Act 1:(chapter 15) The father

I woke up to find myself lying down on the sofa with Lazuli cuddling up close to me, her head resting and moving to the rhythm of my breathing on my chest. Her glasses had nearly come off in her sleep, her red hair covering most of her face as well.

She looks pretty damn adorable when she's asleep.

Did you, do it?

Do what?

You know.

The Devils Tango.

The holy 3rd base.

Becoming a man.

Last time I checked; Ethos don't sleep so I think you damn well know I didn't do that.

I carefully got up, making sure not to wake Lazuli, lay blanket that was nearby on top of her and left the room.

After some time, walking (ironic since there's no concept of time here) I came across the room where I had reunited with my friends after the little sibling fight, I had.

"My generals come forth."

Three dark red orbs appeared in front of me which then led to Andrea, Minerva and Rei materialising before me, all of them taking a knee and bowing before me.

"Your greatness," Rei said before looking up. "what will you have us do my lord."

"Don't be so formal." I said walking past them and heading towards a kitchen like area which wasn't there before. I opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of whisky before poring myself a small glass which formed in my hand.

"I've known you guys for almost 2000 years I think we can talk casually when not in front of an audience." I said before taking a sip from the glass.

Love this taste.

"That's great." Andrea said stretching before falling onto one of the armchairs, spreading herself out and stretching. "I do find it a bore sometimes."

Minerva meanwhile was zipping around the kitchen area at lightning-fast speeds creating some kind of breakfast that seemed like a full English.

"I agree with Andrea ya know." She said in a high-pitched voice. "It's just not, ME. I don't really talk like that."

She then plonked herself onto one of the sofas, a large piece of toast already in her mouth.

Rei walked up to me with a slightly unsure look. I noticed her eyes constantly dart from the side to the drink I was holding.

I sighed before handing her the glass. A cute, excited expression flashed on her face before she snatched the glass, guzzling it down as I drew pored another glass for myself.

"I assume you did call us for something though." Rei said after finishing the glass of whisky.

"That's true." I nodded catching Andrea's and Minerva's attention. "As you know I'm going to be meeting with the council soon which could lead to the war starting up again even bigger than before."

My Generals all looked at me with focused expressions.

"This wouldn't usually be a problem however Kuni, Shion and Lazuli are now thoroughly wrapped up in this mess. Although Lazuli has recently Awakened and upgraded to a Demon Rank, she has almost no idea about what her powers are with Shion and Kuni not having Awakened yet either. Not only that but because they haven't Awakened, they won't be able to anything to Demoreals."

"Right, Demoreals are born with Awakened/Sentient Ethos after all." Rei nodded pouring herself another glass with the bottle she had taken when I wasn't looking. "Only an Awakened Ethos user can harm another Awakened Ethos user. It's exactly how if one does not possess Ethos, they won't be able to harm or effect an Ehereal/Demoreal in any way."

I nodded.

"Precisely," I said putting my glass down. "what I want is for Lazuli to have mastered her most of her abilities to some degree and have Shion and Kuni evolve into Awakened Ethereals along with mastering those new abilities they'll gain. Since there's no concept of time in The Beyond, we don't have to rush and (ironically) take all the time we need to get them to that level."

There was a silent pause as the girls nodded to each other, but Rei seemed to have caught on to something else which I wanted.

"There's more isn't there my lord."

I nodded.

"Those three will have to transcend the concepts of Space-Time before I go as well. I turned back time by a few hundred years back on earth in that universe and making sure they weren't caught in that reversal either. However, this means eventually they'll be two Kunis, Shions and Lazulis as they are still bound by time. What we need to do is to get them to transcend those concepts so that there is only one of them across all timelines in existence."

"I can see how it'll pose quite the trouble if we don't get them to transcend." Minerva said through a mouthful of eggs, bacon and toast.

"I'm going to be very busy, so I won't be able to train them which is where you guys come in." I said looking through the window into the void of the Beyond.

"Dibs on Kuni." Andrea said shooting her hand straight up.

I raised an eyebrow.

"You've taken a liking to him." I said curiously.

Andrea responded with an innocent smile but a not so innocent look in her eyes.

"Fine, do as you wish." I said waving my hand.

"I'd like to request that I train Lazuli." Rei said rubbing the back of her neck.

"That's fine by me but may I ask why?"

Rei looked back at me with a brief smirk.

"Not only as she Awakened which makes my job slightly easier but surely you've noticed the unusual amount of power she suddenly gained. Considering the gap between our strength I'm sure you've also sensed the massive amount of potential she has."

I looked down at my feet in thought.

"That's true." I mumbled.

Usually when an Ethereal evolves into an Awakened Ethereal they gain a power boost that promotes them up by one Rank. A Wolf would be promoted to Lion for example. But Lazuli jumped two whole Ranks. She went from Hydra straight to Demon. Not even I or the rest of my family got that big of a jump when we evolved.

"Make sure she learns to fully control her power." I said looking back at Rei. "I don't want another incident of her going out of control when she first evolved."

"As you wish." Rei said bowing slightly.

"That means I've got Shion." Minerva said brightly swishing back her purple hair. "She seems like fun."

Fun isn't the word that first comes to mind when describing Shion but she's definitely a very hard worker so Minerva should be fine training her.

"Train her well Minerva and I'll think you'll be glad to know she specialises in Solar Magic." I nodded.

"That makes things easier then." She responded, shovelling food into her mouth.

"Well, ain't this a nice party."

I turned to fond Kara stepping through a portal beside me, wearing nothing but a dressing gown. Her hair was also very messy implying she'd probably only been awake for ten minutes or so.

"What do you want?" I groaned as my generals glowered at my sister.

"That's no way to say hello to you're favourite sibling." She piped, smiling as she made herself a bowl of cereal.

"While it's true I don't hate you unlike our brother and the old man," I said turning round and sitting in front of her on the other side of the kitchen table. "I still wouldn't say I've forgiven you just yet."

Kara paused for a moment as looked at me with the piercing blue eyes that we shared.

"I've apologised as much as I can Nova." She said taking a spoon full of cereal.

"Although that is appreciated," I said before staring at my sister with a coldly. "It's not quite enough for me to forgive you for not bothering to at least try and stop me being what could have been my death sentence. As well as agreeing with the idea of me going into the Abyss again during the war."

"Nothing I can do about that now however I didn't come here to bicker." She said finishing her breakfast.

"What did you come here for then?" I scowled slightly.

Kara snapped her fingers, and she was instantly dressed in casual clothes with her crimson hair now combed and flowing beautifully, no longer the messy bed hair it was before.

She looked at the other girls in the room before looking back at me.

"It's family business."

I sighed and waved away my generals who left the room.

Another portal opened next Kara and she gestured for me to follow her through it.

"What a pain." I muttered.

I awoke to find that I was lying on the sofa with a blanket on top of me. Turned to the side to find a note.

I groaned as I stretched to try and wake myself up a bit more.

Allow me.

I suddenly felt wide awake and full of energy.

Thanks Stella.

I took the note and inspected it, it told me to read out some words aloud.

"Ingla Mushi Akuma?" I said curiously.

I suddenly found myself in a completely different environment.

It looked like a kitchen, a massive one at that, with a paper white floor, walls and ceiling with a chandelier hanging from it.

"W-where am I?" I mumbled as I looked around.

Do not worry. We are still in the building within The Beyond, just a very far and different section of it.

I frowned but shrugged my shoulders.

"Over here young lady."

I heard a voice that was very unique since it was almost soothing to hear. It also sounded very high class with a British accent as well.

I turned round to see someone sitting at the kitchen table, his back facing me.

"Come and sit, I've been meaning to talk to you."

I did as I was told and sat down on the opposite end of the table so I could get a good look at him which then immediately took my breath away.

Sitting in front of me was the most handsome (but also beautiful) man I had ever seen. He looked young as well, maybe recently turned 20, with electric blue eyes and short golden blonde hair that seemed to almost glow. He was wearing very smart looking clothes that bordered between casual and a suit.

I sense an enormous amount of power coming him from Lazuli.

How powerful are we talking?

I started to get a little lost in his eyes.

I don't know for certain but he's definitely capable of effecting The Chaos Void so be careful.

Ok.

I snapped out of the daydreaming I was having and looked down slightly.

"What's your name?" He asked, his voice almost coaxing the words out of me.

"Lazuli." I said, still not making eye contact.

"So, you're the girl who was cuddling up next to Nova." He said as a cup of tea formed in his hands, he blew on it before taking a sip.

My face went beet red as I remembered last night.

That's so embarrassing!

"Don't worry." The man giggled slightly. "I won't ask for details."

"W-what do you want to know exactly?" I wondered aloud.

The man looked up in thought.

"Good question." He looked back down are eyes briefly making contact. "Not much really, I just wanted to meet the most recent Ethereal to evolve in the person and that power I'm sensing from you is not one to be scoffed at."

He took another sip of his tea as a slightly uncomfortable silence made itself at home.

"What's your opinion on Nova?"

"Huh?"

"I said what's your opinion on Nova." The man repeated himself.

I thought about the question for a moment.

"A friend, that's for sure. Someone who I trust and can depend on."

"Even after he lied to you about his identity?" The man raised an eyebrow as he placed the cup of tea to his lips.

"Well… I was angry at first but then after hearing his side of the story I understood why he couldn't tell me. Especially after meeting his siblings."

"Not a fan of Diablo and Kara?" The man raised an eyebrow.

"Diablo, no. He has a very malicious and arrogant vibe about him and there's also the fact he tried to kill me when I was evolving. As for Kara I'm not really sure. She doesn't seem like a bad person exactly."

I remembered talking to her in the library with Shion.

"But there is something a little… off about her, I feel like she'll try and trick me if I'm not careful."

"Understandable." The man said, nodding to himself slightly as he was reflecting. "You seem like you have more to talk about Nova."

"Strong." I practically blurted out. "He's unbelievably strong and especially after what Kara showed me."

"What did she show you?" The man seemed quite interested all of a sudden.

"She showed me a book that listed all his Skills, Ethos attained abilities as well as his so called "Forms" like his Capere Form and Yin-Yang King Form."

The man snickered slightly.

"Seems like your impression of Kara was correct."

"Hm?"

I was confused now.

"I've known Nova and Kara for a long time, and I can say this with confidence. Nova does not own a form beyond his Capere Form and Kara is borderline a pathological liar, she gets some kind of thrill out of it. Nova has a very large number of very powerful abilities but he is incredibly secretive about them, it would be impossible for his friends to know all of them, let alone Kara so the contents of that book is almost certainly all false. Perhaps a few are correct but that'd only be the abilities Kara has encountered."

"What?" I gasped completely thrown.

I made a mental note to always take what Kara said with a grain of salt.

"Nova should never be underestimated though. He has a habit of suppressing his power and disabling and enabling different abilities in different states of being. I'm guessing you've heard Nova use the phrase, "Release Restriction Levels"."

I nodded.

"Nova actually has a Limiter in place to supress his power. 5 levels to be exact. With all Levels in place Nova has access to a total of only 5% of his power. At the release of Level 5 he can use a total of 10%. At Level 4 he can use 25% and at Level 3 he can use 50%. Level 2 is a big jump, allowing to use a total of 80% with Level 1, as you have probably figured out, allowing him to use all his power."

I blew a whistle in surprise.

"It should also be noted this isn't talking about Nova's forms and more like his base state. His forms are multipliers of the current power of his base."

"Then he's more amazing than I thought." I sighed as sat back in my chair. "Oh, I never asked, what was your name?"

The man was about to open his mouth but the doors at the opposite end of room slammed open, nearly being torn from their hinges, revealing a very pissed off looking Nova.

"Ah Nova my dear," The man said with a wide grin. "So nice of you to join us. We were just talking about you in fact."

"Release Restriction Levels 5-3." Nova muttered.

I felt a pulse of massive power coming from Nova as he rushed forward faster than I could follow. The next moment Nova had grabbed the man by his shirt and slammed him up against the wall, cracking severely. Nova's eyes flashed between their normal colour and that strange gold and purple look they had when he fought Kara and Diablo.

"You have a lot of balls showing your face here again." Nova hissed as a purple and gold aura suddenly consumed him releasing a gust of wind that forced me to shield my face a little.

"Come now," The man said not looking the least bit scared, in fact he was grinning. "Is that anyway to speak to your father."

Father!? The that means-

"Yes, that's Viro Cosmos, Mine, Nova's and Diablo's father." Kara said suddenly sitting next to me.

"I believe I said I would erase your existence if I saw your face here again!" Nova roared before throwing him across the room sending him crashing through a wall and into what looked like another library.

A red tendril shot from Nova's back, grabbed Viro and pulled him straight back towards Nova in an instant. Nova grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up from the ground.

With his free hand Nova formed a purple and golden orb of energy that crackled with crimson electricity.

"Goodbye old man." Nova hissed.

"You know," Viro said grinning. "The power gap between us, son, is not the same as it was before."

Viro's blue eyes turned violet as two massive purple arms materialised from his back as they raised their fists up into the air. Before Nova could react, they, both crashed down on top of him, slamming him into the ground and forming a small crater.

Viro went to stomp down on his son as the extra arms faded away but Nova quickly rolled to the side, dodging it, before standing up and putting some distance between him and his father.

Shit! Nova's in bad shape.

Both of Nova's arms looked dislocated with blood running down from one side of his head as he panted heavily as if he'd been holding his breath, but my worries disappeared as his injures were healed moments later.

He stared at Viro for a couple of seconds before he frowned, and a look of shock appeared on his face.

Viro grinned as he walked towards Nova.

"Did you just try to make the cause my existence its own nonexistence? I'm sorry to say that manipulation of Cause and Effect won't work on me in anyway."

Viro lunged forward smashing his fist into Nova's face sending my crashing through a wall into the hallway outside.

Nova got up instantly and swished his mouth around before spitting out some blood.

"Bastard." He growled as his right eye suddenly morphed into a Yin-Yang Symbol and at the same time Viro's body contorted.

His spine suddenly burst out of his back, separated from his body, blood flying everywhere but somehow, he was smiling as then suddenly the whole event just reversed. His spine fell back into his body with the wound closing up instantly after.

Nova caught off guard began to mutter something.

"Release Restriction Le-"

He was interrupted as Viro slammed his hand into Nova's gut, spearing him.

"Nova!" I yelled and I began to run towards him, but Kara grabbed me and held me in place.

Nova vomited up blood as Viro unsheathed his hand from Nova's guts and then slammed his son's head into his knee before grabbing him by the face and pinning him up against a wall.

"Don't bother releasing anymore of your Restriction Levels." Viro growled. "Listen here Nova, the last time we met you were stronger than me but not anymore. You could have released all the Levels and be in your Capere Form and nothing will change. I've acquired power that is equal to if nit stronger than your Prime which you no longer have."

He dropped Nova onto the floor who then sat up glaring at his father with an expression of hatred.

I then spotted Rei out of the corner of my eye who rushed forward and threw a massive punch at Viro but her fist stopped an inch away from its target.

"Barrier." I breathed.

"You should attend to your master over there." Viro said nodding to Nova who slowly began to stand up, the wounds nearly healed.

Viro looked at me and I realised Kara was no longer holding me in place.

"You have a good friend Nova." Viro said with a gentle smile looking back at his son who was now fully healed. "Take care of her."

"Leave. Now." Nova growled.

"As you wish, but we will be having a father son talk soon." Viro said walking past Nova who then stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"We may share the same blood, but you are not my father." He hissed. "And you may be stronger than me now but that is temporary so enjoy it while you can because mark my word, I'm going to get back that power I lost and when I do, I will enjoy every second of killing you."

Nova did not look at Viro and Viro did not look at Nova.

"I'll look forward to that day then." The first Ethereal said before teleporting disappearing through a portal.

"Are you okay my lord?" Rei said.

Nova nodded before looking back at me. He seemed almost... ashamed?

"Gather your sisters as well Shion and Kuni and tell them to meet me in the room we were all at last time. It's very important."

Rei nodded and sprinted off.

Nova and I looked at each other for a long moment.

"Let's go." He said walking off as I followed behind him.