Chapter 8: [The Monster]

Gajeel raised an eyebrow. "Is it safe for me to touch it? If Archive can stop freaking out I can scan it to see what it can do and how you can remove it." He said as he knelt down to look at it closely. "Strange. It's energy feels like it's a natural soul."

Jaden blinked while looking at Onya "great so we get a babysitter we never met before...well nice to meet you Onya, since you seem to know pretty much everything about us"

Jaden blinked and pressed two fingers on Onya's head and smiled "Just incase, needed to do that" Jaden said with a laugh

The energy beam had been all too evident. Echo had slowly slumped away from the hug, her exposed eyes wide. She ran to the window, shoving her head out so she could witness what was going on.

What she saw was indescribable.

Most may have seen a beam, powerful indeed. And they would be, in a sense, seeing God. Yet Echo saw the truth behind that. What Echo saw was an clean image of the very creator himself. His aura was both colorless and colored, light yet dark, weak yet strong. Balance at its finest, the very essence of the divine before Echo's own eyes.

She stood there, in a trance, watching the events before her. Asuya, Ancilla, none of it mattered in the face of he who molded the world. He who now roamed the Earth.

God himself had entered the playing field.

~~~

Ancilla watched next to Echo. Even she was speechless, and for the first time ever, the Watcher was totally stagnant. She could only stare, eyes wide, as the next chapter in history unfolded before her.

Jaden smirked and gave harmony a knowing grin, harmony had noticed jaden had been doing this, she just didn't know the reason

"Uh....maybe?" He said as he looked at Echo. "I have no idea how to react right now."

Asuya stood behind Echo, looking out of the window along with her. She marveled at the huge energy beam and castle in this distance, and she just couldn't help herself. Even while she was dressed she felt naked in the presence of this power. She began to laugh, and her laugh grew over the course of a few seconds.

"This is what Mary was telling you all about! THIS was what her messages were! And you just flat-out ignored her!" Asuya stopped laughing and stared at them.

"Mary told me all of her messages before she left. 'We are one, and when one becomes many, all Hell breaks loose.' 'When the heroes can no longer save this world, can the villains become good to save what is left?' Both of these messages were warnings and foreshadows; What you are all staring at is God HIMSELF!" She began to laugh again.

Meanwhile, Kado, who had heard the blast from next door, ran out and into Asuya and Echo's room. Her shirt was on backwards and her hair was ruffled, and she looked exhausted.

"What the FUCK was that?!" She looked at the disintegrated door.

"Sis, Echo, you alright?" She saw Asuya laughing and then ran over to the window.

"Oh...shit...Mary wasn't kidding..." She pounded her fist against the windowsill and yelled "DAMN IT! Asuya, Echo, let's go! We gotta find Mary, and you guys would be smart to come along. NOW." She pointed to Tara and Gajeel before running out of the room. Asuya at this point stopped laughing and followed suit. Judgment Day was upon them.

Kiru was soon so drunk off her ass and was thus kicked out of the tavern. She stumbled her way back to the hotel, giggling and singing bits of random songs. Reaching the hotel Kiru nearly ran into Kado and Asuya as they fled, "oye!! watch it!! I..." Her voice trailed away, already losing her train of thought.

Kado, as she passed Kiru, grabbed ahold of her arm without a word and dragged her along. Asuya grabbed her legs and lifted them to prevent her from actually being dragged.

"No time. Come with us." Kado said as the exited the hotel.

Echo took a long time to finally move. When she did, it was reluctant, her feet dragging along the floor as she walked. Why would anyone want to leave the image of the divine? It had been magical, but now, Echo had to follow the others. As she did, she slowly pieced together the aura, bit by bit.

She could learn so much from it. While the aura was older than time itself, she could see when time itself was created. While she would never be able to remember them all, ever aura somehow felt familiar. It was a strange experience, but Echo was already hungry for more.

Asuya at this point reached behind her and grabbed Echo's hand, pulling her along as they ran. Looking ahead, she saw Kado's Ace of Spades begin to activate, blinking both herself and Kiru ahead 30 feet over and over. They were heading toward the direction of the castle. Asuya smirked and, with Echo, began to blink forward as well as she knew how to use Ace of Spades after tasting Kado's blood. The four of them kept on blinking forward until they were at the outskirts of the city. They were getting close. But as they reached the outskirts of the city, a familiar figure stood ahead of them, staring up at the castle with its back to the four of them. It adorned a black cloak with the hood up, its sleeves covering all the way down to its hands. Asuya and Kado stopped moving. If Echo were to read the figure's aura, she would know exactly who it was.

"Take a look at this tiny place...To the heart seeking freedom, this world is a prison, surrounded by false hopes and lies...You humans lie, you deceive, and you blame others for your own failures. Human beings are flawed in every way, and instead of realizing this and fixing it, you only choose to isolate yourselves in self-wallowing and despair. And so this girl...sought out to escape from this prison. She sought a way to rid herself of these flaws, and she opened her heart to darkness.." The figure turned around and took off her hood. It was Willow.

"Mary!" Asuya extended her hand to her, but Willow held up her hand.

"Don't bother. Your voice can no longer reach her where she is. Her heart belongs again to darkness. All souls, live in darkness. And all so end; Darkness sprouts within it. It grows, consumes it; such is its nature. In the end, every heart and soul return to the Darkness whence they came. You see, Darkness is the soul's truest essence. Even you, her sisters..."

Willow's speech left Kado and Asuya speechless. They both looked down at the ground. Asuya and Kado clenched their fists, but stayed still. They didn't know what to do.

Echo only let herself be dragged along. She only stood and listened. What could she say? Willow was rather close to the truth; Echo had just seen that truth, after all. So instead of fighting back, instead of particularly resisting, Echo decided to something arguably more effective.

She agreed.

"Perhaps... you are correct. Humans as a whole are a flawed species. We weep yet we love, we laugh yet we mourn. Our very existence is poison to the world. Yer we have grown. Developed. Researched. We still have so much more to do. So much untapped potential... " Echo held out her hand, flexing her fingers in front of her. Her voice was detached, otherworldly even. She had not quite left her trance of before.

"I have been blessed with the gift of seeing perfection itself. We may never reach it. Yet we are moving slowly towards it. That light."

"Light..." Even mentioning the word disgusted Willow. She unzipped her robe and left it open, revealing her old black carnival dress from months ago. At this point, her aura had changed. It was...nonexistent. It was nothing. There was no aura; made prevalent by how much time she had spent in the Void. Her skin was absolutely pale, and her eyes were just little red circles in the middle of nothingness. Beneath her eyes were cracks, as if her skin were made of ice. The cracks resonated nothing. Now, if Echo were to try and read her, she would see nothing. It was as if she wasn't even there, yet she continued to speak.

"I have evolved past the light...and past the darkness. And while nothing may be killing me..." She coughed once and spit out some blood. It was dark purple.

"My death will bring nothing but despair. I am not a martyr...I am Willow."

"Past light and dark comes death and loss. You have not evolved, Willow. You devolved." Echo slowly walked towards her, robes fluttering softly around her. Yet something was... strange. Echo's voice, demeanor, everything seemed different. She spoke as if she was beyond her age, and in a sense, she was now.

"You are not a martyr, no. Yet you are far from perfect. Ffrom ideal. From even advancing beyond humans. I am the same. I may have seen the essence of the Divine, but I am still so flawed. So very... flawed..." Echo stopped in front of Willow, only a few feet in front of her. Echo couldn't see her aura, couldn't tell if Willow would kill her. But for some reason, she didn't care.

"We are one and the same. Enlightened but flawed."

Normally Willow would be angry, but at this point she merely stared down at Echo. Even without an aura, she resonated power.

"So you have come this far and have seen so much...and still you understand nothing..." The flickering lights grew brighter, and soon a whistling sound could be heard from all around them, growing louder every second.

"Every light must fade...And every soul returns to Nothing." The whistling grew ear-piercingly loud.

"Die..." Within sheer seconds, the whistling stopped. Soon after, every building near the outskirts in about a 100 meter radius came crumbling down. Willow stood, and it would become very apparent what had happened; her wires slithered and coiled around her person.

Echo somehow managed to keep an eye-level gaze with Willow, despite being unable to see her properly. As building crumpled, and rubble flew, Echo's eyes began to swim and swing around her similar to how Willow's wires were. Instead of a sharp whistle, the sound of flowing water could be heard.

"Neither of us know anything yet. So tell me, Willow. What do we know?"

Jaden was becoming worried "Okay this isn't good at all, I'm worried"

Willow stood, unblinking.

"I know your greatest fears, little Echo...I have seen them myself. I know you do not only fear nudity due to your memories from the past, nor do you only fear the water...But I know you fear her." Willow pointed to Asuya, who was in a sort of trance, staring at the ground.

"You fear losing her, and not only that, but you also fear what she is becoming. Her spirit is consuming her, and Ancilla is only suppressing him temporarily. You fear your love of her..." Willow took a step back and raised her arms to either side of her. At this point, reality slightly shifted and blurred a bit, but nothing else happened.

"I, on the other hand, do not have fears...I am fear itself."

Jaden placed bunny on his shoulder then grabbed Onya and Harmony by the hands "Come on, let's get back to the others, they need us there"

Cynthia had walked out of kado,s room wearing only a bra and jeans. She had than went to the others as she was abil to hear everything from the room and said "what the hell is going on......I was enjoying myself"

Cobra took time to realize what had just happened, he put both hands on his forehead, as if he was having a massive headache."What, you are doing."

(Fun)"Well, you are the one who set e free. When lovely affection got out, the gate to your emotions came flooding out my friend, and with your sense of joy, and fun, and enjoyment, it was only a matter of time til i came out."

You, too?

(Fun)"Looking at your memories, you haven't had fun in a long time, that scene of excitement, and pure joy.
(Intelligence)"Pls go back to your hole, i don't need another emotion blocking my sense of judgement."
(Fun)"Still a kill joy hu Intelligence."
(Rage)"Fun, it was so lonely without you."
(Fun) "Rage, my man, how it been causing devastation, we always had a best together."
(Rage)"Not very fun, especially when everyone here is keeping me "at bay".

Cobra took his hands up from his head, and looked up at the pillars.

(Fun)"You don't have to say it, i know, they look hella fun."

Cobra couldn't help but smile


(Fun)"Just a few more days with me, and you will be back in your groove cobra."

From the corner of cobra eyes he say cynthia come out. "Kado was right, the walls were thin." Cobra said.