Her figure was divine, her skin, hair, nails, and face were all flawless. A mole you can tell she left behind in purpose sat on her chin. Her luscious, green, coiled locs danced in the wind as she approached us. Her long, Forest green, fur coat lifted towards the back as she descended down each step. Her black jeans compliment her Forest green stiletto heels well. Making the most purified sound as they made contact with each step. It felt as though time moved slowly as I watched her, almost as if hours had gone by. Yet she had taken less than a millisecond to get to the bottom of the five-hundred flight, staircase in front of us.
"Ha, even your casual walk has become majestic! I envy how effortless you can do all of that, girly." My big sis gave her a big hug as they exchange jokes and greetings. I, in other hand, stood off to the side like the awkward third wheel. Or the friend who's friends with both, but not nearly as close to either.
"Hm-hmm! So... This is Lord ZeeArc. The guy they say has better Annihilation prowess than anyone we've ever seen in this Omniverse. Even better than ReighHeem and ZeeNanasa? You serious?" She looked at me as if she were highly skeptical on my ability to dish out what has been rumored. To give her real, factual evidence that will qualm her sneaking suspicions.
"Aye, I was skeptical too at one point. I'm well connected to the concept and can easily feel the amount within others thanks to that. I'm the fourth best user within this Omniverse after all, yet... I was once third. Y'see... The story goes like this... I pretty much challenged the beat to prove his Annihilation was more potent than mine. Claiming that I could annihilate any technique he could dish out. Any blast he could come up with, even a if he could somehow create a verse destroyer, I'd extinguish that crap too. Which was pretty much true throughout the challenge until...
"Until what... What changed so much within that time. So much that it'd make the challenge go from you extinguishing the techniques, to yours being extinquished? That's what I'm guessing at least." Gaia asked.
Her siblings had surrounded the three of us by then.
"I ended up finding a way to actually press his buttons and bring forth his true potential. His essence grew to a potency level I hadn't seen since watching ZeeNanasa face down with he who froze particles."
"Woah... So he's that good, eh?" Gaia asked, raising her eyebrow as she gazes at me.
"Yeah, but uh... feel free to test that shit out if you don't believe me." My sister shrugs her shoulders as she points towards me. Almost like she was created an open gate, a direct metaphor for allowing Gaia in so that she may try.
"Be my guest, I should say." ZeeNastasia was now raising her own eyebrow in a mocking fashion.
"Eh, calm it down, Nastasia. I'll try him out. Hey Rosalina, can you hold my jacket, sis?" Gaia tossed her jacket to the Gaia of Earth.
"Yeah, good luck to ya." She gazes at me, looking as though she could actually see my full potential on display.
All of us ended up going to a nearby planet that orbital around the central Palace to the Capitol of the clan. It would be here that Lady Gaia would come to rest whether or not my Annihilation is truly stronger than ZeeNanasa and the others.
"Alright, so here's how we're going to do this. I have personally built my tolerance for Annihilation up by taking blows from your three elder siblings. So ... I'm pretty confident in my ability to nullify Annihilation concepts and the like." She stretched a bit as she allowed her essence to build to a certain point. One she assumed was all she'd need to defend against my technique.
"Hmph, I usually don't like to boast about someone else's abilities. But ZeeArc... show her what great power you hold, baby brother!"ZeeNastasia commanded.
"Will do, big sis." I closed my after getting a good look at Gaia. Watching as she clearly underestimates me in every way possible. I'm usually someone who's more laid back with everyone, and stern with myself. Though, this time around, I'm actually highly annoyed with her ridiculous antics towards me. It was great fuel for me to channel into pure power.
"Hrrrrmmmn..." I opened my eyes to show my innate focus and sheer willpower to overcome the veil of essence she had cast upon me.
"Ah, so he can at least do that much, huh? Goooood, very gooood." She finally cracked her knuckles.
Afterwards, she snapped her fingers, coating her body in three different types of Zenchi. She became a green, metallic-like figure, but that quickly vanished. Which just meant-
"I have laid my layer down. Take your best shot, kid!" She continued to snicker as if she just knew she could withstand my might due to our power difference.
"Nrrrgh... You'll regret looking down on me, ya old hag-ass, BIIIIIITCH!!!!" I released a unholy blast that released a blinding light. It forced everyone to shield their eyes whilst they observe what would come of this. To their surprise, my attack's potency truly went beyond what even ZeeNastasia is capable of. Easily matching the potency of ZeeNanasa, though, if you ask ZeeNastasia. She specifically states that it was beyond even that for once. Gaia, really pissed me off. Neverrr... Look down.. on ME!!!
"Oh woooo~WHAT THE FU-
Gaia was quickly engulfed by my blast, I could hear that measle layer of hers shatter due to my ability to annihilate concepts and their affects. Honestly, I though I might've actually messed up and killed Gaia back then. Buuuut... That just wouldn't be the case here. Gaia's probably the strongest of her generation when it comes to potential, skill, instinct, and even concept usage.
"Heh, had to actually defend against, even then .. the left half of my body got struck, HARD!!" She held out her arm, calmly standing there as the third degree burns and ashed fingers healed as they faded away.
Everyone clapped and praised me for my ability. Gaia walked over to me and patted my back, smiling at me like a goofball as she looked down at me. Believe it or not, she's over seven feet tall. I spent a lot of time dealing with Gaia, becoming a deplomatic kinship in some ways. It connected my home clan, Annihilo-Sect to her home of Gaia-Minettia. But more than that, it welcomed in the Goddess that is closest to Shiishii. She's even closer to him than his brothers in some ways. Only being surpassed by his wife and eternal mate, Phoenix Princess, Amiyama Crimsonburst. She became another big sister in my life, training with me and often stopping by our head quarters for Combattiumn's Annihilo-Sect. Her husband at the time was actually a hidden member ZeeShift and I were not permitted to know about. Instead, he actually chose to reveal himself to us. He's a big fan of my sis, ZeeNanasa and our dad. He was my big brother, Ahmjie, a focal point of the Annihilo-Sect group. As well as the co-leader alongside Zenki. Might even be correct to say that he led the group even more than Zenki a lot of the time. An absolute monster of a unit, and the best friend anyone could ever ask for.
Not long before a terrible event would come to take place, Ahmjie up and vanished on us, never to be heard of for quite some time. It left a huge hole within the group, a void that could never be qualmed again. But we persevered through it all and became even stronger to fill that hole, that void he had left behind. As things began to look up, turmoil came about within the first Colossaverse. Certain events leading up to this involved the shadow of Shiishii emerging for the first time ever. In a moment of betrayal from the friends of Haydes, Shiishii made a righteous decision. He put them both down, relaying information to us all upon such a victory. For in that victory would come STRIFE II's first encounter with the terrorist group that had been making their rounds within the first three Colossaverses. He told us that they call themselves the Untold TRUTH. Their goal was unknown at the time, pretty much nothing was known other than what they're made of. They were being ran by a group of almost twenty powerful, malicious, royal deities from different Colossaverses and backgrounds.
But they were not the problem at hand here, not yet at least. For you see, this event would become a catalyst that would lead to the one of the three greatest betrayals Gahwardia has ever known. A literal slippery slope of catastrophic events that give birth to a war between brothers. A War that would be the first attempt at getting rid of death itself from our Colossaverse as we know it. A battle I would come to participate in to better assist my friend with his dilemma. Low and behold, to my utter shock and betaken appearance. The enemy we as a small group of STRIFE II's members were to be taking on? It was none other than Shiishii and Kishin's younger brother, Haydes. The killing of his friends and epiphany he came to after realizing Death, Strife and Life have too much control. They all led to him wanting to snuff out his own elder brother like a beast in the wild. The fighting was tragic to say the least. During said battle, I commanded many of our units to take down the beasts and nameless deities that assist Haydes with such an attack. I personally took on a demigod who goes by the name, Saint Bujuro. He and his wife decided they'd help Haydes with this scheme. Hoping to weaken the concept of death within the Omniverse if they snuff out one of its representatives.
"I don't know you, but why would you stoop so low, and assist with this travesty of a war!?" I asked as I punched him in the jaw. Attempting to break it, but he held strong.
"The answer to that is quite simple, ZeeArc. But you don't need to worry about hearing it, for you will be dead long before it is revealed!!" He lunged at me, slashing at my chest before I could leap out of harm's way. A large gash opened up, blood spurting out in large amounts.
"Tch, he actually got me!?" I thought to myself.
"Indeed I did! You do not stand a chance against me, not the way you believe they do." Bujuro rushed in, bombarding me with heavy strikes. Each was imbued with and fueled by the dark hope he and Haydes's forces hokd on to. Their great desire to shatter the current balance and rid this Omniverse of Strife, Life, and Death.
We travelled through the universe, smashing through planets and stars as we fought. Not too far from our location was a battle being waged between Shiishii's youngest brother, Vashjai of Famine. And the wife of Saint Bujuro, Saintess Sainsajin. She specializes in Distance and Wind, using them simultaneously to throw the likes of her opponents off. Vashjai found it hard to avoid a fair amount of er strikes thanks to this. Her strikes create projections of themselves that can ignore distances up to a certain length. Couple that with her might and ability to destroy entire universes, then you have a force capable of sending verse ending strikes your way. Invisible ones that keep her at a safe distance from you whilst you struggle to find her actual limit point.
"If not for my birthright of diminution. Her strikes would be doing a whole lot more damage. Guess it's time I use my rare element and turn the tables on this goddess!" Vashjai flew upwards, dodging her strikes with the smallest amount of movement he could afford to make!
Her attacks began to wane, shrinking in potency and essence the more she used them against Vashjai. From what I could tell back then, Vashjai was using his very rare element/concept of Famine. He uses it in a very intricate way, causing great famine to the essence and potency woven into her attacks. Diminishing the distance with ease, fooling her mind using illusional essence. She fired off more attacks to analyze what he'd do, not realizing that he was walking right up to her.
"Tsch, I thought you had more tricks than this!" Vashjai punched her in the jaw and sent her flying. Taking complete control over the battle as they danced throughout the universe.
On the other side of things, several other malicious deities coming from the far sides of the Omniverse. They were all born of the new generation and had wild strength of their own. Regardless, our side consisted of many who have come to follow Shiishii and Gaia. Such as the grandchild of Zerazilla Kaijook-Bach. He was known as Prince Thermias Roosevelt Kaijook-Bach. There's Curti Embodiment, a rival to Shiishii and I, and easily our most versatile warriors. We even have a youngster named Delio-Dant Azrufal. Everyone was powerful in their own right and made great strides in making sure that Shiishii's match against Haydes goes uninterrupted.
"Is this really what you wish to do, Haydes?" Shiishii asked.
Gripping his scythe all the while. By now, he finally had his own personal death scythe made by the four greatest blacksmiths in the Omniverse.
"Hat goes without saying, Reaper. You and your fellows govern over far too much within our Omniverse. We deities are immortal beings, yet we are forced to live limited lives thanks to your influence. My two best friends were victims of this, and by your direct hand no le-
"Your two idiotic friends were evil, they tried to kill me. They DID kill a mighty deity right after that deity finished such a grueling fight. The deity they killed was one who was on the verge of becoming immune to Death. I didn't snuff them out, your two friends denied him his FATE!! Yet you HATE MEEEE for doing MY JOOOB!?" Shiishii's essence shot up like a rocket.
"You're damn right, there could've been another way. We could have rehabilitated them, showed them another path!" Haydes insisted.
"You're being far too naive, Haydes. They followed you for years, forming a real bond with you. Yet they never once had a change of heart upon watching your righteous deeds as the Gate of War. They continued down that path and even used your connections to complete that despicable deed! Why would you turn on us for THAT!?" Shiishii's anger rose even higher, forcing his essence to reach a boiling point.
"Tch, you just don't get it, Reaper. Watching someone you have love for does not always mean you'll gain affinity for their way of life. Just admiration at most. To gain that kind of change, one must at least have someone or some people encouraging such a change. Especially if that change was never apart of your intent. It is the simplest of actions taken in the path of reform betwixt close friends. You're the one who taught me that, elder brother." Haydes conjured his weapon, showing Shiishii there'd be no turning back.
"You should've chose a path where we could work together, Reaper!" Haydes states.
"Hmph, though you have a point, I have no regrets. My job has been done, my friend has been avenged. Now... I shall complete my duty as the eldest, and put a stop to this buffoonery. It's a mockery of what Gahwardia stands for, Greatbetrayer." Shiishii entered his stance, ready to finish what he accidentally started.
The war we fought for more than two weeks straight had completely tore the entirety of five whole universes to smithereens. Throughout that conflict, Lady Gaia stood above us, observing the outcome and seeing if her precious STRIFEII had what it took to deal with such a delicate conflict. Upon her observing us, she once accidentally let out a murmur I overheard. It would seem that someone, somewhere far into the distance, well beyond the scopes of the first Colossaverse. Yes, waaaaay, way out there in the empty void. Atop the fortress of STRIFE and the Grand Council.
"Hmph, there seems to be someone other than myself watching this fight. Their presence is... Menacing to say the least." Gaia states.
Within that moment of notice, she was able to accidentally lock eyes with whomever was watching us that day. Though, thanks to ZeeNanasa, I would soon come to hear the name of such a being.
"Heh, you're just as good as your older sister, Clarissa. To think you'd actually trace my gaze back to me. You're like a being born in this Omniverse's Era of Chaos." The voice stated.
"Heh, you're actually able to speak telepathically from that distance? You monster." Gaia chuckled, glaring at the being with a smile on her face.
"Indeed, but you're a monster too, young lady. I'm reading the events of that war your younger "brother" wages with his sibling. You're nothing more than a panel, yet you're moving. Keep that hidden for a while Gaia, this isn't your story to flex in. Anyways... Allow me to finish what I came here for, Lady Gaia. But I'll leave you with this, nowadays... They call me The Devil. But you can call me... Uncle Seightahn."
"So it was you after all, Uncle. You must be here for ZeeArc and Shiishii then. Do your thing." Gaia stands aside as the tides of rhe war shift into a shallow waves. The conclusion had come rather quickly on the final day.
Shiishii sealed Haydes into a cage stuff into a capsule. It was then strunken into a small pill that Shiishii swallowed. Storing it within his own body for safe keeping. A decision even their father, Morzick Senkozen agreed with. Upon doing so, the war came to an end and both sides suffered a few losses in the end. We lost a few friends that day, and Haydes lost every ally he gained. A bitter loss that would come to haunt us, instead of him in the coming future. By then though, I had come in contact with a being I had hoped to never meet. Not even through a mere gaze of all things.
"Ah, after these few thousand years, we finally have come to meet through the gaze of our yes, ZeeArc." Seightahn's eyes projected themselves into the very visual path of my vision. They were all my eyes could see throughout the encounter.
"I-I-It's you, you- you're the Sin of Wrath, Seightahn!!" I projected my thoughts to him.
"Indeed I am, Young Lord ZeeArc. I have come to you to inform you of a certain date you shall be woven into from your connections to STRIFE II."
"Wait... WHA-
"You see, you and Shiishii are characters of interest for me. Especially you, ZeeArc. Now, as of right now, you're a being who could actually reshape the very path you and Shiishii are meant to take in coming centuries. That is something I won't allow. Shiishii must be forced to face the consequences of his actions as the second Grim Reaper. No matter how noble they are, his stubbornness is a necessary bane that will fuel his growth and development as a whole."
"What are you even getting at, Seightahn!?"
"Shiishii will disappear for a thousand years thanks to Haydes and other necessary pieces on the board. You may be wondering how, but that isn't for you to know. I want to see you visually suffer in agony as you're forced to watch it happen, even though you know it's coming. My gaze shall instill a law within you until the day Shiishii comes back. Your mind and body will seal you spirit within until then. Unable to communicate using the subconscious so that you may warn him or anyone of what's to come. Your mind and body will also reject any action taken that may result in hints, knowledge, or any advancement that could inform someone of his timely fate. These commands you shall follow until the day he is returned to you all, in greater form than ever. Only then shall my curse be repented upon and erased by your essence. Until then... Be well, Lord ZeeArc." He shows me his face and wicked smile. The literal personification of the devil himself.
One whose power is the real deal, and his curse... It held a tighter grip than any I had felt in ages. It would force me to have to watch as the day would eventually come...
The day Shiishii would go on to disappear from our Omniverse.