Ch. 23 Shattered Skies
This is a continuation of the Apocalypse Saga
For the other chapters in TAS, click here
For more stories in the world of Astra outside of TAS, click here
“Nephew, I think it’s time we talked.”
“Talked? About what, auntie?” Seijun had just finished taking all of his armor off and laying it across Ophee’s guest bedroom floor. For the first time in weeks, he wore only his mesh undersuit. He felt lighter, but he also felt incomplete. He looked in the mirror and was surprised at his body. He had become thin. Gaunt. The muscle was still there, but it looked as though there wasn’t much left other than muscle and bone. It made him uncomfortable. He thought of all the fresh deer he would catch and eat when he made it home to make up for all the weight he lost. Then, he imagined sharing his catch with the village, and his heart let out a pang of sadness.
“We need to talk about the end.” She said quietly. She appeared on the bed and lay back with an exhale. “Oh, Five, I hate this.”
“What do you mean? What’s going on?” Seijun asked. He sat down next to Vey, the bed creaking beneath his weight – though light as he was.
“When this is over – when you succeed - because you will succeed – it will be the end of our time together. I will come and go as the gods demand. They don’t care about how we feel. About how we process our goodbyes. They care that the job is done. I just - I was afraid I wouldn’t get to say goodbye to another person I loved. It already happened so many times.” Vey sighed and shook her head, “This world is cruel, nephew. It always has been, but I don’t believe it always will be. We can escape its cruelty. The most important thing you or I or anyone can do is be the light in the darkness of the cruel world. Shine so bright, no one can see the darkness. That they could never possibly be hopeless. When the world is cruel, we must be kind. I want that for you. You, the last of my family.”
“Auntie,” Seijun took a deep breath in, then out. He laid down next to her, and turned so they were looking each other in the eyes, “when I had lost all my family, you were the one who returned to me – the aunt I never knew I had. You were the first spark of hope on my journey. I will honor you until the day I die, and I will never forget everything you taught me. You are forever a part of me. Thank you, auntie Vey.”
Vey smiled, “Thank you. I will miss you, nephew. You taught me much too. Like…” Vey tapped her chin, “Hm, let’s see… there must be something.”
Seijun laughed – a genuine laugh, his mouth open, his eyes alight with joy, and his stomach heaving.
“Oh, I know!” Vey grinned, “You taught me how to stand back up after something blows up in your face. You did that more than most have, and no one can take that away from you.”
“I value getting back up close to my heart.” Seijun said with a laugh.
“You also taught me the value of hygiene.” Vey covered her nose, “Dear nephew, even in death I can smell you. Perhaps a shower before sunrise would do you well.”
Seijun nodded. There was a bathroom connected to the guest room. He got up off the bed and went inside. Vey stayed on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her face fell to sadness, and she shook her head, “I’ll miss this. Gods above, I’ll miss this.”
.
.
.
Akashi and Ophee had stayed up through the night talking. They went through as many details of each other’s lives as they could. Ophee lay on the floor of the living room, her hair spread out around her. Akashi sat next to her, his back against the couch. Between them was an empty pie pan. They had laughed, cried, and everything in between, but in the last few minutes they had gone silent. Akashi had balanced a pen and paper on his knee and had been writing. Ophee sat quietly, staring at the ceiling and basking in the moment. She had a look on her face that read as impassiveness, but Akashi knew she was upset. Still, they were at least happy to be together. Even though they had both grown so much, it was clear to him that they never grew apart.
As Akashi finished writing, he folded the paper up and passed it to Ophee.
“Don’t read?” Ophee asked.
Akashi shrugged, “You can, but it’s nothing interesting. Just… a message for someone I wish I could’ve done this with too.” He said, gesturing to the room.
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Ophee got up and walked into the kitchen. She pulled open a drawer, grabbed an envelope and sealed the paper away.
“Just promise me you’ll get it to her.” Akashi implored.
“I promise, Kash. Or… you could do it yourself.”
“I know, but let’s not talk about that right now, yeah? Let’s focus on the task at hand.”
“Right. Right. Evacuation of the city should be wrapped up. Few days ago, I helped the servants of Oran-Koh to set up temp camps on the coastline outside the city, so we should actually keep the fight inside the city. Zilden also deployed the navy so the bay of Euco is crawling with cruisers. Honestly, maybe we don’t even need two champions. Euco’s military is pretty tough, Kash. Hell, I’m pretty tough.”
“I wouldn’t doubt you for a second, Ophee, but - well, I’m doing my job helping you out, aren’t I?” He said with a grin. “Besides, when have I ever been one to listen if I don’t want to? As long as I have the will to resist, that is.” He said the last part with a weakened smile. Still, he tried to stay positive. “We need to get to the place where the sun was made – that’s what Brahman said.”
“Did he now?”
“Yep. He said if the Void Tyrant reads from the book in that place, he can merge the realms.”
“Okay, so what we can do is keep you and Seijun there. The military can hold off the nasty monsters you mentioned, and we can go from there. You said there’s a coalition?”
“Oh yeah, a big one. So, here’s to hoping for some divine intervention.”
“Gods are real big on the binding of their word. They’ll be here. Or at least, they’ll stay true to their word. Depending on how they worded it, they could play the game, if you know what I mean.” Ophee said with a shake of her head.
Just then, Lou walked through the door. “You kids look more relaxed than when I left.” He announced as he shut the door behind him.
“Yeah, we had some time to catch up. How goes the evac, Lou?” Ophee asked.
“Good. Good. City’s a ghost town. Feels weird. Just a few stragglers and the occasional devotees refusing to leave. Otherwise, we’re ready for the storm to hit. Tell you what though, it’s been real quiet. I know it’s just past 5am, but gods don’t work on mortal time, so where the hell is he?”
“Beats me,” Akashi said with a shrug, “maybe he’s waiting for something?”
“Nothing left to wait for.” Lou replied.
“Come on, guys, we know exactly what’s happening.” Ophee said with a shake of her head.
“We do?” Akashi asked.
“If you’re thinking what I think you are, I won’t be the one to say it.” Lou replied curtly.
“He’s scared.” Ophee looked to the sky and raised her voice, “The bastard is scared of a real god. He knows to use the tome, he has to cross the holiest of holy land, and he knows we’re ready! Don’t you, you fucker?” Seijun opened the door and peeked outside the guest room. He was adorned in all his armor, except for his mask. Ophee continued, “Not only that, but he knows his little hiding trick won’t work in Euco. He may be a tyrant, but he’s not entirely stupid. Nah, like all tyrants, he’s a coward. A coward who’s getting ready to lose! Embarrassing!”
“Oh, here we go…” Lou shook his head and chuckled, “Leave it to a Weaver to kick the nest.”
Without missing a beat, the ground rumbled.
“Alright, boys, it’s party time.” Ophee announced. She jumped up off the ground. With a quick wave of her hand, she ran her fingers over her outfit, and her dress melted into a white T-shirt and purple sweats. Her knuckles were wrapped, and her long curly hair was forced up in a ponytail.
Within moments of the rumble, they heard what sounded like hundreds of fireworks lighting off all at once.
“Uh… what was that?” Akashi asked. Vey and Seijun were immediately at his side, mask now on.
“Flares I bet.” Ophee replied. “The navy must’ve seen something. Come on, let’s have a look.”
Together, the group of five walked to the balcony and looked outside. At first, all they could see were red flares streaking across the sky, lighting the entire city in a hazy glow. Then, as the flares streaked across the sky, they died down, but the bright light didn’t.
Akashi was the first to notice, “Oh… shit…”
The sky was lit like a comet blazing over the distant Eucan sea. Twilight imploded into a million colors. Lightning crashed across the air, blazing into structures around Euco. Several ship platforms across the Eucan bay burst into flames and the splinter of sparks sputtered into the ocean. High above, the light could be seen for what it was: a deep swirling portal of light.
Then the light climbed. It climbed across the atmosphere, stretching and stretching. It expanded across the reaches of the air until it shredded the sky open, pushing the Fates, the stars, the atmosphere out of the way, giving way to a massive tear. There, stretching across Astra, was a crack in the sky. It spanned all of Astra, visible across the entire planet. It was pale white at its center but was quickly turning purple like a bruise. The external edges were an unnatural blue that stretched like dendrites across the night sky.
“A tear in the realms…” Vey announced in horror. “He must be close. As he draws nearer to Euco, the tear will grow greater. Once he speaks the ancient words, it will open entirely, and the realms will merge.” She spoke quickly with terror in her voice.
“Pathetic!” Ophee yelled, “You’re pathetic! You think we’re scared of you? This changes NOTHING! We’re coming for you, tyrant! And when we do, you better be running scared!”
“Oh, she’s feeling fiery today, isn’t she?” Lou let out a laugh.
Akashi nudged Seijun, “It’s go time, Seij. You ready?”
“More ready than I’ve ever been for anything in my life. Let’s end this.”
“Good.” Lou replied. “We need to get to the shrine of the first flame and fast. Let’s move.”
.
.
.
The crack in the sky was odd. As Centu appeared within it, she felt something strange. Here in this strange liminal space, half-life ceased to exist. Here she could live eternally if she chose. This crack in the sky was the point at which every realm existed simultaneously. She also knew that as it grew – for it was indeed growing – it would become unstable and even the gods would cease to be safe. The sun was beginning to rise in the mortal realm, but here in the crack in the sky, she stood alone, trying to understand what she was experiencing. The space was blank. Black and white. Oddly quiet, and even more strange, very malleable to the whims of a god. She wasn’t sure what to make of that, but she felt as much control here as she felt in her home realm.
Before long, Vajra appeared alongside her. “Fascinating.” She said. She stepped to the point in the tear where she could see the mortal realm far below. She watched as the crack slowly grew – like continents drifting apart – and let out a hmph as she thought through the implications.
“He’s nearing Euco.” Centu announced.
“Only because that witch challenged him. I’ll admit, I don’t usually like witches, but her? I like the way she stands before a lesser god and spits right in his face. Of course, now she must back up such claims.”
“Mhm.” Centu replied.
“Are you afraid, storm child?”
“No. Just… thinking.”
A third voice entered the space, “You should be afraid.” Both Vajra and Centu turned around, coming face to face with Carja, the Void Tyrant. “By the end of today, I will rule all the realms, and you will be a distant memory.”
“You.” Vajra growled. “I’m going to enjoy feeding you to – actually no. You know what I will enjoy most?” Vajra’s voice relaxed and she forced a wicked smile across her lips.
“I hope its defeat.” Carja replied.
“No. See, you’ve made my brother angry. He’s a fool, believe me, but let me tell you why he’s a fool: Because no one fears him. And that’s what none of you understand. I am fear incarnate. I am what children have nightmares about, but my brother? Oh, the ever-loving sun god. The god who cares for the mortals. Oh, so kind. Oh, so sweet. Oh, so full of compassion and love, and nonsense… and yet he is who you should fear.”
Carja scoffed, “Afraid of a sun god? Please. I am desire. I am power. I am the voice that whispers in every man’s mind ‘more.’ I am the moment of victory as an army surrenders. I am the pillaging of lands. I am the destruction of empires. I am a creator. I am the god of conquest. Of empires. Of tyranny. Of victory. Do you think I’m afraid of a sun god?”
Vajra shook her head and grinned her sharp-toothed smile, but didn’t reply.
“Tyrant, it isn’t too late for you to end this.” Centu implored. “We don’t need to take this a step further.”
“Oh, but I do. And as I do, you will all submit to me. In your dying moments, you will fall to me.”
Vajra shook her head once more, “This is pathetic. I’m tired of hearing this. Either leave now or I won’t hesitate to end you where you stand.”
“I will see you on the battlefield.” Carja replied before he shimmered out of existence.
“I suppose that’s how it’ll be then.” Centu said, an indifference in her voice that even surprised her a little.
“So it seems. How many of my children shall I wake? The fiends are already chomping at the bit to be freed.”
“You mean the dragons?” Centu asked.
“Who else, child? How many then?”
“You – you want to wake the dragons?”
“You’re right, there is no such thing as overkill when the fate of the universe is at stake. I shall awake them all.”
.
.
.
As they made their way down the stairs through the holy unit, the sounds that penetrated the stairwell raised their adrenaline. They felt deep groans, rumbles, and the occasional foundation-shaking unknown. They shared concerned glances, but stayed quiet as they rushed down. Before long, they burst into the empty lobby, and pushed through the doors into the empty, open streets of Euco. The sun was beginning to rise, giving the city an eerie glow as the sunlight mixed with the crack in the sky’s light. The ground rumbled again.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have taunted the god.” Akashi grumbled.
“I’d say I’m sorry, but,” Ophee shrugged, “I hate a bully. I’d rather rip this bandage off.”
“I agree with the witch.” Vey said. “We need to stand before this tyrant, and –“ Vey went silent suddenly.
“You can’t be serious…” Akashi stared in awe at the sky.
Seijun followed his stare. He let out a gasp, “Are those…?”
“I see The Dragon Mother spared no expense.” Lou announced, “Keep your heads down. They won’t think much of cooking us too.”
As if in response, the beasts let out a collective roar that shook the entire city. Glass shattered, car alarms blared, and plants hanging from streetlights shook loose, crumbling into the brick sidewalk. Over a dozen ancient dragons circled the city. Each of their long, scale-covered bodies twisted and curled as they propelled themselves through the air on wings that collectively blotted out the sky. They came in a multitude of colors, with a vast array of features. Each dragon unique, each ready to decimate whatever their goddess commanded them to.
“At least we aren’t alone.” Akashi reasoned.
“Let’s move.” Ophee said. She jogged down the street, deeper into the city.
As they ran forward, the shadows began to move. From dark alleys and spaces the rising sun had yet to grace, a glistening light of amethyst appeared. Blinking eyes followed them, then stretched forth. Void fiends separated from the darkness until the shadows were left alone, and the beasts were prowling forth.
Seijun noticed first and directed Akashi’s attention. Akashi nodded and reached for his revolver. Before he could grab it, Ophee put a hand on his, “No,” She whispered, “don’t let them know we know. Not yet. We need to get closer to the temple.”
Akashi hesitated, then nodded. They continued through the streets, the world shaking around them. Behind them, the fiends of the Void were amassing. The hoard silently dragged themselves through the streets, slowly making their way towards the team.
“That’s the temple up ahead.” Ophee announced.
Two golden prongs rose towards the sky. Typically, the sun would peek from between the golden hands that reached towards the sky, but instead the sickening crack stretched through the otherwise beautiful scene. Beneath the prongs was the pristine white structure of the sun temple. Within the temple lay the first flame of the sun – the birthplace of the Astral star. The old campfire the sun was born from rested in a heavily guarded display in the center of the temple. All they needed to do was make it inside and secure it. Then, prepare for the onslaught.
“He’s not made it here yet. Good. He’s close though. Wherever that may be.” Lou said as he looked at a scroll carefully before rolling it back up and stowing it away.
As the looming temple eclipsed the sky itself, and the roar of dragons shook the earth, Akashi and Seijun shared a knowing look, nodded, and turned around.
“I guess we make our stand here.” Ophee said.
“That’s right.” Akashi said as he checked his revolver over. “I’m ready for this to be over.”
“I’m ready to make things right.” Seijun added.
“Don’t worry, boys, we can do this.” Vey replied.
Then, the void fiends broke into a gallop towards them. In the distance, they heard the rumble of missiles firing from the bay, the roar of dragons, encroaching thunder, and the immense feeling of the world baring down on them. If they couldn’t stop it, this was the way the world ended.
“Shit, they’re behind us!” Ophee shouted, pulling Akashi’s attention away. The creatures were pouring from a nearby street corner, making a break for the temple. Akashi looked over his shoulder just in time to see Ophee break into action.
She moved unlike anything he’d seen before. The ground beneath Ophee shattered, like a knife thrusting skyward. On one pointed foot, Ophee took off atop the Astral earth. She soared across the air, as she did the ground ripped itself open, unattended vehicles, chunks of the city’s infrastructure, and void fiends falling into the darkness of Astra. Then, with little effort, she raised a wall of debris to block the path the fiends were flanking through.
“Akashi, focus.” Vey brought him back to the front.
“Sorry, just – that was awesome.” He gushed.
“Well, now it’s your turn to do something special.”
“Right. Got it. Let’s do it.”
Akashi disappeared into smoke, his body dissipating on the wind. He appeared before the line of void fiends, revolver at eye level. He fired off a single, lightning calling, blistering shot. As the smoke-bullet connected, shattering a fiend’s eye, lightning crashed down, wiping out dozens more.
Within moments, Seijun was by his side, sword in hand, slashing through their enemies. As the red-hot blade draped in hazy water vaper shattered the amethyst eyes of the fiends, the dragons roared, and plasma missiles bombarded distant city streets.
Seijun ducked under a void fiend just in time for Akashi to take a shot at the beast. Just as he did, a wall of jagged rocks rose from the ground, impaling several of the fiends. Ophee stepped between the two, clearing out a small group of the fiends. Nearby, Lou was dodging out of the way of the tentacles of the creatures. As the other three fought the monstrous creatures, the Man with a Million Names, ducked and dodged out of the way of the ravenous fiends. His face was oddly calm. Serene. Still, he moved like a much younger man, constantly deflecting out of the way of the incoming onslaught of beasts that threatened to take his head off.
As soon as Seijun noticed, he broke off from the rest of the group, sprinting for Lou. He slid towards his ally, blade out, cutting down the fiends as he propelled himself across the ground. He jumped off the ground, ready to defend Lou.
“Thank you, my friend.” Lou said, serenity in his voice.
“Of course. We need to get you out of this fight.” As Seijun said that, he blocked a monstrous tentacle, pushed back against it and jammed his blade into the creature’s head, shattering the purple eyes.
“I agree. The battlefield is no place for the likes of me.”
“dead man, any ideas?” Lady Vey called over the chaos.
“Uh, yeah!” Akashi shouted, “Ophee, take Brahman and secure the temple. We’ll meet you there when we clear these guys out.
“Not too sure you can clear them out!” Lou yelled. “They won’t stop coming! The city’s teeming with them!”
“I worry how many gave in to the promises and lies of the tyrant…” Vey said, sadness in her voice.
“Doesn’t matter anymore. Let’s just get things under control. Ophee, Brahman hit the temple. We’ll thin the numbers here and meet you.” Akashi shot a fiend in the chest, then punched it in the face, crumpling it to the ground. “Got it?”
“Got it.” Ophee turned with Lou and ran off. “Good luck, Kash. And Seijun? Keep him safe, would you?”
“Yes ma’am.” Seijun replied as he stepped in front of Akashi, slashing through a fiend with his searing hot sword.
Akashi pulled out his revolver and blew into the cylinder, “Funny that she thinks you’ll be protecting me.”
“We’ll have each other’s backs.” Seijun replied. Even through his mask, Akashi could hear the smile in his voice.
“Exactly. Let’s wrap up and catch up to them, Seij.” Akashi pulled back the hammer of his revolver, and Seijun began to come forward, but stopped short.
“Wait.” Vey announced.
“Wait? What do you mean wait, V? This is –“
Before Akashi could finish, the dragons let out a collective roar. Even the fiends themselves stopped in their tracks. At least that was how it looked at first. Then, Seijun noticed that the fiends hadn’t stopped, rather something was holding them in place. Their own shadows were dragging them down to the ground.
Only a few feet in front of Seijun, the ground ignited in fire. He took a few steps back, bumping into Akashi, as the heat of the flames threatened to burn him even at a distance. “The flames are surrounding the temple!” Vey yelled. As they surveyed around them, they realized a protective wall of fire was coming up, encircling the entirety of the temple in a blistering hot fire.
The void fiends fought against their shadows but couldn’t break free. Then, they heard a noise overhead. It was like the click click click of a pilot light preparing to ignite. But it didn’t last long before it was replaced by the guttural roar of a grand white dragon as it swooped downward, the force of its wings knocking Akashi and Seijun off their feet. From the ground, through the flames, over the chaos, they watched as the dragon careened downward, opened its mouth, and from its maw, burst a yellow energy that bathed everything in cleansing divine light, decimating the ground and everything upon it.
As the electric haze dissipated away, they saw creatures rising from the ashes of the void fiend’s remains. The monstrous true fiends had risen from the death and decay and were crawling on all fours, breaking into a gallop towards more distant void fiends that were already approaching the temple.
Seijun and Akashi involuntarily recoiled from their unlikely allies, but Vey let out a holler of joy, “The coalition stands strong! So long as the coalition holds its ground, we can focus on stopping the tyrant.”
“Wow,” Akashi gasped, “that happened… fast…”
Seijun nodded, “Let’s take advantage. If they have the void fiends under control, then we can move inside and help secure the holy site.”
“Good thinking.” Akashi replied as he watched a dragon spiral out of the way of an incoming missile. Within moments, the missile collided somewhere, and the entire ground shook. Akashi assumed it leveled a few buildings. He only hoped it took some void fiends with it. “It’s shaping up to be an unforgettable day, isn’t it?”
.
.
.
From the crack in the sky, Centu could see the war unfolding. She saw the amassed thousands of Void Fiends that were surrounding the city, climbing buildings, and threatening to tear Euco apart. But even better, from here she could see the dragons dipping downwards, cooking their foes, the countless fires igniting around them, and the very grounds themselves opening up – monstrous fiends rising to battle their false counterparts from the realm of the Void. She felt proud of her coalition.
There was something else though. From the waters of the ocean, missiles streaked towards the battlefield, plasma bombardments descending on the void fiends. “They’re defending themselves.” She announced, impressed. “Look at that.”
“Humans aren’t all helpless.” Vajra agreed as she watched alongside her. “Though my children are doing most of the work.”
“This was the point of the coalition after all. See how strong we are when we come together?”
“We can come together when the way things should be is under attack. Nothing more.” Vajra replied.
Centu nodded. Then her mind wandered back to a persistent concern that wouldn’t escape her, “This - this tear in the realms – this place.”
Vajra nodded, “Yes. It’s growing.”
“The more it grows, the more unstable it becomes.” Centu added, a tinge of anxiety in her voice.
“I need to go.” Vajra announced suddenly. “I’ll rally the others.” With that, Vajra disappeared, leaving Centu alone in the crack in the sky. She looked down on the war through the slowly expanding crack. Panic began to consume her. The crack’s growth was accelerating. It was moving much faster - faster than she could have foreseen. The only way it could possibly expand like this was if – “He made it to the temple.” She gasped.
Even if he had made it to the temple, he couldn’t have possibly spoken the words to merge the realms - if he had it would already be over – but he had clearly gotten close enough to threaten tearing the sky apart.
Centu felt panic threatening to overtake her, but it was swiftly followed by clarity. She had to act. No one was there to. She took a deep breath, dropped her umbrella at her side, and leapt into the crack. She floated for a moment in the center of the tear. Once she steadied herself, she reached both hands out towards either side. Thunder roared and lightning screeched across the sky. She caught the lightning bolts like stray whips cracking against her open palms. She tightened her grip on the lightning and forced it to stretch across the ever-growing crack. It snagged on either side, and with all her strength, she pulled.
The goddess pulled against the very universe itself, forcing it to hold together on the tearing seam that threatened to come apart. She felt her entire body strain against the pressure, something inside her that she didn’t even know could hurt began to scream in pain as the realms pulled her in all directions. She wondered at that moment if she could come apart. If the very universe could kill a god. Still, she held firm against it, her strength alone holding the entire universe in balance.
She wasn’t sure how long she had been like that. It could’ve been eons, or mere seconds. The pain was excruciating, but her will was unyielding. Then, the pressure let up. She looked to her side and saw her brothers – Omnibek and Strala – had joined her in the center of the crack, holding on by strands of electricity made by Strala’s hands.
“Don’t say a word.” Omnibek said as he let out a groan, fighting against the crack that continued threatening to spill open.
Before long, Navia and Cairo joined them, thick vines lacing across the crack, relieving the pressure against the three gods. The vines snapped over and over, but the twins continued adding to it, keeping the crack constantly restrained.
“Keep holding!” Centu screamed through the strain.
“Not if he continues being this close to that place of power.” Strala corrected.
“He’s right, we can’t hold the universe together, sister. Not much longer.” Omnibek added.
Centu let out a pained groan as she forced herself to fight harder against the tear, “Maybe we can’t, but –“
All at once, the gods became weightless. They felt no strain, no pressure. Only a sudden reprieve of their pain.
“Alright, children, out of the way.” Vajra announced with a needle-toothed grin.” She stood before the crack holding Centu’s umbrella.
Centu looked to her side and saw a new figure. The crack in the sky burst into the brilliant colors of the cosmos as this new figure, a large woman with eyes that contained infinite universes, and freckles like stardust, appeared.
“Guaya…” Centu gasped.
“Move.” Guaya of the xella replied. With a gesture of her hand, the lesser gods who struggled to hold the crack together were moved aside, resting safely on their backs away from the tear. Guaya raised her hands, and divine light streaked across the sky, binding the crack together. Vajra gave a polite clap as she watched on. Guaya glared at her as her hands continued the careful work of holding the crack together. “It can’t be closed,” she announced to all the divine present, “but it can be stopped from growing. For that, we’ll need those on the ground to do their jobs. We’ve done all we can here for now. Those who wish to, go down to Astra and assist in the resistance.”
Without hesitation, Navia, Cairo, Omnibek, and Strala disappeared. Centu could feel their presences shift to the battlefield below. She let out a sigh as she dusted herself off and stood up. Vajra passed her her umbrella, and she nodded in thanks.
Centu smiled, “What a grand coalition we’ve made.”
.
.
.
Inside the temple, Lou and Ophee stood before the first fire. The pristine temple was built like a panopticon; the center housed a dome of energy protecting the birthplace of the sun. The surrounding space was mostly walkways and pews for worshippers to see the holy site on all sides. There were a handful of terrified priests and priestesses, praying before the remains of the first flame. Ophee offered them a pouty frown of sympathy, “You’ve done all you can here. It’s time to get away from here before you get yourselves killed.”
“All due respect, ma’am, where do we go?” A priest asked.
“Perhaps somewhere underground.” Lou pondered. “Though I’m not sure. There aren’t many safe places left in the city.”
“Please, just get somewhere safe. We’ll take it from here.” Ophee implored. The holy people – glowing a sickly anxious hue of their respective colors - looked at each other and ran off.
“I’ll go with them and make sure they get somewhere safe. That’s the most useful I can be.”
Lou turned to follow the people, but stopped short as a voice broke the silence, “How kind of you,” The voice echoed through the temple, “but you won’t save them from the coming storm. Nothing will save them. Not even your coalition of foolish gods who refuse to see my new world on the horizon.”
Ophee and Lou turned to the voice, and found Carja, the Void Tyrant, standing before them on the other side of the sun’s birthplace.
“I’ll accept your unconditional surrender now. Maybe I’ll let you witches live to worship my empire.” Carja casually adjusted his sleeves and gave an impassive glance up at his adversaries.
Ophee scoffed, “The only thing you’re ruling is your own ego, buddy. This ends here and now.”
Lou spoke up, “Carja, we all know how this plays out. Take a deep breath and think about what you’re doing. Back down. It’s still not too late. You pass that book on over to us and we’ll walk away. We’ll all walk away.”
“Interesting thing to say, man who stole the title ‘Brahman.’ What do you know?” The tyrant asked.
“He knows you’re about to get your ass kicked.” Ophee replied.
Lou didn’t respond to the slight. He gestured to Ophee, “There’s that, but I also know there are things worse than death, Carja. And I know I’m not the first to warn you either. So, back down, take a concession of victory like you did in the old days, and return to blessing politicians silently on the sidelines. You’re in dangerous stuff right now, and I don’t see you getting out if you don’t back down now.”
“And who’s going to hurt me, huh? Who’s coming after me?”
“Well, us for starters.” Akashi announced as he and Seijun stepped into the room. He aimed his revolver directly at the Void Tyrant and fired.
Talk about a cliffhanger, huh?
Welcome to the beginning of the end, folks! What can I say? We’re going to need two chapters to really wrap the chaos of this ending up. I hope you’re enjoying the final stretch! 2 more chapters after this one! Can you believe that? TWO. MORE. CHAPTERS!!!!!
A little inspiration time! The Crack in the Sky has been around for about 3 or 4 years. It actually came up as an idea when writing the series that takes place after TAS when I was thinking about a literal scar on the planet. So it has been around for a while, but I remember a little over a year ago I was walking during a particularly brutal storm, and the most magnificent bolt of lightning stretched across the sky and lit that late night up. It felt like the middle of the day in the dead of night. I remember as I stared at that frozen moment in time, I knew exactly what I had seen: The perfect inspiration for the already established Crack in the Sky. But what do you think of the crack? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Not much left to say here, but I’ll see you next week for chapter 24 The End. It’s going to be damn good. See you there!
HOW COULD YOU
YOU ARE LEAVING US THERE