." She tittered.
Uriel and Lora looked at one another. Smirking, she extended her hand, watching the King groan as he rummaged through the pouches on his outfit. He placed a $5 bill in her hand. She quickly pocketed it, disappeared and now stood between the lovebirds before them.
"We shouldn't stay here. Tal, if you're not going to come back with us underground, maybe you should head back home early. You could just have Uri open a portal."
"Nah. I'd rather stay for a bit and sightsee with Cait. We never got to look at how pretty this place is, remember?"
Uriel tilted his head. "Is that seriously more important than planning our next move?"
"Dunno." Talen took Cait's hand in his. "I don't really care about that though." He waved back at Uriel and Alora, walking down the street with Caitlyn's arm in his. "Call when you need me!"
If it were anyone else, they would've thought Talen was running; the same as he always had. But from the way they looked at each other and the smiles on their faces, the Unconquerable's two partners could see the truth. Under the eternally black veil of night spread above them with stars sparkling throughout, Talen moved forward, with someone at his side.
For the first time in ten years, he wasn't alone. The cold man sheltered in his apartment relying on nothing but television and smoke to keep him alive had changed. He smiled with closed eyes, laughing with Caitlyn as he stepped off into the distance and, when enough time passed, finally vanished.
Uriel looked down at Lora, briefly bumping her in the arm. "C'mon." He turned around. "The others are waiting."
Alora's teary-eyed gaze shifted from the visage of her brother's silhouette to up at the King. Wiping the ends of her eyes, she sniffled, about-facing with her friend and starting to walk down the other end of the road. He didn't show it, but the same as her, Uriel felt the same odd sense of sadness upon seeing Talen leave. As if it were the last time they'd ever see him. For a while.
Both of them shook their heads, then, looked down at one another after noticing their identical actions. They both started chuckling. Lora slowly stood tall, and as Uriel did, they both turned to the end of the street Talen disappeared down. Surely, they were overthinking it. They had to be. But how could they be sure? It was simple. They gave him one final message both knew he would never hear.
'See you later… Tal.'
Fate's Curse - Fin.