Chapter 49: Chaos II

  "I haven't fought like this in ages." Serena was still stunned. She couldn't believe her eyes. She'd survived… that bitch survived, and she was nonchalantly walking in her direction. "To think your Ascension was this close. I…" She stopped in her tracks, black cracks spreading all over her body. Kneeling down, her body began shaking. "No! How?" Some of the golden layer covering her body started to peel off, revealing a pitch-black layer underneath. She screamed, covering her right eye. "No! My eye! I can't see! The future, the past… it's all…" As she removed the hand covering it, Serena saw a dark scar forming on her face, her eye completely black. Her radiance was dwindling.

  "Piece of shit! The future isn't…" seeing her suddenly freeze, Serena tried to stand up. She didn't know what was going on. She hadn't absorbed the energy, her domain had devoured it. Then… What did she see? It looked like she was fighting against some sort of corruption… and now… Serena stumbled to her body. The Prophet's body was turning pitch black as the golden layer continued to wither away.

  Just looking at her made Serena shiver. There was something stronger than what she'd just fought. Just like her, Destiny had been subdued in an instant. She was being drawn in, someone inviting her in, hypnotizing her. She fell to her knees, slowly extending her fingers towards the unmoving Prophet's black eye. She was about to reach it when she heard the sound of something cracking.

  "I'll change this fate, bring it back to what it was supposed to be. But first..." Serena saw her black eye lock on her. She couldn't move, she was frozen. She gritted her teeth as Destiny moved her hand to gently touch her cheek.

  "My poor child, you saw it, didn't you? The future that was stolen." Nic! Memories flashed before her eyes. She… she missed him so much. As tears dripped down her cheek, Destiny slowly wiped them off. If only he was still here… only a fragment remained…

  "It's okay, I'll make it right, I'll bring him back. Just give it to me." Could she? If she were her old self, she would've given anything to see him again. The corners of her mouth slightly curved up. But she'd changed, he'd changed her, she would never go back.

  "Good," she heard a familiar voice say. Where? She thought, looking up, breaking free from The Prophet's grasp. Above her floated a feather. A cindered feather the size of her palm. "You…" they both said at the same time. Destiny looked shocked. Serena couldn't formulate any clear thought, a flurry of emotions overwhelming her.

  Seeing the feather begin to burn up, Destiny tried to reach out to Serena, but it was too late. She was blasted away as a column of flames rose up around Serena. A loud bird cry followed and from the balcony flew a flaming black bird overtaking the sky, basking in the light of the setting sun.

  "No!" Destiny desperately screamed. Serena could barely hear her as a warm feeling overwhelmed her. She still remembered the scene of Nic's ashes turning into this majestic creature. A Phoenix. A darkened Phoenix. She extended her arm, letting it land. She felt the heat spread through her entire body.

  His domain had outlived him. In his final moments, he finally understood the true essence of what he was working towards, but his body couldn't take it. And so from his resilience, his ashes, something new was born. Now, it was fulfilling his final wish.

  Her arms were being covered in black burning veins. She and the Phoenix both changed, the flaming pillar surrounding them had turned green. While the Phoenix's flames followed the same trend, parts of Serena's body blackened and others shared in the creature's blaze. She could feel her body being reinvigorated as if she'd been reborn.

  "Almost a century of preparation," Destiny coughed, a musky black substance escaping from her mouth. "Completely ruined." Serena looked down at her crazed opponent. "How can you be so delusional?" To her words, she began to laugh crazily. "You're no master of fate, you're its slave." The Prophet's darkness intensified with her laughter, a mist spreading to her surroundings.

  "You've got no idea what you're talking about." The world began distorting around her. "You've doomed us all…" her gaze was empty, with no emotions, nothing. That empty gaze crossed hers, sending shivers down her spine. She felt like the whole world around them had disappeared. She was standing before a wolf in sheep's clothing, her golden domain slowly turning black.

  She was so focussed on resisting the disgusting corruption that she didn't notice the world twisting around her. Seeing a vague figure cloud her vision accompanied by a loud screech, she snapped back to her senses. The Phoenix floated in front of her, emitting a deep green glow. Bright green flames danced around them, stopping the distortions in their tracks. No, Nick was right, she couldn't be intimidated. Her enemy wasn't as strong as she once was.

  As she squinted, her eyes focused and the world's color changed. Through her green-colored vision, she saw her green and black domain struggle against darkened gold tendrils. Smiling, she closed her eyes, extending her arm in front of her. Her opponent did the same, and both forces clashed in a violent storm.

  It felt like she'd gotten access to a totally new source of knowledge. The molecular efficiency of the reactions she was stimulating was greater, the energy transfer between particles was larger and faster. Her plants were technically radioactive, but she controlled their output, allowing her to use most if not all the energy that was created.

  She'd caught a glimpse of Nic's work. Her plants got stronger and faster, mutating left and right. Destiny seemed to be having a hard time, the darkness spreading onto her shaking body, still emotionless. Chaos surrounded her, winds, clouds, lightning, floating rocks… It almost didn't make any sense.

  "Impossible…" she heard a whisper. "after all this time… chaos…" she took a knee, her body almost fully blackened. "I… who am I?" Noticing her opponent's domain getting denser, Serena instantly tried to create a barrier between them.

  "Chaos," for the first time in a while, he heard emotions in her voice and that emotion was fear. She was afraid, but why? Was it death? She didn't get the chance to think it over because the moment she'd been fearing came. Blinding darkness suddenly grew out of nowhere with Destiny at its center. As soon as her last eye had been covered by the darkness, her body imploded on itself, creating a shockwave that blew Serena away, forcing her to cover her face with her arms, the Phoenix struggling to fly beside her.

https://i.imgur.com/tNB2qPk.jpg

  "Ah, the fruit of chaos is so sweet!" The voice was distorted. This was clearly no longer Destiny or if it was, she was no longer the same as before. All that Serena could distinguish was a black feminine figure with a golden left eye. "I need to survey its source." Serena was shocked. She'd been engulfed by her own domain. There was nothing left of her but her eye. "What was it?" It squinted. "S… Slava? Vich? Interesting…" she seemed lost in thought. Serena was hesitating, she no longer knew what to do. For some reason, the person in front of her no longer felt human.

  "Thank you for showing me this body." Serena was startled. Destiny's figure shifted, Serena and the Phoenix both failed to react as her lips almost touched The Prophet's. "Apologies, I'm still not used to your customs," she said, slowly backing off, her body now levitating. Shit, this was dangerous, a being she couldn't even fathom…

  "Don't worry, I'm simply here to observe." She looked down at her blackened hand. "I've never seen such a phenomenon." Turning around, her body slowly floated up, her back somehow emanating unfathomable darkness. "This place is unexplored too, they've just begun to awaken…" Serena was still speechless. She'd never seen such delicate manipulation…

  "We'll meet again, your fate is clear." She met her half-closed golden eye. "Oh and," her limbs were disintegrating, "when they come to you for guidance, tell them I'll be watching." Even though she had no mouth to speak of, Serena could imagine a snarky smile forming on her face as she disappeared.

  "Ah," she sighed, "these days the world just keeps getting weirder." She laughed, her knees faltering. Hearing her companion's worried cry, she continued. "You're right, let's go rest before they come."

  As she gazed at the plantless ruins surrounding them, her body slowly vanished into leaves.