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The moment I exited the abyss, my senses snapped back into place, and I immediately felt the threat reaching all the way into the Star Realm.
"You…"
My expression shifted as my gaze locked onto something, or someone, at a distance.
"What's wrong...Antares?"
"Antares."
Erekayla also picked up his signature, and the sisters walked out of the abyss into the ruin of the World of Doom.
"I know."
I held Towa's hand tightly.
"Have you thought about a name for our baby boy?"
I asked with a smile. That bastard can wait.
"My instincts are telling me he'll be like his grandmother."
Towa answered teasingly. She's pregnant, yet there are no physical signs on the outside.
"Hm, at this point, does this mean I have two mothers?"
I said it lightly, pointing between the Goddesses. It was meant as a joke, and for a brief moment, it softened the tension around us.
Since Erekayla's clone raised me, I'm obliged to call her mother. Ereskigal should be my aunt, but I'm the one calling the shots. So I have two mommies, how lucky am I?
"Antares, you should probably go. We wil take care of her."
Erekayla suggested it calmly, but I gave her a cold, dismissive look. With the two Goddesses proved the best protection in Existence...
"I'll leave when I decide to leave. I just got my pregnant wife back. I'm staying with her."
I couldn't walk away for some lightless traitor. He could wait. His end was already set, just not now.
"Hinamatsuri isn't alone either. There's a life growing within her."
I turned sharply towards Erekayla, taken aback by the revelation.
"What? No way… But I should have sensed it..."
"She's been hiding it from you. She likely wanted to surprise you."
She replied. I fell silent, unable to form a response.
"What proof do you have?"
I asked, at last.
"I'm the Goddess of Creation and Life. I know everything is happening in this Shell."
I closed my eyes and held Towa's hand, firm but gentle, grounding myself in the moment.
I'm going to be a father. And I have more than one kid. I'll get to live that life.
"It's alright, Antares. I give you permission to go. Hinamatsuri is your first love and your first wife. I'm jealous, but I don't want anything happening to her, let alone to my stepson."
She spoke with a genuine smile, soft but certain, as if she had already accepted it.
I leaned in slowly, the world falling silent around us. When our lips met, it wasn't sudden. It was a quiet surrender, a moment where breath and heartbeat became one. The warmth of her lips lingered, soft and trembling, as if time itself hesitated to move.
Oh, Star, did I miss this... I pulled out and creased her long black hair with my cosmic skinned palm.
"I'm sorry, my queen."
"It's alright. You can go."
"I'm sorry for not being here when you'll be born, Nyx."
Her eyes widened, and she gave me a warm smile.
"I love the name. Nyxon, the Prince of Darkness."
I nodded and turned around.
'Yeah. A reference from my days as Nyxon. I hope he won't grow to be villainous like my personality."
"Wait."
She said it, and I stopped immediately, standing there as she called me back. In a slow, weak motion, she lifted her hand and slapped me.
'Huh?'
I wasn't the only one affected. Even the Goddess and the presences hidden within me were caught off guard.
"I said I'd slap the Divine Snake, didn't I?"
Her voice was steady, and in that moment I remembered her promise from before.
'Oh… so that's what this is about.'
"I thought you had forgotten."
She shook her head.
"I don't forget easily."
Then she exhaled lightly.
"You're free to go now."
A small smile formed on my face as I stood up, already preparing to deal with the Divine Snake.
"Please… take care of my wife and child."
I spoke to both Goddesses.
"No need to ask."
Ereshkigal replied calmly.
"He's our grandchild. We will protect them both."
"Thank you."
I paused, scanning the rubble for a suitable position. Once I found the right spot, I stood still, my eyes fixed on the space beyond it.
"Won't it be faster if you teleport?"
"Teleportation doesn't work in Kalidor. Besides, teleportation doesn't offer a grand entry."
I smirked.
"Well, at least drop by in Elyvra and ascend it's much faster."
"Don't worry, this will be the fastest way."
I drew in a deep breath, and as I exhaled, smoke poured from my body and armour.
My cosmic skin and silver plates began to fade, dissolving into streams of radiant mist that drifted upward like fragments of a dying star. I was transforming.
"I don't need my Battle Form to take you down."
I spoke softly, my True Body taking form once more. My hair was shorter now, tousled by lingering traces of divine energy.
My clothes had returned, intact, though without the cloak. Everything felt normal again, except for the azure glow in my eyes and the celestial white wings that refused to fade. I didn't need them, yet I chose to keep them.
I lowered myself slightly, wings spreading wide as light rippled off their edges. I stayed perfectly still, drawing into pure speed. The ground beneath me cracked, birthing craters that widened with every passing second, the air trembling in anticipation of release.
I snapped, shut whatever remained of feeling, and became an emotionless machine honed to one command: KILL. In reply, a destructive flame crawled up my skin, blooming into an aura that devoured sound and light. With a single, precise flap of my wings, I was gone, not running, but rupturing the air, space & void alike.
I left nothing but a trailing smear of silver-blue fire and afterimages that bent the light. The world registered me as a blade of motion: craters blossomed where gusts struck, shadows stretched unnaturally, and even time seemed to hiccup in my wake. I existed only as velocity, instantaneous, inexorable, otherworldly, and Meta Motion embodied.
To be continued...