The smell of blood hung in the air. The alien's face folded, almost as though he was frowning. He opened his mouth and chuckled in a condescending tone.
"Oh? So you managed to evade that. Still, you lack basic control. You're obviously glitching."
Adam didn't respond. The boy didn't even have the strength to look back. He simply stood there, in the middle of the street, staring at Lyra's corpse. Something in him seemed to have snapped. His grasp on reality wavered, and he was thrust into a time in the past.
A beautiful time.
Adam had a smile on his face as he diligently dragged a crayon over a piece of white paper. On the paper was a drawing of what he considered "art". In reality, he couldn't draw for shit.
Still, he had drawings of his family plastered around the entire house.
"Adam, dinner's ready." A sweet voice called from the Kitchen.
The boy stuck out his tongue and added finishing touches to his 'masterpiece'. He hopped off the chair and said, "Coming!"
Though technology had taken over in the new era, the White family enjoyed the comfort of Old Earth's aesthetics. So, the house was furnished in such a way. Adam slapped glue onto the back of the paper and stuck it to the wall of the living room, before hurrying towards the kitchen.
He glanced at his mom, a beautiful woman of average height, who had a warm smile and inviting demeanour.
"Smells delicious!" He said.
"Wait till you get a taste before deciding that." The woman laughed softly.
At that moment, the front door buzzed slightly and opened. Adam's father–a man with pale white hair and peculiar eyes–walked in, along with Lyra.
"Welcome home, Jacob, Lyra." Alias said in her warm, but sophisticated voice.
A family that radiated warmth and love.
At the edge of the living room, a beast with four horns stood. Next to him was another beast with a similar appearance.
"If we let this go on, he might end up being stuck here forever." One of them said in a calm voice.
The other chuckled and shrugged. "We can't keep helping him. If he can't handle this much, then how is he to fare against what's to come?"
"Don't be so hard on him. His family was everything to him."
As they spoke, Adam emerged from the kitchen and happily hopped to set the dining table.
Suddenly, he paused and turned to look at the two goat-like beasts.
"Leave." He said in a stern tone.
"Adam, this isn't happiness. You're slowly eating away at yourself if you keep this up." The beast with a calm demeanour said, voice filled with empathy.
"You would have me return to such a cruel reality?" The boy asked.
The other horned-beast scoffed and said in a harsh tone, "If you don't face it now, you'll face it later. It's an unavoidable fate."
Adam stepped away from the dining table and walked towards them. He raised a questioning brow, "Who decided that?"
Both beasts fell silent.
"I'm the one who decides these things." Adam's tone lacked any trace of compassion. He had truly died in the emotional sense.
The boy raised his hands and time seemed to come to a standstill. He casually walked towards them as he said, "I finally understand. This power– all it entails. Haha, I should've guessed it. The tattoos were the basic paths."
The beast with a harsh demeanor suddenly frowned.
Adam continued, "I see all, I know all. I can access all timelines. And because of this, I know who did this to me."
He smiled. "Honestly, it's truly quite ironic. But, it's necessary."
As he spoke, blood trickled down his nose.
"Look what you're doing to yourself. You'll die."
"And why shouldn't I?" Adam casually wiped the blood. "With everyone I care about dead, wouldn't it be the right choice?"
"Without having avenged Lyra?" The beast with a harsh tone found an opportunity to provoke him.
Adam frowned and fell silent.
He exhaled after a while and muttered, "I guess I should teach that bastard a lesson or two." He side-stepped and suddenly, the scene shattered into numerous fragments.
The dilapidated street came into view. Adam stared at the corpse before him once more, then turned around to look at the alien creature. Time hadn't passed at all in that separate space.
The alien hovering in the air suddenly felt a profound fear of the boy below him.
"Something's changed!" He snarled and quickly conjured large spikes from the black goo. With a forward thrust, he launched the spikes towards the boy, aiming to impale him to death.
Adam didn't move from his spot. His figure rapidly turned ethereal as the spikes merely passed through him.
"I am here, and at the same time, I'm not."
He had appeared behind the humanoid alien at some point in time. The alien, fear-stricken, tried to bolt from his spot. However, that seemed to be such a profound, insurmountable task.
It felt like taking a single step would take him an eternity.
Adam slowly reached his hand out, grabbing the neck of the alien that had murdered Lyra.
"I hate you so much. I despise you. Your presence fills me with so much disgust that I could pry my eyes out. You never should've existed." Adam rained curses from the deepest parts of his soul.
"However, killing you will bring me no joy as I already understand the grand scheme of things."
He simply couldn't find the needed rage. He could simply wave his hand, and Lyra's killer would be erased from existence. But would that satisfy him? He had been hurt beyond belief, to the point where he just didn't care.
At that moment, blood flowed from his eyes, ears and nose.
Below them, the two beasts had appeared and they both watched the unfolding scenario with fearful hearts. They repeatedly prayed Adam would end this before the power consumed him.
Adam glanced at them, then back at the alien who stood frozen.
He exhaled and said, "So, maybe it's best to leave your demise to a more suitable version of me."
"You made the right choice," The beast with a calm voice nodded approvingly.
Adam clicked his tongue and commanded, "Erase my memory of this once I shatter this reality. Baal, guide me from time to time, but remember not to explain anything crucial till the time is right."
"Yes, Lord." The beast with the harsh tone now displayed pure reverence towards the boy in the air.
"As for you, Bathsheba," Adam turned to look at the other beast. "Stay hidden till I reach the 4th Ascension."
"As you command, Lord."
Having given out the necessary commands, Adam sighed once more and glanced at Lyra's impaled corpse. A fleeting pain gnawed at his chest. He released his hold on the alien-like creature and waved his left hand.
As he did, the world seemed to undergo a profound change. Layers and layers of reality fractured, collapsed and withered into nothingness.
The scene, once again, reverted to Adam standing in the middle of the street and staring at Lyra's dead body.
Repeat.
The boy's eyes burned with rage. "LYRAAAA!!" He yelled on top of his voice as he turned and ran like a crazed barbarian towards the alien hovering in the air.
The alien scoffed and conjured more daggers. He launched them towards the screaming boy, however, they merely passed through his body.
"This filth won't go down!" The alien snarled in annoyance.
Adam's body glitched as he powered forward. An unknown strength coursed throughout his entire being and he felt his hand grow heavy.
Boom! He leapt into the air in a single bound and threw his arm forward. His fist tore through the air and collided with the layers of goo that had solidified to form a shield.
"Go die in the fucking sun!!"
Adam's fist punctured the steel-like shield and smashed into the alien's face. The latter had no time to scream in agony as the blow took off his entire head, reducing his body to nothing but a headless corpse.
The resulting shockwave tore through the entire middle ring like a crack of divine lightning.
Green blood, nauseating pus and battered flesh rained down as Adam plummeted from the sky.
As he fell, he bawled his eyes out, mourning the death of his last family.