by Noah Layton
‘What’s what?’
‘Are we really autonomous? Humans, goddesses… Everything?’
Alerian frowned, looking around at the blank planes before gazing up at the sky.
‘I don’t know.’
‘… What?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘How can you not be sure? You’re a god of gods.’
‘True, but that doesn’t mean I hold the secrets to the universe. I do know a lot of secrets, things that would shake your human mind to the core if you were to learn about them. But the path of individual life is beyond me. I don’t control anyone. I have influence and incredible power, or rather I once did, but I definitely don’t compel anybody to do anything. No being is truly omniscient, James. I didn’t plan to be released from the locket at the moment I was, and neither did Ascevious. It just happened. But that doesn’t mean it was going to happen any other way. And don’t you ever think that I wonder about who created me? I have existed for thousands of years, and yet I have no idea about the reasons behind my existence. I do what I do… But how do I know that my actions are not being created or orchestrated by some higher power?’
‘I haven’t had time to go over all of this stuff in my head yet with everything that’s been going on, but… I don’t know.’
‘Well, know this, young human; I don’t know the reasons behind any of this. I just try to do what I see in my mind as being righteous. And whether or not you believe in that is inconsequential. To you, to me, to everybody. Whether you think some ethereal force is pressing you on, or you are doing this of your own free will, or if it is written in the stars; it doesn’t matter.
‘What does matter is this – do, or don’t. And when the time comes, you will either live or die. Whether that is a choice at all is up to you.’
‘Well if that’s the case then I need to wake up and stop this guy. How the hell do I get back out there?’
‘Return to consciousness? Oh, such a thing is simple. A sharp hit should do it.’
‘A sharp hit?’
‘Precisely.’
Alerian took a step towards James, raising his hand and backhanding James across the face with the hardest, most brutal slap he had ever felt in his life.
His surroundings vanished instantaneously, and suddenly the brightness of the flatlands had been replaced by the grim dankness of a concrete platform. James didn’t recognise the surroundings from the grimy stone column that he was tied to, his arms held uncomfortably behind his back by some unseen force, but he knew the familiar sight of the drop-off just ahead; the hint of a rail track could be seen just beyond it. They were in one of the city’s abandoned train platforms.
His head was still cocked to the side from the imaginary slap that Alerian had just delivered to him. Looking straight ahead he found himself face to face with the last thing that he wanted to see; Ascevious in the flesh, his hand held out as a stream of light coursed from James’s chest, and none other than Mira stood next to him, her once beautiful face that had looked him up and down at the party now cracked and chapped with glowing purple scars.
Ascevious he had met before, up on the roof the night he had gone jumping across the city, but the sight of Mira stood next to him, working alongside him, was almost impossible to accept as reality.
… He had been having a great time with her in the bedroom until she turned out to be the bitch-goddess who had sworn allegiance to Ascevious.
She was the one that Elena had detected at the party… She may have been an evil goddess, but she was a goddess all the same.
Oh, fuck…
‘Nice of you to finally come around, half-god,’ Ascevious said, sniggering to himself. ‘I’m also done retrieving what you took from me. Once we’re finished with that, we’ll get Alerian out of you and finish his weakened remnants off. Then you’ll just be a plain old human. And once I’m done with your human form, you’ll be half of… Well, nothing. What’s half nothing, Mira?’
‘Still nothing,’ Mira growled, her tongue flicking against the roof of her mouth as her wide, solid purple eyes glared back at me. She smiled again, those awful jagged teeth baring themselves.
‘Half of nothing,’ Alerian smiled. ‘I like that. Oh, and what do you think of us bringing this intrusive female down here?’
James let his head fall as the words were spoken, before realising the implication of them. He looked back up sharply following Ascevious smug, leading nod to see Helen’s unconscious body, slumped on the concrete on the far side of the platform.
His teeth gritted at the sight of her, his eyes watering.
‘You son of a bitch,’ he muttered, spitting blood from his mouth in Ascevious’s direction. ‘This has nothing to do with her. What the fuck did you bring her down here for?’
‘Wrong place, wrong time. Plus, what a pretty young lady. When we lay waste to this planet and put your race back in the ground where you belong, I may consider sparing this human female. She could be one of my personal assistants… And if I get bored, I’m sure my monsters will find some use for her… They do have such strange appetites, not all with food…’
James gulped hard, shaking his head.
With every second that passed, Ascevious was draining the missing part of his soul from James’s body. Any powers that he had possessed because of Ascevious were steadily leaving, and as time pressed on his enemy was becoming more and more powerful.
And there was nothing that he could do about it.
‘James…’
‘What?’
‘What do you mean what?’ Ascevious asked. ‘Was my whole, take over the world plan not clear to you there?’
James looked at him in confusion.
‘In here, James.’
‘You again?’ James whispered, lowering his head. ‘Alerian?’
‘He’s bringing me out of your body.’
James blood ran cold. Any hope of breaking free with his powers from Alerian was now gone too.
He was well and truly fucked.
‘So the powers from you will be gone in a few seconds too?’
‘No, they won’t. I wanted you to figure this out on your own, James, but desperate times and all that. Whether my soul or any other god’s soul is down here doesn’t matter.’
‘What are you saying?’
‘Who do you keep talking to?’ Ascevious shouted. James ignored him.
‘I’m saying that the powers that you possess have always been lurking within you. It just took the hit from Ascevious and I to wake them up.’
James eyes went wide with realisation as he took a few deep breaths.
‘All this time?’
‘Yes. When I leave your body I will be weakened, Ascevious is waiting for me, and there is nothing that I can do about it. I cannot remain with you, but upon leaving I can distract him for a few moments. It should be enough time for you to gain the advantage over him.’
‘But… You’ll die.’
‘I’ve been dead since you opened that locket, James. We had been fighting for eight decades when you opened it, and once it was opened we would have continued fighting. If my real self were still alive, he would have stopped Ascevious by now. What you are speaking to is nothing but a projection of me. Ascevious is the same, but he won’t be for long… His soul has almost left your body, and he will be whole again. It is now or never. Are you ready?’
James nodded, looking up into Ascevious’s eyes.
‘I’m ready.’
A second stream of light suddenly burst from James’s chest. It quickly formed into the shape of a cloaked man, the very same that he had seen standing before him on the rooftop just nights ago.
Alerian’s projection leaped forward, colliding with Ascevious and knocking him to the ground. In a distracted moment, the bindings keepings James in place fell away. He bounded ahead, rapidly considering his options.
Ascevious was stalled for a second, but if he went for his nemesis Mira would likely stab him in the back in moments.
‘How do I use my powers without the axe?’ He asked frantically – but silence greeted him. The gods were no longer within him.
I have to do this myself.
The fire burned within him again, this time fuelling himself and nothing else.
A ball of fire appeared in his hand. Raising it, he jolted his arm outwards, sending the flames flying through the air towards Mira.
She dodged them rapidly, ducking and sliding along the ground like an acrobat. Kicking back against her heel, she launched herself through the air towards him.
This wasn’t like the behemoth throwing the tree.
There was no way he could move out of the way fast enough.
As she coursed through the air, hands raised and fingertips quickly transforming into claws, her scarred purple face opened wide, her huge, fanged mouth grinning psychotically.
James raised his arms just as she struck him, the two of them slamming onto the cold ground as they grappled with each other.
Her strength matched his own as she sat atop him. Summoning his might, he grabbed hold of her wrist and forced her arm back, the bone cracking as her arm bent completely in the wrong direction.
She didn’t even yelp; Mira looked at her completely broken arm confusedly, wondering why it wasn’t grabbing him any longer.
James frowned with the same confusion, but quickly took the opportunity to shatter her other arm.
Kicking her back, James scrambled away and watched as her body twisted and bent out of shape, flipping back onto all fours as if she had no spine at all. A combination of cracking and snapping sounded out like piano keys as Mira’s body put itself back into place.
Shit… How the hell am I supposed to kill her?
But she wasn’t his focus right now – Ascevious was.
Before she even had a chance to ready herself again, James sprinted forward and booted her in the stomach, sending her body flying into the platform wall, broken once again. Even more bones were now shattered, but that terrifying, psychotic, rag-doll smile remained on her face as her body began to twist back into place again.
James turned, ready to rush across the platform and take on Ascevious.
The moment his head spun, he found himself staring into the god’s eyes.
Another grin met him, but this was much subtler, and much more self-content.
In the blink of an eye Ascevious’s hand was wrapped around James’s neck. James felt his feet leave the ground as the god heaved him into the air by his throat, squeezing his fingers around his windpipe mercilessly. Vaguely he registered the gravelly touch against his throat – it was the dust that had already become of Alerian. He was gone.
James gasped for air, clutching at Ascevious’s wrists.
‘She’s a beauty, isn’t she?’ He smiled. ‘Her flexibility has always made her popular with men…’
A high-pitched whistling rang in James’s ears as he began to lose consciousness, his face going red with strain.
‘Who cares how much hassle you’ve caused me… You’re just another dirty human. I’m sorry you won’t be around to see the rest of your kind wallow in the mire of your world, but hopefully you can imagine in these final few seconds what it will be like… I just have a final portion of my soul to remove from you, and th-’
Ascevious’s hand suddenly pulled away, dropping James to the ground. The god slammed to the ground nearby, but he wasn’t alone. James gathered himself, coughing through desperate breaths, to see none other than Arifa jumping to her feet with her sword in hand, staying at a distance from Ascevious as he lifted himself up.
A ball of fire suddenly whipped past James, engulfing the god who scrambled madly to put it out.
‘A pleasure to see you again, master,’ Elena said, appearing by his side.
‘How the hell did you find me?’ James coughed, still regaining control over his senses.
‘We followed you the whole way here,’ Arifa said, completing the trio as she hurried over. ‘That house is a complete mess.’
‘That can wait till later,’ James commanded. ‘Take on Mira. I’ll deal with him.’
‘You haven’t got the axe.’
‘I don’t need it,’ James said resolutely. ‘And one last thing.’
Ascevious groaned angrily, staggering to his feet.
‘What?’ Elena asked quickly.
‘Look after Helen.’
James chanced a look over at her unconscious form on the other side of the platform before it fell away completely.
He had travelled to different dimensions twice over the last few days and experienced his world falling away, but this was much more different and much more painful.
Ascevious yelled out, slamming into him and sending them both smashing through the platform wall. James felt the sharpness of the strike and a quick, brutal pain, but the sensation quickly vanished just as fast as the cold night air rushed to overwhelm him.
They crashed into an alley wall on the surface, collapsing to the ground just a few yards from each other on the trash-strewn concrete floor.
James shook his head, checking his body quickly. A little scuffed, but he was unharmed.
Damage resistance, strength, enormous leaps, channelling fire… My damage resistance has been ramped up, so the rest must have been too.
Raising a hand, he commanded the same feeling of heat and energy every time he had picked up the axe thus far. This time, though, the flames poured from his hands and engulfed the god, lighting up the alleyway. Ascevious was caught at a dead end, thrashing through the fire wildly as James’s eyes lit up in the reflection of the flames.
Shrieks and screams sounded from behind him; he looked over his shoulder briefly to see a small crowd gathering in the street, staring in awe.
James returned his gaze to his enemy just in time to see Ascevious leap at him angrily, his clothes still burning wildly. He struck him, James falling back hard as Ascevious delivered a terrible blow to his face. His jaw cracked before repairing quickly, but the pain was still present.
Another scream sounded, and Ascevious paused with his fist raised.
Both he and James looked back up from the ground to see the growing crowd, before returning to look at each other mid-fight. James couldn’t hide his terrified expression, but once again Ascevious smiled.
And then he realised.
I’m not just protecting myself… I’m protecting everyone.
Ascevious strove to pull away and throw himself at the citizens, but James grappled with him awkwardly, yelling out with rage and effort. He threw him back into the alleyway before moving instinctively. Turning to his right he wrapped his hand around the edge of a dumpster lid, pulling it effortlessly from the wall and hurling it at Ascevious.
It broke in half upon striking him, he raising a forearm just in time to rip it in two, the fractured hunks of metal crumbling to the sides.
He was startled for mere seconds, but it was enough time for James to sprint forward, jumping to the right and kicking off hard from the wall. He hurled his entire body at Ascevious, grabbing him roughly by the torso and smashing through the opposite wall.
Brickwork crumbled and smashed, obliterating entirely as they flew apart into the new building. James pushed up hurriedly, looking around to find himself inside a clothing store on the edge of town. Silhouettes of mannequins and racks of shirts and jeans were dotted in the darkness as James searched the huge floor space for his foe.
His breathing was the only sound against the white noise of screams and shouts from the street outside, until a small purple flame lit up on the opposite side of the room.
It didn’t remain small for long, though; like a forest fire it quickly jumped about the room, spreading from rack to rack until the place was engulfed.
‘Come out, come out, half-god…’ A grating voice mocked, before a deep laugh echoed through the store.
James hurried forward through the flames, realising that t
here was no possibility of hiding.
Ascevious suddenly appeared straight ahead, grinning knowingly, but James was done with hesitating. Flames would smoke them out, but brute force was the only language that the gods spoke.
He reached to the clothes rack next to him, ripping the metal pole from it and launch it like a javelin at Ascevious. The god promptly dodged it, stepping to the side before grinning sardonically and turning on his heel to run.
He was going back to the street.
James raced after him, clutching at Ascevious’s cloak desperately before realising exactly which exit he was taking.
The window.
But there was no time to stop.
James crashed into him just as they smashed through the glass, hurtling out into the open air.
Their original entrance into the store had sent them three stories up, and that descent was what they were now met with.
James held on tight to Ascevious, the pair struggling brutally against each other for just seconds until they smashed into the roof of a parked corvette.
The roof caved completely as they awkwardly struck and hit at each other, tearing at each other’s bodies.
Ascevious eventually pulled them from the roof of the car and onto the sidewalk – passers-by yelled out and hurried to a safe distance, but James knew that there was no such thing as safe.
He had to get Ascevious away from the people.
Ascevious threw him off, running out into the street where cars continued to rush forwards. He held a hand out, sending a rush of purple flames towards an oncoming cab. It surrounded the metallic frame.
The driver would be cooked alive.
James turned to the car that they had just fallen upon, digging his hands into the metal of the hood.
If I can smash through walls and lift a dumpster then I can lift a car.
Tensing his back, James lifted the corvette up and bent his legs, leaping forwards into the street with the huge object and slamming it down over his head like a sledgehammer.
His ears rang from the sound of the metal breaking around Ascevious’s form as it enveloped him. The flames ceased, James placing both hands on the side of the cab and pushing it across the road, screeching across the tarmac before bumping lightly into a nearby building, charred but safe.