Beyond The Impossible

Having defeated the god of terror, Noriko Null is glad to have some time to think about her next move during the “Strongest Under The Heavens” tournament: Enyo is clearly a favorite now, after the way she defeated Persephone.

Unfortunately for Noriko, when she gets inside the temple that serves as her residence for the duration of the tournament, she finds someone waiting for her to talk about something else.

<When were you going to tell me you were Abyss?> Dmitry Voron asks her, keeping his arms crossed and a stern expression on his face.

<Hopefully never> Noriko admits, lowering her head in shame. She prefers not to tell him that she believed he had figured it out: it’s true that her evil personality made sure to avoid showing her face to the media, but Noriko thought Voron had been smart enough to deduce her identity.

<Look, I can explain…>

<People died when you were using that name, Null. Lots of people.>

<She was using my body, but she wasn’t me… not really.>

<Please tell me she was some kind of alien parasite. Tell me that you didn’t hide from me the fact that you had a murdering psychopath as your alternate personality.>

<I wish I could, Dmitry. I really do. But she was… she is… a part of me. I thought she was gone…>

<What if she never resurfaced? You would’ve kept quiet about it, isn’t it? You wanted to get away with it without any consequences, without paying for her crimes.>

<You have no idea of how much I’ve already suffered because of her> Noriko answers, raising her voice and making her silver eyes shine. He raises his voice as well:

<After Abyss killed Russian citizens, the government came to me and asked me to reverse engineer her technology for them. You want to know why I said yes? I hated the idea of science being used just to hurt people. I hated it so much that I got myself exiled from Russia to help you fight the Winter King… I thought you and I had the same morals. Now it turns out you were Abyss all along.>

<I’m not Abyss anymore, I can control it, I swear! This was just…>

<Why did you ask Thoth to bring me here, Null? To show me how awesome you are? To wish for my love? I’ve always told you that’s not something you would get from me, I’ve been nothing if not honest with you. And I thought you were doing the same with me.>

<We’re really a horrible match for each other, aren’t we?> Noriko asks, wiping away a tear from her eye. Voron answers regaining his normal tone:

<You’re too smart to ask that question> he says, then uncharacteristically kisses her forehead.

<Brutally honest and unpredictable to the last> she acknowledges with a sad smile.

<I’ll ask Ulysses if he can find me a job in the Athenian Federation after the tournament is over. There’s nothing left for me on Earth, but I truly hope you find happiness there> he says while walking out of the temple, his words sounding as final as possible.

Once he’s left, Noriko doesn’t know how to feel. He’s not entirely wrong… she lied in order to avoid any punishment for the crimes she committed as Abyss. When she punches the wall so hard that the fake skin on her prosthetic hand breaks, she’s not angry at him. She’s angry at herself.

<Torn. I need your help with something> she says, relaying the same message through the Neural Transmitter as her eyes shift into blackness for less than a second.

 

Kari’s temple

While Kari herself is no shape to fight because of her pregnancy, her duplicate is sparring with three duplicates of her husband Kiros. Kari knows she’s a much better fighter than him, but she’s amazed by how well her copy is doing against the blue-haired Myridian.

<Is this a mating ritual?> the young Lesion asks.

<No, they’re just sparing> Kari answers, adjusting the pigtails of Torn’s youngest daughter.

<Oh. Can I see your mating rituals?>

<I think you’re a little too young for that, Lesion.>

<I’m at least twice your age!>

<Which, in Demon years, means you’re still a kid> Kari reminds her.

<I never get to do anything cool! Being a Demon is s##tbulls> Lesion pouts.

<That’s not a real word, it’s… nevermind. What do you want to do when you grow up, Lesion?>

<I want to join the Vanguard and fight with Dad! You’ll be dead of old age by then, but Vesta will still be around. Oh, maybe you can make enough children to have a whole new team!>

<Let’s just wait until I’ve had this baby, alright?>

<Okay! Are you going to push it out or is someone going to cut you open and pull it out? If so can I be the one to cut you?> Lesion asks, materializing an energy scalpel in her hand.

<I really don’t think this is an appropriate conversation to have> Kari tells her, carefully moving Lesion’s hand in a position where she’s not pointing a knife at her.

And hoping her own child will be a little easier to handle than Torn’s daughter.

 

Null’s temple

It’s a rather unusual sight: Noriko and Torn are sitting in front of each other, their legs in the lotus position and their eyes closed. They’ve taken off their leather jacket and duster, which are resting on an energy longsword that serves as a strange coat hanger.

Their bodies are surrounded by a red aura; Noriko’s is more amorphous and is constantly shifting, while Torn’s is absolutely still.

<Your soul is unbalanced> he finally breaks the silence.

<Now that’s an understatement. Can you fix it or not?>

<I can’t erase Abyss, not without killing you. You share the same soul: no amount of soul surgery can separate you. I’m sorry I failed you again> Torn apologizes, making his aura disappear.

Noriko does the same, although not with the same ease: she’s becoming more comfortable with the Soul Resonance rituals, but Torn has several decades of experience.

<What do you mean by “failed again”?> she asks.

<I swore to kill you if you ever lost control to Abyss again. Since we’re both contestants in the tournament, Thoth would’ve stopped me if I tried to kill you out of the arena. For that, I am sorry.>

<It’s alright. Someone’s bound to kill me, sooner or later> she notes, suppressing a chuckle as she stands up: she never thought someone would’ve sincerely apologized for something like that.

<Do you want me to kill you now?> Torn asks, creating an energy dagger and pointing it at her.

<No, thanks> she nervously answers, gently pushing his hand away.

<Are you sure?>

<Yeah. I’m good> she reiterates, stepping aside to recover her leather jacket. But first she inspects Torn’s duster, trying to lift it off the longsword: it must weigh at least forty pounds.

<Very well. Should I consider myself freed from the promise to kill you?> Torn asks, taking the coat with just one hand and proceeding to wear it.

<Sure, you do that. Where the hell have you been for the past months, anyway?>

<Hell, mostly.>

<I guess I walked right into that. Listen, if you need help with whatever you’re looking for…>

<I went searching for the source of power of all Demons. And I found it.>

<Seriously? And what is it?>

<I would rather not say.>

<Torn, c’mon, we’ve been through this before.>

<No, we have not. This is the first time I’ve found it.>

<I mean you’ve tried to solve your personal issues on your own once, and it nearly killed you.>

<And you have done the same…> Torn answers, pausing to reflect and to silently count on his fingers until he realizes:

<… I’ve lost count. You get close to death quite a lot.>

<And how many times was doing things on my own a good idea?>

<You’re right. You’re a good friend and a horrible decision maker> Torn tells her, putting his hand on her shoulder.

<Torn, you really need to learn how to make decent compliments…>

<SIGHT BURST!>

Noriko closes her eyes when her world becomes red. Something tingles her nervous system and she feels weightless; once she opens her eyes again, she understands why: she’s floating in space.

She calculates her chances of survival, but quickly stops when she realizes she can breathe just fine.

<Next time warn me before you give me a vision, alright?> she asks Torn, who is floating next to her. Hearing her own voice in space reassures her that none of this is real.

<The Demon race is very old, Null. We trace our origins to the banishment of Tiamat by Marduk, one billion years ago, but most of our history has been lost. My parents sought to fix that> Torn calmly narrates, as the scene changes: they’re still in space, but now in the middle of a huge battle between two opposing armies.

<The design is familiar. Are those Lar spaceships?> Noriko asks, pointing at the fleet that is being decimated by an armada of red energy dragons. And inside them, Demons.

<Hell is devoted to neutrality now, but it wasn’t always so. We were a warrior race, and our empire spanned the Middle Galaxy, the Naqada Galaxy, the Stygian Galaxy…>

<Isn’t that where Hades lives? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. What happened? You lost to the Lar?>

<That’s what our leaders believed. There are memories hidden in the Blood, echoes of our ancestors, but they only go so far. But my father had a source that was alive 300 million years ago.>

<Inanna, isn’t it? What did she tell you, Torn?>

<Only my sister and I know this, Null. Swear on your father’s life you will never reveal this.>

<I swear> Noriko answers. It’s not something she does lightly, but if this is so important for Torn she has to know what’s behind all this.

The space battle is replaced by something familiar: a lake of lava under a sky made of fire. But there are several differences from the Hell that Noriko has visited… the bodies of Demons boiling alive in the lava. And the millions of corpses that occupy every inch of the surrounding valley.

Standing in front of the lake, there’s a woman. Her skin darker than the night and her hair whiter than snow. She’s ten feet tall, but the pile of corpses reaches her knee.

<Ereshkigal, the Sumerian goddess of death> Noriko recognizes her.

<They lasted longer than I expected. Did you find what you were looking for?> she asks; Noriko had forgotten how much her voice reminds her of Abyss.

Then the entire planet shakes. Through the illusion, Noriko can feel the tectonic plates shift as something truly massive moves underneath the surface.

<What’s going on!?> she asks.

<On Hell, we are taught that the Blood is neutral and shaped by our souls. But that’s a lie to keep our society in check: the Blood is a hungry beast that revels in bloodshed and pain. Our philosophy of neutrality was manufactured to keep ourselves from falling prey to our bloodlust again> Torn explains, remaining calm as the terrain morphs to release what’s underneath it.

<What do you mean “again”? What’s happening!?>

<The Blood doesn’t simply interact with biological life: it can absorb it. We slaughtered entire galaxies to feed it: Demons can devour life itself and become exponentially stronger. That’s what caused our empire to crumble… we taught him how to do the same.>

<“Him”?>

Something bigger than a mountain crawls out of the ground, drenched in lava, with charred demon corpses solidifying into a black armor. If this wasn’t just a vision, Noriko would be dead a thousand times over by now. Instead, she can see the terrifying humanoid that emerges from the remains of the old Hell. She would recognize that head surrounded by flames anywhere.

<I AM REBORN FROM THE FLAMES OF HELL> the god says, towering above the massacre.

<Kronos> she says out loud; even the name makes her uneasy, severing her connection with Torn and catapulting her consciousness back into the present.

<Demons are the reason Kronos was so powerful> she realizes.

<He didn’t just access the Blood, he replicated its ability to absorb the power of others. That’s how he became the Devourer of Gods. That’s why Demons try to stay away from gods… anyone doing the same would become unstoppable.>

 

Pain’s temple

There’s little love between gods and Demons, to put it mildly. The former consider the latter a tolerable nuisance at best, while Demons disdain the gods’ volatility.

Adding that to the number of high-profile contestants in the tournament, it’s no wonder than the Demon woman called Pain has been left alone.

She’s currently meditating, her mind focused on the intricate dance of energy daggers in front of her. When someone touches her shoulder, Pain reacts by instinct: all the blades fly towards the person behind her. It’s another woman, who easily dodges most of them but grabs the last one just an instant before it can strike her right eye.

<Careful with these things. You’re going to hurt someone.>

<Promises, promises> Pain teases her guest, kissing her. It’s a little less than a peck, but for a Demon it’s the equivalent of a very passionate kiss.

<You should really try to create daggers. Considering what I’ve taught you, accessing the Blood to use a better weapon should be easy by now.>

<Sorry, not my style. I already have a weapon of choice>– the woman says, creating something between her hands: a red energy bow with a golden arrow. The light from her creation illuminates her face and her white hair.

<And I can’t wait to show my family how far I’ve come> Artemis declares.