Into the Fire Part I_Requiem of Souls

by Christian Kallias

  “I’d love to be— able— to—”

  Argos touched a few controls on a wrist device, and the lights turned back to white as the artificial gravity returned to its normal setting.

  Chris let himself fall on the floor, and he panted heavily. “Thanks…that was rough.”

  Argos ran to Chris’ side.

  “I should have locked the doors. I’m sorry. Are you alright, Chris?”

  “Been better, but I’ll live.”

  “It’s time I show you how to heal wounds on your own. Did you break anything?”

  “I think about half a dozen small bones, yeah. Hurts like a bitch, too,” said Chris with a painful chuckle. “Right now, I’d rather you heal me first; then we can talk training.”

  “That’s not how this works, boy. In battle, you may need to heal yourself while you’re in excruciating amounts of pain. So this will be a good exercise.”

  “What about you? I may hurt from the sudden and unprepared hit from gravity, but you seem to hurt somewhere else.”

  Argos exhaled. Chris could feel both the turmoil in his uncle’s head as well as the pain in his heart.

  “I had barely learned that Zeus was my grandfather, and he got killed, and there was nothing I could do about it. And like all the other shit that happened these last few months, it’s all my fault. I don’t understand why your father hasn’t executed me already. I don’t think I deserve to breathe right now.”

  Chris could see tears form in his uncle’s eyes, but mostly he could feel the pain in his heart and soul. Even though he wanted to tell his uncle that he was on the right path now, a path of redemption, Chris felt that trying to convince Argos in his current state wouldn’t work. So he went with distraction instead.

  “Are you gonna repent on your sorry ass all day, or are you going to show me how to heal myself?”

  Argos looked down for a second and sighed.

  “There’s nothing to it, boy. Let me show you how it’s done.”

  Arakan was laying on his back, looking at the ceiling in his chambers onboard his ship.

  You know they’ll come for you, now, said the shadow.

  They can come; I’ll be ready for them, answered Arakan.

  Don’t make the mistake of underestimating your enemy, Supreme Commander. Especially the Ultra Fury.

  The Ultra Fury is a myth; he’s just a Fury.

  No, he’s not. While you are the strongest pure blood Fury that lives, he has an incredible amount of power, most likely due to his Olympian genes, but more importantly, he has the will to stop you.

  I won’t be stopped!

  I can feel that you truly believe so. But you’ll have to be smart and not let your pride blind you. The battle with Chase draws near; I can feel it.

  I’m ready. I will rid the universe of Chase, Ultra Fury or not.

  His friends are also powerful; Oryn, in particular. Her thirst for revenge might be hard to contain.

  I should have killed her like I did her mother. But—

  She reminded you of her.

  Yes. I— I should have killed Zeus back then, not Zalara.

  What’s done is done. You can’t change the past, and right now you need to stay focused. And I have some bad news.

  What is it?

  The Alliance has taken back the Gorgar world.

  Arakan sat up on the bed.

  Should we take this world back?

  Are you actually asking for my council? Willingly?

  What if I am?

  Well, it’s about time. I think the Gorgar served their purpose, allowed you to create armadas you could easily sacrifice to get your plan in motion. And it worked. You’ve killed Zeus, and Olympus is no more. That’s the first crack in the Earth Alliance. But it will grow bigger until it shatters. And while your other shipyards aren’t nearly as efficient as the Gorgar world was, they’re still churning out new ships as we speak.

  Arakan got up from his bed and walked toward the viewport. The ship was approaching the wormhole. The tantalizing purple and blue tendrils around its bright white surface looked like energy-based snakes performing a hypnotizing dance ritual.

  “But if we let them have this world,” said Arakan out loud. “They could grow ships themselves, and fast.”

  You know as well as I do that this war won’t be won by who controls the biggest firepower. It’s a battle of wills, and you are ahead. They will come for you, and soon. How you deal with that will decide the fate of this war.

  Still Arakan didn’t like the idea of abandoning the Gorgar world just yet. But there would be time to think about this after they returned to Erevos. The supreme commander already knew that Chase and Oryn would come for him, and soon.

  “All I have to do is to kill Chase.”

  Yes…do this and the Alliance will fall.

  Onboard the Hope, the Engineering doors split open.

  “We need to talk,” said Chase.

  Kvasir’s tattoos flashed rapidly for a moment.

  “I take it you want to talk about the machine, don’t you?” answered Kvasir.

  “Yes. You need to tell me everything you know about it, and most importantly, how we can swap the Ares-controlled clone so we can get Aphroditis out of the damn thing.”

  “Ares thinks he has the swapping part under control, but I have to warn you about something.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I don’t know what state Aphroditis will be in when she gets out of the machine. I’m not sure she’ll be the same person that went in. The machine exerts tremendous amounts of mental and physical pressure to the person inside.”

  “I had felt that when she appeared to me in visions. It seemed like she was living in a pure hell made of suffering and pain.”

  “Yeah, that’s how her brain would interpret it, I guess.”

  “Zeus said you modified the machine so that it would trap the Furies in their dimensional prison instead of destroying it.”

  “Yes, near the end of the first Fury War, he approached me and implored me not to let the machine destroy the dimension where it sent the Furies. I should have known better than to let myself be convinced though. We wouldn’t be in the mess we are now.”

  “What’s done is done. What matters now is to make sure we can modify the machine so it can do what it was supposed to do all along.”

  “That will require the soul ships. And some modification of the core programming of the machine. I doubt whoever will be inside it when it activates will survive though.”

  “I’m hoping Ares’ energy base form will.”

  “I don’t know how the laws of our physical universe affect him, so I can’t even start to theorize about this. He could survive or be consumed by it. There’s no way for me to tell, I’m afraid. Since the machine was never used to achieve its primary function the first time around, I don’t even have logs or sensor data to try and even make an educated guess on the matter.”

  That was not what Chase wanted to hear. He had already lost so many people in this war. He had also found a new family, but part of it had already been taken away from him. Chase wondered why Zeus hadn’t appeared to him the way Ares had after his passing. As much as he dreaded the idea, Chase knew where his next stop should be.

  “I think Ares knows that this could very well be a one-way trip,” said Chase distractedly.

  “It might.” Kvasir paused for a moment. “How is he taking his father’s passing?”

  Chase shook his head. “Not well. And between you and me, neither am I.”

  In bed, Chase held Sarah in his arms.

  “Are you alright? I know Zeus’ passing has been hard on you,” said Sarah.

  “It’s been crazy lately, and I feel it’s not going to get any better.”

  “I don’t like it when you say that, it scares me.”

  Chase kissed Sarah’s forehead and gently stroked her crimson hair.

  “I don’t know what the future holds, and right now I just want to stay in your arms.” />
  Sarah smiled.

  “That’s romantic of you, but I can tell you’re worried. And with both your aunt and father trapped on Erevos, I’m surprised you are in bed with me at a time like this.”

  “Rushing there without the clone being ready won’t achieve anything.”

  “You could get your father out; try and get Aphroditis out later.”

  “I don’t know why or how, but I can feel it in my bones that if we don’t achieve both these objectives at the same time, we won’t get a second chance.”

  “When will Argos be ready with the clone Olympian body?”

  “Soon. He has to make sure that the body lasts for as long as it takes us to deliver the final blow. So he can’t afford to just grow a temporary body like he did for Spiros. That wouldn’t work, so it may take a few more days.”

  “And all of this is contingent upon you getting the soul ships, just like in my vision of the future?”

  Chase nodded.

  “I wonder why I didn’t see Oryn in that vision. You’d think she’d be one of the pilots, instead of me.”

  “I remember Aphroditis telling me that the future is always in movement. It’s possible some of the details aren’t gonna play out exactly as they did in your vision. We do affect the outcome of everything with each and every one of our actions. I still refuse to believe the future is written. The fact that she sees possibilities, and not certainty, at least proves that the free will of living beings is what shapes that universe, at least partly. Not some grand written destiny that will play out no matter what.”

  “I agree, and I’m here with you until the very end. But think about it, if it hadn’t been for her, you wouldn’t have come to Earth; we wouldn’t have met.”

  Chase was all too aware of this. How it all started, and how much had been lost along the way. That single moment when he held Saroudis at gunpoint; it changed not only his own life but also everyone else’s around him. A single moment in time, where everything he believed up to that point was thrown out of the window, and a new path began. A path that saw millions die, but also billions saved.

  “Well, if only for that I’m grateful,” said Chase, kissing Sarah’s hair.

  “About your mother?”

  “Yes, what about Athena?”

  “While you were fighting on Asgard, she kinda hinted at—”

  “At what, love?”

  “Marriage. On Olympus, though that’s obviously not happening anymore.”

  Chase felt a strong pain in his heart.

  “Yeah, obviously not on Olympus, but— I know I haven’t talked about it, but I look forward to making our union official the first chance we get. I’ve debated if we shouldn’t do it now, in fact.”

  “If that’s a marriage proposal, you’re going about it all wrong, love.”

  Chase chuckled.

  “I am, aren’t I? You know we are already married in the eyes of the universe though, right?”

  Sarah’s eyes sparkled like beautiful emeralds.

  “Good save, soldier.”

  2

  Chase felt a warm glow envelop him as his mother held him tight. He could feel her tears on his neck. He didn’t understand why he wasn’t crying himself at this moment. Perhaps part of him hadn’t yet allowed himself to fully accept what had happened. The enormity of it all. The death of Zeus and Olympus being gone. It just felt so unreal right now.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t save him,” whispered Chase.

  Athena took her son’s face in her hands and shook her tear-filled face.

  “It’s not your fault; I know you tried everything you could to save him.”

  “I did. The more I tried, the more painful it became.”

  Athena kissed Chase’s forehead and wiped some of her tears, but they were quickly replaced with fresh ones.

  “We need to deal with Arakan. I think I’m going to kill him with my bare hands,” said Athena.

  “As much as I understand how everyone feels about this— you, Ares, Oryn, even Argos, we can’t let revenge be the only driving factor behind our actions. If we do, we may fall prey to whatever this monster has in store for us. We have to be smart about this, and I think more than ever before, we need to be united and to work together. I don’t think any of us can bring Arakan down on their own.”

  “But don’t you just want to rip his heart from his chest?”

  “Nothing would give me more satisfaction right now. But if he took out Zeus, and in one single blow one of the oldest, most powerful civilizations that ever existed—”

  Athena frowned. “You’re afraid.”

  “Wouldn’t you be?”

  “I suppose so. Though, right now, I just want to see that monster die, preferably in horrible pain and suffering.”

  “And I can echo the sentiment. But something is amiss. I feel—”

  “What, Chase?”

  “I feel he’s not working alone. That presence Ares felt; I don’t know what it is, but I have a feeling deep inside my stomach that it’s the key to it all, and that it’s only getting started.”

  “What presence?”

  Chase explained to Athena what Ares had felt when he sensed the shadow’s presence on Erevos.

  “I know of no life forms such as what you’re describing.”

  “That’s what worries me, Athen— mother.”

  Athena smiled.

  “I have this feeling,” Chase continued, “that it’s not of this world. And I didn’t feel any of this earlier, but since Zeus is gone, and since we removed some of what that thing left inside Poseidon’s wound, I’ve had that feeling creep up on me many times. It’s—”

  “What is it, son?”

  “I can’t vocalize it; it’s like pure darkness, like a black hole ready to swallow this entire universe.”

  Athena flinched.

  “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “You and me both. We’ll have to proceed carefully.”

  “I agree. But this madness must end. We can’t give Arakan any breathing room. He may think he’s indestructible with what he just did to our people, and that will boost both his ego and resolve. We have to strike back fast and with an equally devastating blow. Shake his confidence like he’s obviously shaken ours.”

  Chase agreed. Arakan was out of control, and he knew they needed to push forward, no matter the pain in their hearts or the consequences of the Olympian race having mostly been wiped out. Still, a strong feeling of caution was omnipresent in his thoughts and heart.

  “Argos is impatient for us to retaliate.”

  “And so he should be. But you haven’t failed the Alliance up until now, so at the end of the day, this is in your hands. You also happen to be the commanding officer. You’re not alone though, we’re all here for you, and we’ll fight and lay down our lives if we have to, so you can succeed with what you set out to do.”

  Chase felt an intense shiver travel throughout his body. Perhaps that was why he felt caution was needed. He knew he wasn’t alone anymore. His family, his friends, his allies, they were all willing to give their lives to achieve the ultimate goal. But Chase didn’t feel right about incurring more casualties. Losing was not an option, and he would gladly give up his own life to reach that goal, to rid the Furies from existence. But he wished he was only risking his life, not everyone’s. And most certainly, not the lives of those he loved and cherished so much.

  “I don’t want anyone else to die.”

  “I know you don’t, son. But you must be prepared for sacrifices to be made until this war runs its course. I’ve been around for much longer than you, and if there is one thing I know about war, is that it claims lives without discrimination. War doesn’t care about your loved ones; it doesn’t care about life, love or pain. It’s a nearly unstoppable force that only wants to go forward. But it can be stopped, and I know you will stop it; however, you have to be prepared to pay the price.”

  Chase made fists, and his eyes blinked purple.

&nbs
p; “I still want to try and achieve that goal with as few casualties as possible.”

  “Listen to me, Chase. I know you feel the final battle is near. Right?”

  Chase nodded.

  “Then now is not the time to second-guess your tactics on what needs to be done. In fact, you probably have to go all in and throw caution to the wind. If you don’t, and if you lose, you’ll never forgive yourself. I know this may sound harsh, and I know you may hate hearing the following words. But please— I beg you, listen to me carefully: You must detach yourself from the emotional bond that connects you to your family. To me, to Aphroditis, to your father, and god knows I want you to bring him back to us. I never thought he could still be alive. But to stay focused and achieve victory, I think you must detach from even your brother, your son, and Sarah.”

  “I can’t; I won’t!”

  Athena’s face dropped.

  “Then I’m afraid for the future, Chase.”

  Chase had barely slept at all and was starting to feel tired. His brain, however, refused to shut down. Not even for a moment. After an hour turning every which way in their bed, he decided to leave their quarters. Sarah was sleeping when he had entered their room, and she was still sound asleep. That wouldn’t last if he kept moving about.

  He carefully removed Sarah’s hand from his chest, got up and dressed using telekinesis to bring his clothes to cover his naked body. His grasp on his powers was now so deep that just thinking of anything would result in it getting done. It felt as natural as breathing or blinking.

  When Chase stepped out of his quarters, he wasn’t on the Hope anymore.

  A shiver trickled down his spine.

  Another vision?

  He hadn’t experienced one in a while.

  He stood on the surface of a deserted planet with orange sand and very chaotic meteorological conditions. The furious winds sent coarse grain-like sand at such speed they cut through his skin until he erected a low-energy shield around himself.

  Is this my home world? Is this Erevos?

  “It is,” said a familiar voice behind him.