Saturday, December 4, 807
Dawn.
Death finally reaches the academy. She can tell by the presence of the sign, indicating:
-'Kosen' Military Academy of Fort-
She passes through the gate, unnoticed by the guards at the entrance, and finds herself in the park adjacent to the central palace.
"His presence is growing stronger; he must be close," she mutters to herself.
She moves decisively towards the central palace. With her immense agility, it takes her less than a minute to reach it.
...
She takes the stairs and ascends to the third floor.
...
She continues in the direction where she senses Dominion's presence growing stronger, stopping in front of a door. After a moment of hesitation, she decides to open it.
Her eyes fall on a silver-haired woman behind a desk. Her name is Maria Ross, the instructor-Hero of the academy.
Death looks at her with perplexity, standing still at the door of the room. Faced with her hesitation, Instructor Ross asks:"So, do you want to come in or not? I assume you came to ask me something."
...
Death opens her mouth, realizing that the person in front of her is none other than her brother Dominion.
"But... But... What happened to you?"
She can't believe what she's seeing. She closes the door and quickly approaches him.
"Nothing much. To conserve strength, I took control of this body. Although... thanks to you, I'll have to use another one."
Death makes a puzzled and displeased face, then says: "How can it be my fault? I just arrived. Plus, we haven't seen each other in a long time, and you treat me like this? You know Famine suffered a lot? War got captured too. All because of you and your decision to go against him."
Now she seems angry, but her girlish appearance makes her look amusing.
"We're still alive, can't you see? For me, it was a victory."
He responds very calmly, then gets up from the chair and hugs her.
"Come on, your big sisters are strong; I'm sure they'll resist and recover."
Death wriggles out of his embrace and steps back.
"Famine cursed you several times, even called you a bastard."
"Yeah, yeah, when you see her again, tell her that if she can still complain, it's thanks to me, even though I don't expect any thanks."
Death is still visibly upset and can't calm down. She remembers Famine's conditions,'having to consume' obese people to regenerate, not to mention War, imprisoned somewhere.
"Then why didn't you keep in touch? Many years have passed without a word from you; we thought you were dead!"
"Oh..." Dominion looks genuinely surprised, then teases Death, "So, you're worried about me... How touching."
"Worried? Don't talk nonsense! We're worried that he might come back and wipe us all out! Remember, he already killed me once, but next time, he might ensure I can't come back!"
Dominion suddenly turns towards the window of his office and remains silent for a couple of minutes.
Death huffs at his behavior and asks: "What's wrong now?"
Dominion looks at her again with inquisitive eyes, then asks: "Are you serious? After everything you've done? You know there are cameras here? They saw you enter the third floor; once they investigate, they'll know you entered my office, so my position is compromised."
Upon hearing those words, Death begins to get excited and suggests: "So, is someone coming here? Let me kill them."
She clenches her fist on her chest and smiles at the thought of finally killing someone.
Dominion looks at her with resignation and asks:"Did Famine not explain anything to you? You can't just kill them indiscriminately... But there's no time now. Anyway, since you caused me trouble by coming here, you owe me a favor, hehe."
He looks at her with a mischievous gaze.
Death nods without complaining, acknowledging that she was the one at fault for not following Famine's instructions.
"Where are we going then?" She asks Dominion.
Dominion doesn't answer and goes to sit down. He closes his eyes, and in a few moments, an entity separates from Instructor Ross's body. Gradually, this entity takes shape and assumes the appearance of a silver-haired boy.
Meanwhile, Maria Ross has fainted, her hair returning to its natural dark color.
"We've freed up some rooms on the fourth floor; we'll go there for our chat."
Death looks at him with a toothy grin and exclaims joyfully: "You're even shorter than me eheh".
Dominion ignores her, then proceeds to leave the office.
"Wait, Dominion! Aren't we killing her?" She asks anxiously.
"No... I've altered her memories, so for her, the last 5 years never happened. And she'll be our scapegoat, so we won't kill her, got it, Death?"
Death nods with a disappointed look, then they both exit the office.
"The cameras are only on the ground floor, so we shouldn't have problems now." Dominion tells her, walking towards the stairs.
"Then what are those?" Death points to cameras right in front of them.
"I deactivated those after you entered the office. This way, they'll accuse that woman of being your accomplice. I also left some documents about the Bakuro incident."
Upon hearing those last words, Death feels a slight shiver down her spine.
"So, you knew?"
Dominion nods.
...
They climb the stairs and reach the fourth floor.
They encountered a couple of cadets along the way, but Dominion made sure to control their five senses, making them believe he and Death weren't there.
Once in front of room 2694, Dominion places his hand on the door, and it opens.
"We'll talk in here. The Heroes will come looking for you; they'll check the cameras and know you went up to the third floor. They'll just interrogate that woman, then arrest her after seeing those documents."
Death nods and follows him into the room, then closes the door herself.
As soon as she sees the armchair, she rushes to sit on it.
Dominion follows suit and sits beside her.
Once comfortable, he says:"It was Ghost who told me that you destroyed the Bakuro forest, sensing your presence there. You should have seen how happy he was to know that you were back in action. But why did you do it?"
Death clasps her hands and starts moving her fingers nervously.
"I was lost..." She whispers.
"I knew it!"
He puts a hand on his forehead and says: "I assume you dispersed your demonic energy to attract the Heroes' attention and then followed them to get here."
Death nods, then asks him: "But is Ghost with you? Why didn't you tell me anything? And Suicide? Since we separated, I haven't heard from them... I thought they were killed."
His tone, always sharp and amused, has completely transformed into something sad and nostalgic, remembering his subordinates.
Seeing her in that state, Dominion pities her but firmly tells her: "I don't know where Suicide is. In the future, we'll go look for him. Meanwhile, I'll tell you about what happened five years ago, how I defeated our father and what will happen... I assume you came here for that."
Death remains silent, allowing him to continue his narrative.
"Carestia must have explained what happened up to a certain point, so I'll only tell you about the final phase of the battle when he and I faced each other while our sisters and our comrades were defeated and scattered. As you know, he always manifested a black armor made of demonic energy, never revealing his body. We all thought that was his skin, logical considering he's the father of all of us; the demon who has lived for an eternity, destroying the universe multiple times only to recreate it, killing even his own kind and then deciding to give them life again. But when it was just me facing him, he dissolved that armor, revealing the appearance of a boy, human in form, just like you and me. I looked at him in astonishment and wonder; what was happening was something that no one in this universe had ever experienced, and perhaps it hadn't happened in past universes either. Immediately after revealing his true form, he approached me, and I couldn't do anything to stop him. In that moment, he did something even more impressive... He spoke: 'Dominion', that was the first word he said."
After telling her just the beginning of the story, Dominion remains silent next to his sister.
Death, on her part, widens her eyes since Dominion mentioned that their father showed his true form. Realizing her brother has stopped talking, she says: "C-Continue! What happened next?"
After a couple of minutes in complete silence, Dominion tells her: "Just now, they captured Maria Ross. They are taking her away."
"But why do I care about that woman! Keep talking!" Death yells, annoyed by this interruption.
Dominion had also stopped because recalling those events had shaken him, as if they were happening again for the first time.
"Alright, I'll continue now..." He says with uncertainty.
"At that moment, he asked me what I wanted, why we were in conflict, whether I was happy or angry, why I wanted to keep living...
My mind was bombarded by his questions: to be honest, throughout the entire dialogue, he never opened his mouth, but I could still hear his voice within me.
I found the strength to answer him and said we were fighting to save our lives and prevent the destruction of the eighth universe.
I immediately received his response; he said: 'Destruction is inevitable... everything that is created, sooner or later, must be destroyed, and this universe is no exception'.
So... I knelt down; he had pronounced a tragic sentence that penetrated deep into my bones and made me cease all hostility.
But then... something unpredictable happened.
He looked at me for several moments with his empty eyes, capable of sucking in anything, and calmly said:'Don't surrender me immediately to Darkness. Let him kill other cadets, and when the time comes, lead him to me'.
I was confused, and only later did I understand what he truly meant.
He saw a future scenario, one among the many existing and for a reason unknown to me, this particular future aroused his interest. In that same instant, he set the gears of existence in motion to lead all of us toward that scenario.
In fact, right after he told me those words, I felt a fluctuation in his defenses; the pressure he exerted on me gradually diminished until I gathered courage. Perhaps he was manipulating me, making me act this way.
The fact is, I quickly put my hands around his temples and used all my energy to alter his memories, make him forget everything about this world. After doing that, he fainted amidst the debris generated by the clash, while I sighed. That long sigh made me realize I was still alive, that I had survived... him.
I stepped away and hid, waiting for his awakening, which happened about ten minutes later. At that very moment, a horde of zombies arrived on the scene, heading towards him. And simultaneously from the opposite side, demon hunters arrived, and it was one of them who took him away."
Dominion concludes his tale from the past.
He looks at Death beside him, who remains incredulous at what she has heard.
After a few minutes, Death asks him: "But why didn't he destroy the universe? I can't understand..."
"Our father is unpredictable; there's no point in understanding what drives his ideas and thoughts. That's precisely why I couldn't risk him recovering his memories, so I allied with Darkness..."
Death becomes perplexed, so she asks him: "But what does Darkness have to do with all this?"
"Our father spoke to me about him on that occasion, and at the time, I couldn't comprehend... I've been watching over our father since he woke up, until he enrolled in this academy, monitoring every move through the people close to him... I discovered that somehow, despite his altered memories, he still retained a part of his memory, remembering events and circumstances. I thought of acting again and finishing the job, but the risk of him taking over was too high.
Five years ago, I believe it was his will that allowed me to manipulate his memories, but I didn't believe I could do it again...
It was then that I remembered our father's words. Why should I hand him over to Darkness? And why should I have him kill other cadets?
Because of our clash, I expended a lot of energy and had to control that woman, who was part of the group that went to counter the zombies. Remembering his words, I felt compelled to become an instructor at this academy, as it was the closest to that area.
I sensed that the future our father had decided was unfolding.
Darkness can absorb anything and take control of it. But it never crossed my mind that he could succeed in controlling our father. This is because if our father found himself in difficult situations, he would manifest his abilities and then absorb Darkness, with the risk of him recovering his memories.
But then why should I hand him over to him? I thought and thought and thought, every day. Later I realized something...
What if I gave him a reason not to want to destroy the universe? If I made him understand there's something that doesn't deserve to be destroyed but preserved?
If I were right, then he would let Darkness absorb him without resistance."
"What did you do then?" Death asks him curiously.
"I manipulated the people around him. I made sure he found friends; I made sure... She fall in love with him; I gave him an anchor to throw at the bottom of the sea; I gave him a home to return to.
I had told Darkness the names of some cadets who could be our father, I had told him that the probability of finding him among them was high. His murders were meant to solidify relationships with the people around him... And then the fateful day came, just over two weeks ago. I told Darkness his name, so he went to him and managed to absorb him.
Since then, both of them disappeared.
Everything depends on our father and the attachment he has developed towards some humans."
Death wears an increasingly confused expression until she asks him:"Are you telling me that our father decided on his own not to destroy the universe, to let himself be controlled by you and then by Darkness? Are you messing with me?"
Dominion raises his arms, not knowing how to explain it: "If he wanted to destroy the universe, he would have done it easily, and yet here we are!"
"He acts without any logic... He's insane!" Death says incredulously.
Then she continues: "So we still don't know how long we'll be in this deadlock, without knowing the fate of this universe?"
Dominion nods and says: "Everything will be decided when he manifests again. Only at that moment will we understand what we're facing. If Darkness can truly control him, then we may consider this universe saved. If our father wins, at that point, no one can know what he will do."