11 ISKANDER THE CONQURER – (PART 3 OF 3)

These intruders arrive at the castle. The king is ready to send his army to attack them but the woman opens her mouth and speaks, "I am here for your greatest and strongest warrior. I will put him up against my strongest to see if he is worthy". She said this as she pointed to Arthur. The king stepped forward looking at her and his two sons that were standing next to one another. The one was a tactician in the art of war and the other was an all out brute. The king speaks, "I have my two sons standing over there. The one is Alexander and the other is Leonidas" The king looks at the woman then looks at his wife's body in Leonidas's arms " Give me my Queen, I will take her now" Leonidas looks at his supposed father with anger "You were supposed to protect mother what gives you the right to hold mother" The King slowly walks up to Leonidas "She is my wife I may have failed to protect her but I will bury her properly.

Leonidas looked at the king with an appraising look and slowly gave the Queens body to the King. The King slowly walked back to the castle looking broken and slowly he stops and looks back at the woman and her companions, "The two strongest warriors are my sons Leonidas and Alexander, you can test them later first let us mourn for my wife." Leonidas and Alexander look at each other with hate in their eyes "we will settle this later. First let us mourn mother." "Agreed let us settle this at a later date." Alexander looks as his brother follows his father then looks at the woman and her companions "You are dressed the same way that man was dressed if he is still alive you can meet with him but first let us mourn the loss of my mother then we can settle this at a later date." Alex slowly follows Leonidas and the king.

Meanwhile Lilith looks at Arthur, Cleo and Artemis who is still hiding her face under a hood trying to not look suspicious. Arthur asks while tilting his head to the side "Companion who could he be talking about, and what does he mean if he is still alive ?" they all look at him and wonder the same thing. "They couldn't be talking about Adolf right" "well he is the only companion who went missing. Arthur and Cleo continue to discuss among themselves when Lilith walked to follow Alex and his brother.

A few days pass and the Empire mourned the Queens death. The King was despondent of the sudden death of his wife and the mother of his children. Leonidas and Alexander were also quite broken up but the sudden death of the Queen or more the way she died brought the brothers to boiling point where both of them blamed each other for their mothers death. Leonidas walked to the room where the intruders were staying and as he opened the door he had noticed something on one of the woman's wrist that looked familiar but couldn't figure out what it was. As he was about to speak he heard loud bangs coming from the training room followed by the grunts and shouts of Alexander.

"Follow me so I can take you to see your companion". They stepped out of the room and followed Leonidas down a long corridor that had so many paintings on of the royal people who once ruled over the kingdom and as they got to the area before the room to the basement Leonidas had seen a painting of his mother stopped and stared at it. "I will avenge you mother, if it's the last thing I ever do". He then opened the door and took the torch next to the door and started his decent down the long staircase and the intruders followed shortly.

As they are walking down the stairs they start joking to make the mood more light hearted before they meet with Adolf, "Well I can't believe we totally forgot about Adolf wow what a weakling" Arthur laughs boisterous while Cleo Snickers "that's quite awful yet true Arthur" Lilith looks at the two jokesters "It may be true but don't make fun of him too much, it's not his fault he is so easy to forget" As the trio are joking about forgetting Adolf, the Deity inside him amplifies their voices but at the same time distorts them to make them seem cold and mocking to Adolf "See I told you they did not care for you, listen to how they mock you". Adolf can't believe his so called friends, mocking him so easily while he suffered for so many years, Adolf's view on the world begins to distort at an amazing pace his mind darkens and becomes more and more chaotic, the last bit of light and goodness in his soul is slowly consumed by and all consuming hatred. the scenes of Cleopatra having sex with multiple partners is amplified, the memory of Arthur looking down on him is distorted even further, the memory of Lilith using and casting him away completely breaks him, thus the man called Adolf Hitler breaks completely two streak of blood flow from his eyes. The Deity inside him laughs hysterically "FINALLY YOU HAVE FALLEN FINALLY WE HAVE OUR CHAMPION, COME LET US DYE THE WORLD WITH ALL YOUR HATE, COME LET US COVER THIS WORLD IN ETERNAL DARKNESS". Adolf begins to laugh while crying tears of blood Lilith and the others hear this and rush to his cell, as the open it they see him bound in chains full of wounds from the torture he endured through the years, A dark evil light starts emanating from his body and instantly the chains are broken. Adolf slowly raises his head and looks at them, as almost as if it is a curse he says it very slowly "How could you" then he disappears in a dark and ominous light.

Lilith is shocked at the sight of Adolf disappearing and is shocked like everyone else. Arthur looks at Leonidas angrily and grabs him by the collar "What did you do to him!! why did he look like that!!". As Arthur is yelling at Leonidas, Leonidas slaps his and away and looks at Arthur seriously "My mother prophesied that a man with strange clothes and L shape burnt onto his neck would cause my downfall and the downfall of the entire empire, I would not take any chances. When I met him he fit the description, I will not let this happen to the Empire." Leonidas looks at the once again a leaves the dudgeon. The Silence I the dudgeon is cursing as Lilith, Cleo and Arthur don't know what to say after what they just heard.

They stood there in silence for a few seconds and then they heard a trumpet sound,, "What's happening?", Arthur saw many guards running past the dudgeon, so Arthur grabbed one of the guards and asked him what is happening and the guard replied "The princes are getting ready to fight sir". And ran off. Lilith Looked at Arthur and the others and said "Let us also follow them we will deal with Adolf's disappearance when we see the outcome of the fight between the princes. "We will take the winner with us on our journey". As they were walking past Arthur saw Leonidas getting ready and was going to go speak to him but some woman slammed the door shut in his face. (they arrive at the place they were a few minutes earlier). The king is sitting on his thrown and Alexander is pacing back and forth waiting for Leonidas to arrive. Arthur notices that Alexander is holding a axe type weapon in his hand and can feel Excalibur is warning him that this weapon is of an immense power. They go and sit on chairs next to the king. Leonidas arrives a few seconds later after they take their seats.

The king stands to speak, "We have gathered here to see my two sons battle to prove who is worthy to accompany these travelers on their journey. Yes the one isn't my actual son but I did raise him so he is still my son. Guards form a circle around them so they can start the battle". Hundreds of guards started to gather around the two as they stood to get ready to fight. The Guards and soldiers begin to chant and shout calling for the duel between Leonidas and Alexander to start. As Leonidas enters the arena and slowly walks towards Alexander he begins to remember the conversation he had with the maid who was close to his mother, he starts to frown and begins to focus on the battle ahead and prove his worth to the king. Alexander smirks and looks at the approaching Leonidas, "I will put you out of your misery mongrel"

Alexander and Leonidas stand before each other, the resentment that has built up over the years slowly reaching boiling point and about to burst out during this seemingly destined duel. Leonidas raises his spear toward Alexander and coldly looks at him with eyes full of hate and disgust "You have always taken what was rightfully mine, my throne, my glory, the love of our parents that is supposed to belong to me, I WILL SHOW YOU THAT I WILL TAKE BACK WHAT IS MINE!!!" "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOU WORTHLESS MONGREL" Alexander laughs hysterically while he raises his axe towards Leonidas with the intent to kill "You will never have what is mine. IT IS ALL MINE. With their weapons raises at each other the moment slows down as both brothers rush at each other.

As both brothers rush towards each other they can no longer hear the soldier or guards shouting in the background all the can see is each other, the enemy they must defeat. In term of speed Leonidas is faster, in terms of power Alexander is stronger. As axe and spear clash the brothers sense this [I should keep away from that axe and hit him from a distance] so thinks Leonidas. [I shouldn't let him get the distance advantage over me and keep him close] so thinks Alexander. After their first clash time seems to flow normally again but both brother have grim expressions on their faces, both of them have sensed their strength and weaknesses in this duel. After a brief moment of silence Leonidas jumps away and at the same time thrusts his spear towards Alexander, but he manages to parry it away with his axe and at the same time closes in on Leonidas and slashes at him with his axe. Seemingly like Alexander's attack is unavoidable Leonidas uses the shaft of his spear to make the axe slide downwards while using that momentum to kick Alexander in the chest forcing him backwards while breaking his stance [Dammit he is faster in close combat I have to use my power to my advantage]. Alexander looks up and as Leonidas is approaching while thrusting his spear at him, he smashes his axe down towards the floor as a result debris and dust fly up momentarily blinding Leonidas and giving Alexander enough time to mount a counter attack.

[Smart to use the terrain against me]. Knowing that he is the better fighter Leonidas is impressed at Alexander's resourcefulness while keeping his guard up and waiting for the dust to settle, but suddenly a he gets tackled by Alexander causing him to lose his footing, Alexander takes that at him but Leonidas barely manages to dodge and is grazed by the axe on his left leg. "HAHAHAHAHA SEE YOU MONGREL I AM SUPERIOR TO YOU". Leonidas hears this and gets angry all of a sudden a massive surge of power is felt as rippling waves are formed in the atmosphere "what is that!!' Arthur is shocked by this strange energy and stands in front of Lilith to protect her, Cleopatra's is nervous for some reason as she feels worried for one of the brother, the hooded figure in the background is shocked as she knows what type of energy this is "It can't be it can't be, how could a mortal master this power this is impossible!!" Arthur hears her and looks at her "What is this power" she looks at Arthur in his eyes "the power to use your own life force as a weapon"

Ripple after ripple is formed and the source is Leonidas, "Now I will show you who is the true mongrel". Everyone is shocked to see Leonidas disappear and reappear in front of Alexander while punching him so hard he flies off and crashes into a wall. Leonidas Stabs his spear tip into the ground and lets it go he take a boxing stance and starts punching towards Alexander who gets injured every time Leonidas punches towards him [wh what is going on]. Everyone is long shocked the soldiers who formed the circle around them have long since fled to safety and are watching with shocked expressions at the scene they are witnessing "Its Ripple energy" the hooded figure is also shocked that Leonidas can use ripple energy so well "what is this ripple energy" the king asks in a worried tone "it the power to use your own life force as an attack in the form of ripples, only higher level beings are able to use such a power" everyone is shocked again and looks at Leonidas busy abusing Alexander with his new found power.

"Were is you bravado now brother" Leonidas looks at the beaten Alexander who is now lying on the floor all bruised and battered with blood flowing everywhere, the rage and humiliation that he feels right now for being treated like a rag doll by this brother who he so looked down on[Do you want power] all of a sudden Alexander hears a voice in his head [ I can give you power]. Everyone starts to hear Alexander s heart beating and its getting louder and louder, Leonidas senses something wrong as his ripple energy is warning him of an ominous presence, *BADUM BADUM* Alexander's heartbeat keeps getting louder and his Axe begins to glow *ROAAAARRRR* A deafening roar is heard, Leonidas quickly retrieves his spear and looks at his now standing brother who is roaring like a mad lion and comes charging towards him [Good let us show them the true power of this axe] that is the last thing Alexander hears before his entire vision turns red. He then swings his axe at Leonidas, Leonidas dodges him and side steps out of his way takes him off his feet and as Alexander lands on the floor a massive thud can be heard. (You never fight with anger, that's the first thing we were tought when we were kids).

Leonidas swings his spear around and is about to thrust it into Alexander's chest. "STOP" the king shouts and everyone looks ay him as he is standing to his feet. "The fight has been decided, now you brothers must hug it out. The brother's do so. The woman Leonidas was talking to earlier comes running out and screaming frantically. Alexander goes back to his father and stands beside him after hugging Leonidas and not actually wanting to. The woman tells Leonidas that, the queen was actually his mother and this woman is his aunt. Alexander over hears this and the axe then takes full control over him once again. He charges to kill this woman and while doing so he screams, "Don't lie about my mother!!". (My mother would never cheat on my father with another man). As he gets to them. Leonidas steps in front of her and Alex beheads him and while doing so snaps his spear in half as Leonidas tried to block.

The king witnesses this and is shocked about what has happened to his sons. He runs to Alexander and tries to calm him down but as he puts his hand on his sons shoulder he spins around and cuts his fathers head of as well. Artemis takes of her hood because there has been more than enough tragedy. she starts to chant to help Alexander get control of the axe, she is a witch after all. He then charges at her screaming and what sounds like to be crying. Arthur sees this and takes Excalibur out and block's Alex from killing anyone else.

The axe gets knocked away and flies into the kings throne and gets wedged into the seat. Alexander comes to realizing what he has done, he falls to his knees. Tears running down his face. He hits the ground with his right fist. The woman who was speaking to Leonidas starts to hit him while cries and said "You just killed your own brother. Why would you do such a thing". Artemis goes to him and tells him, "this is my fault, I thought you were in the one in the carriage, you destroyed my forest and killed my animals". Alexander lifts his left hand up and points to the axe and sais with a snobbing like tone. "That made me do it, it took control of my mind and I couldn't tell right from wrong". "I will train you om how to control that weapon, no one other than Hercules was able to weild this great and powerful axe."

Cleopatra goes to him and puts her arms around his shoulder. While she does this he looks and notices she has the same birth mark as him and he for some reason thinks it's his mom. He grabs her hand and stands up. Seeing it isn't his mother he starts to rub it thinking it will come off. He looks at her ans starts to cry because he is shattered after what has just happened. Cleo grabs him to hug and said, " I know you also feel it bit we are family some how and we have the same mark on us".

Artemis, Cleo and Alexander go to Artemis forest for her to go train him, before they go Alex goes to fetch the axe again but Artemis gives him a special silk, "take this it will block out the power it holds over you". The step into a portal and disappear. a few seconds go by and they step back out of the portal, Cleo's hair is long, Alex has grown facial wise and his hair is longer as well. You can see they've been there for a few years but it only took a few seconds in real time. In this new time Alexander is the ruler of Greek. Lilith activates her powers and opens two time tunnels. Lilith and Arthur step into one as they are headed to Japan. While Alex and Cleo step into another.