Achlys looked up at her grandfather with terrified eyes. Every muscle in her body was tense as she slowly got to her feet. Her muscles were still shaky from being electrocuted. She took her hand away from her face to show a large, scorched scar like a spider’s web next to her left eye.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqaV3MId9Y9
Memories of being exposed to dangerous chemicals for her to reproduce as a child flashed in her mind’s eye. Remembering waking up the day night her mother died from a nightmare, only to find it real. Her mother a clammy corpse in her bed, father beaten and sobbing next to her.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HixiYpQlN
She never watched it happen, but she remembered the image her mind crafted of seeing her mother in Zeus’ place.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGWR3WYZXX
Achlys remembered her father telling her she’d be next if they didn’t run from her grandfather, only to be called together for a family meeting. Her grandfather’s cold, alien eyes glaring down at her like she was a curse.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlfCdVjsba
Kronos’ voice snapped Achlys back to reality.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq63V4ZQ1Fg
“All the effort I put into taming you and you attempt to destroy my energy reserves. You’re a traitor, Achlys. You’re so disloyal to your own family. Don’t you remember what I told you would happen if you ever turned against me?”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYnfk5uMv9
“I remember,” Achlys choked out.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSOWglocLT
“You did cause anarchy at the palace and cause the fall of PISTOL, so at least you fulfilled your purpose before you scarred my creation and began to burn my fuel.” He gestured to Abyss and the land around them. “But now, I have no reason to keep you around.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yn8bJIZD2
Achlys was trembling and tears stung her eyes. “He... he’s not yours.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZi6cDjhs6
“What?” Kronos stood up taller, towering over Achlys, nearly twice her size.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGAUjdic1CX
“A-and I’m not either.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOsLnS3V7z
Kronos clenched his teeth and growled in frustration, lifting his hand to strike Achlys across her already injured face.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbjcc2rYi7
She was blown a yard away from the blow and a small line of neon green steam came up from her cheek, flowing steadily to Kronos’ face. He breathed in deeply, eyes turning from a cold grey to a menacing black.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8iqB6kfCU
Coughing, Achlys choked back a sob. Her past had finally come for her before she could finish her destiny, before she could ensure the safety of the universe. She thought the hardest part of everything was over multiple times over now.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdceOk9cBng
She thought Abyss was okay, but then he disappeared and left her behind. She thought she’d found him and be able to reason with him, but Volt came back and turned him against her. She thought she’d dealt with the one coming between her and her plans, but it just made Abyss come after her. She thought she’d dealt with Abyss and done away with any barriers or emotion that would keep her from global devastation. Instead, she was faced with an indestructible wall.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7IG88g3Y81
She was staring down death.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNP5zMvaGHv
He finally caught up to her.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwL2pFKuhAk
The moment she dreaded facing every day over the last decade.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8WHKxyxcON
Kronos slowly approached Achlys again. “Get up.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnO4qz89QPi
Achlys closed her fists around a handful of ash and shook. Tears soaked the ground below her. “Please...” Achlys whispered her plea.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1v3bhk6YU
What am I doing? Please what? Please spare me? You were planning to turn the planet into a wasteland where you’d rot away slowly. You planned your own death. What makes this any different?25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWewJGYEvtX
“I said get up!” Kronos demanded, kicking her curled up from across the ashes and dirt.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTd9G5Vy6ji
It took all her strength to finally obey. She saw no point in sitting around to be killed.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡveV7nlyAg7
Kronos sneered mockingly, alien features communicating a sense of superiority. He again began to approach her. He reached down and grabbed her neck, lifting her with two fingers as she gasped for breath.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmZ7APneWM
“No- no-” she meekly protested.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSbhWbBPfS
She felt her breath begin to be drawn from her body. The neon color seemed to flake away from her hair and the green streak began to turn white, shortly after the black hair followed. He lungs strained for breath and her vision blurred as the red fire in her eyes faded back to a deep green before it began to fade to an empty white.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3KbGnrIvA
Every muscle in her body seized up, desperate to flee but too afraid that they restricted their own movement.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA7JpsXim9J
But then electricity surged through Kronos and Achlys respectively. The two let out cries of pain. The draining stopped and as the shock faded, Achlys was dropped to the ground where she saw Abyss grasping Kronos’ ankle.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVkODQFQ8n
Abyssal’s eyes stopped sparking and settled on the pure black color that signified his power at work.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6neUAHejP
“Abyss?... What are you doing?”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YKrYNpw5b
“Saving you,” he answered firmly just as Achlys faded into unconsciousness.
* * *
Achlys woke up in a hospital, the steady beeping pulse of a heart monitor sounded behind her.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6bC1w8MOH
“How come you were able to be electrocuted multiple times without any powers and live, but he has to be gone?”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡintUBQDYBj
Achlys’s eyes travelled to Abyss sitting at the bedside with his back turned to her.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1hyYAfTOh
“How did you know I was awake?”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTH1aKtQxD1
He just shrugged. “I can sense everyone’s lifeforce now... and I can’t feel others. I don’t know how or why.” He still wouldn’t look at her.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPOslOPWUGD
There was a long moment of silence before Achlys spoke again.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ViUjVjRHQ
“Why did you save me?”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlH3dRIFaE
“Sometimes people just save other people, even when they shouldn’t.” 25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTKBywoBSk
Achlys didn’t know what to think of that. She knew she didn’t deserve to be saved. She thought she was dead. She thought she’d killed Abyss, and she did kill his brother. But it still didn’t make sense why. She stared at the plain, grey floor.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXy7skGLHZ
“Thank you.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0ZnaCpkiR
No response.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQ56pmznr4
Achlys felt clamps lock around her heart.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KOeCpkI80
“And...” she added, “I know it doesn’t help anything... but I’m sorry. I didn’t plan to kill him.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcs9UCK6tQ9
“But you did. Twice.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQbqdI8EqJ
Achlys winced. She deserved that. She knew she did.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZvertbxUKW
“I saved you because you happened to be there. Enemy of the enemy. Kronos had to be stopped, whether you were involved.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrhbFvoQ6H
“How did you stop him yourself?”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv35sjYeJkq
“I had a head start. Not much you can do once you’re locked down by devour.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfeux3AKGD
“You can say that again.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEAT1dfpcM
Achlys saw Abyss’ shoulders tense.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPESdb62g0
His tone was quieter when he spoke again. “How did it feel?”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNFQjDfuIW
Achlys’ eyes widened and she grabbed her right arm. “It... was worse than I ever imagined.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXlz3mj7rOF
“You’ve imagined yourself in that position?”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnKl3voXqu
“...More times than I can count.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDmV9PeOML
Abyss turned around at last and looked at Achlys in the hospital sheets.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpsdPWDNuR
“Why?”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsp0tUzb4mG
“Kronos was the famil patriarch. I was in the line destined to kill him.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb7VJqWzTga
Abyssal’s eyes fell to the corner of the bed. It was obvious he felt awkward looking at her. Achlys wished he didn’t.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbsc7KgdqL
“Why do you ask?”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gndvQXLXT
“I... It was my power. It hurt others, but I never knew how bad it was.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMGxPMbBuB
“We’ve both hurt people with our powers. I just wish I could undo it. I wish I could bring him back for you.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEq9Ri21ZvL
Suddenly, the lights flickered and the monitor flatlined before everything powered on again. But for Achlys, the strange occurrence only became worse. The echoes of Volt’s dying screams repeated on an overlapping loop in her mind. She gripped her head and stared at the sheets, curling up into the fetal position.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdet849nSIt
“Achlys? Achlys?” Abyss said, growing worried.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8hsjhcgiY
Achlys didn’t hear him. The sound was growing to a crescendo. It was deafening. The screams pierced her ears and began to melt her brain. The world around her continued to flicker the way it did as the electricity fried Volt’s nervous system.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhF6BwGQC9A
Abyss touched her shoulder, and she jumped away as the earth split below them. A green light rose up and the ghost of Volt appeared. He was still tied to the chair screaming. Abyss leapt away in terror as he stared up, helpless at his brother for just a moment before the earth sealed itself again and he vanished.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcCJkl2MgL
“What was that?” Abyss asked, sitting on the ground at staring at the space where he literally saw a ghost.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NlO0ZQ6qc
“I- I don’t know,” Achlys stammered. “I think... it was my father’s power.”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSA2zqgaWsl
“Hades?”25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dP9GEJB9L
“Abyss,” Achlys said astonished, “I think we could bring them back.”
THE END
-To Be Continued-
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