Slay Your Sanity

Year 1025, 8th of November

Time: Unknown; early morning hours at least

Darkness, just endless darkness surrounded the lone Stormbringer as he walked along the path before him. Raizo felt completely empty inside as the memories of Shatterpoint bound his inner self like chains. He felt cold and all alone, like there was nothing or no one waiting for him at the end of the road. Just as his despair was about to sink in even more, he saw a light at the end of the road. Reaching out as if trying to seize it by force, his vision blanked out within that moment before revealing the figures of seven familiar faces.

"It can't be…" Raizo mumbled in surprise, the muscle beating within his chest swelling with a myriad of emotions such as happiness as well as sorrow. The ones before him were his former companions of Night Raid: Susanoo, Lubbock, Mein, Najenda, Tatsumi, Chelsea, Leone and Akame. Was this truly reality right now? Or was it just wishful thinking? Seeing four members that he knew were deceased return to life before him created doubts of this serene scene but considering how he changed time with Shatterpoint, maybe something changed for the better?

"You guys…it's so good to see you," Raizo says in a sigh of relief. The faces of each of the members of Night Raid had a smiling expression towards the youth as he approached but the Stormbringer's warm reunion with his comrades would soon be derailed. In the moment that followed next, the visage of Susanoo disappeared from sight like a magic trick. The gentle expressions of the members of group of assassins then soured with many different expressions of disgust and disdain. A chill as cruel as the winter night then crept down his spine.

"Rescuing you was a mistake that cost me from experiencing the best of my life," Lubbock said in a dark tone. The youth remembered how he and the green-haired male tried to escape the underground prison but his life was cut down in a moment thanks to Yuki's arrow. Before Raizo could raise a voice of protest, the male disappeared. The Stormbringer was left speechless but his torment would only continue.

"I wish I never died protecting someone like you," spoke Mein in a cruel tone that was decorated in a darker tone than normal. Raizo was then reminded of how the girl threw herself in the way of Aquilo's spear during the massive fight in the Capital. She too disappeared before he could speak.

"Why didn't you stay dead when you were executed?" Najenda asked as her one eye glared at the former blood wolf like she was piercing his soul. Like her colleagues before, she vanished from the red-eyed male's sight.

"Night Raid's downfall was done by your hand," Chelsea voiced then vanished.

"You really are a monster," Tatsumi followed before doing the same.

"Like I said before, you're a selfish bastard," Leone sighed then was out of sight.

It was like a waking nightmare for the boy. These words just assaulted him again and again breaking through his exterior and hitting the core of his being with ease. As if the sins he committed in that altered timeline weren't enough, the brutal honesty uttered by the fellows he fought alongside of was just hammering nails in the coffin. Could this get any worse? How could it at this point? Just what could life do to him in this severely weakened state? The gaze of the Red-Eyed Harbinger was interrupted by blinking as he felt the coldness of something enveloping his entire person. The winds swept over his body numbing him to the pain of his heart. In a daze, he recognized the whiteness of snow that had swept away the darkness and his red hues became locked on Akame.

"A…kame…?" he muttered unsure whether or not he was still stuck in an illusion or if he was in reality. He hoped that regardless of which state he was in, the Red-Eyed Killer would not reject him as well. The woman held an emotionless expression upon her face, the usual deadpan for her. Gradually, she saunters over toward the vessel of the distraught male crouching down at his position. She reaches out to the youth and grips the heterochromia hair pattern jerking his face up from the snow before she parts her lips to speak.

"You truly are a vile, disgusting, waste of life. You took everything from me with your so-called 'Shatterpoint' paradox. Your selfish desires caused me more pain than I could ever imagine. I don't understand why Akaro chose a failure such as you as opposed to letting you die," Akame ranted then slammed the boy's face into the ground. Not even giving Raizo time to respond, the woman reaches down and grabs the front of his neck digging her nails into the flesh threatening to rip it open.

"I should do this world a favor and kill you; just drive my blade straight your heart but you're not worth the effort or my time. Such a death would be too good for you. Instead, I suppose letting you suffer from the realization of what you have done including the people you've hurt or disappointed would be the cruelest of ironies. Who knows? Maybe you'll kill yourself. That would actually be pretty amusing."

The oppressive words burrowed deeper inside Raizo's mind like maggots eating away at rotting flesh. The harsh reality caused him to jump awake from his cadaver-like posture now sitting up in the snow. His hands gently touched his neck as drops of blood dotted the white bed below. The scars had carefully healed over but when the Stormbringer peered around for the black-haired female, she was completely gone. Did Akame truly wish him dead? Is that how she actually felt about him? Well, it's not like he could blame her but before his conscious accepted those words as fact, he came to the realization that Akame should not know about Shatterpoint theoretically. Whoever that woman was knew about it as if she had lived through it firsthand. Her manner of speech was the same as were the expressions but the aura that radiated from the incarnation that he had encountered had certain darkness, a blackness that completely blighted her soul. However…

"She's right…" he admitted to himself. He broke his promises to his family. He gave up on the world that his brother entrusted him and he forsook the promise to make his sister proud of him. Truly, he thought of himself as the worst kind of scum. His deadened gaze observed the northern skies and as he found himself lost in a sea of aberrations within his mind, he felt fear crawl up and seize his breath again. Something was lurking way beyond the horizon, something far worse than he could ever imagine. That evil gnawed at him causing him to buckle with anxiety.

"I…I can't do this…I can't do any of this!"

Raizo takes a running jump and casts himself from the mountain entering free fall tens of thousands of feet in the air eventually landing on the grounds below. He dashes through the remaining areas of the Nightmare Forest to get away from the location before slowing himself down to a walking pace marching alone in his solidarity back to the Sapphire Phoenix grounds.

--Same Day--

Time: 8:30 A.M.

"Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho!"

The sound of soldiers hard at work rebuilding the base from the ground up at the Sapphire Phoenix encampment echoed throughout the air as men and women were hard at work moving wood, stone and various other fixtures in place. There was quite a lot of work do considering the damage that was received as a result of the Pandora Conflict; many lives were lost while others were still receiving treatment from various injuries. Tack on the responsibilities of re-establishing resource and supply routes, acquiring food and medicine, as well as training for those who were able bodied then one would have an entire schedule of what this military force had to do on a regular basis before any other operation could be carried out.

The four generals of this army had helped out from time to time but they all had their own individual responsibilities to carry out as well as make sure their respective divisions were put on their proper tasks. It was all just a massive cluster of work that had to be done while the Supreme Commander focused on observing a proper timetable of work so she could effectively plan this army's next move. For now, reorganization and reconstruction was the main priority on everyone's mind. Everything has been proceeding rather smoothly on this front but a sudden weather system last night created quite a few dilemmas as some materials were damaged. Nonetheless, the soldiers would make do with the situation and work.

Waking up from her relaxing sleep, the fiery redhead of the Sapphire Phoenix—Adena—stretched inside her personal quarters before getting ready for today. Sporting her blue jeans, black sleeve-gloves, and her white, vest-like blouse, she double-checked to make sure she was set. She almost panicked when she couldn't find the Staff of Sun Wukong but she remembered that the item was destroyed after using her Meltdown ability when she battled Rin. After pushing that feeling aside, she reached for a small satchel to carry on her person which contained the broken blades that Raizo had cherished. She didn't want to leave them alone since the Stormbringer had entrusted them to her for safekeeping. Satisfied with her preparations, the woman was ready to face the day ahead of her with a smile on her face.

Her agenda today was to spend time with Raizo so that the youth could have some sort of support. The former blood wolf was often distant with everyone, especially after the end of the Pandora Conflict so she was really the only one he could rely on. She didn't ask him why he just doesn't speak with his mother to bond with her since the youth tended to shut down when thinking of the woman. Adena couldn't help but wonder what went on through his mind but she didn't want to pry too much. However, she definitely wanted to know what was going on with him since he appeared lost in thought for the past few days. Though little did the redhead know, Raizo had gone through an unexpected trauma of his own design when he altered the timeline.

"Right, let's see how things go today," spoke the female with her enthusiastic demeanor of determination. As the woman exited her tent, she looked around and saw the areas of damage along with the many soldiers working desperately to clean up and repair the ordinance. Tilting her head slightly, the female was wondering if it had anything to do with the peculiar weather from last night but she didn't think it was that strong though the storm's severity didn't exactly register to her since she was such a heavy sleeper. Shrugging, she went along with her business and began making her way towards the tent that belonged to the Stormbringer.

A strong gust of wind blew over the area in that next moment. Some of the tents that were laid out in the area leaned greatly as a result of this sudden force. A couple of people chased after objects that went flying out of their hands while others just tried to cover their faces from the dust that was kicked up. After a few seconds, the air calmed down and everything went back to normal. Straightening out her long, dark vermilion locks, Adena smirked knowing where the source of the gusts had been coming from.

"Looks like you're really getting stronger there Zephy," she boasted proudly to herself. Far away in the distance by about 5 miles or so, Zephyria had been training with Genesis trying to get a reign on her newer range of abilities that focused almost solely on her mastery of air as opposed to using sand. The dark-skinned female wanted to cover as much ground as she possibly could so that she would not prove to be nearly as helpless should a threat like the Scarlet Cerberus ever resurface. As a result, Zephy was training nonstop everyday once she fully recovered to expand her moves as well as master her newly found powers involving Kamui. Zephy had the potential to use a semblance of a Kamui but she felt something unlock within her one day during training and wanted to discover just what that was.

Adena continued her walk through the grounds until she came upon the tent that Raizo was supposed to be staying in. Given that she couldn't exactly knock, she had little choice but to walk in uninvited. The blue hues scoured around the structure but the woman was there was no sign of the boy at all. Unsure of where he would go, the beauty went forth towards the tent of the headmistress to see if she knew. After a few brisk paces, she arrived at her destination then walked in.

"Pardon the intrusion Lady Hestia, but have you seen…"

Adena's words were cut off when she saw a massive metal door in the middle of the tent. It had to be at least as tall as if not taller than Genesis. The intimidating threshold was standing completely alone with nothing connecting to it save a small device in the crown of arch above it that held a small object appearing like a compass. Seeing this, the girl identified the object as the teigu: Shambhala.

"Oh, so the test for this is going on? I completely forgot about that."

*****

Beyond the door was a vast open space. A large void covered with stars decorated with planets, moons, and other celestial bodies filled the area beyond one's sight. It was like the entirety of the universe was behind the threshold but it expanded beyond that. Within this space were two individuals: Hestia and Orion. They floated in space observing the many objects around their scope taking in the beauty of it all. Being the creator of this space, Orion couldn't help but feel proud of what he created.

"It truly is a spectacle to behold, Orion," Hestia complimented observing a comet soaring through the darkness in the near distance.

"Thank you Lady Hestia. I'd tried to mimic as much of the known universe as I possibly could during my travels in space during my free time. But I was able to expand on it thanks to our encounter with Deus so now this little project of mine has become a multiverse. I wanted to make an environment where we could go all out and not destroy the realm thus harming reality," Orion explained, "This is my pride and joy: Hyperion."

"Well this is definitely quite the masterpiece. I'm glad we were able to make use of that teigu from the spoiled rich kid."

"Yeah Shambhala is like the poor man's creation of some of my most basic space manipulation powers so pretty much it's a good key. That means I don't have to worry about holding this realm in place via my own powers. In addition, as long as the damage isn't too severe, this reality will repair itself."

"I see, well you've truly outdone yourself this time Orion. Why don't we try it out with a bit of an exercise?"

"Lady Hestia, surely you aren't suggesting that we fight…right?"

"Of course I am, just a little sparring to test out this Hyperion of yours. Surely you don't mind no?"

"Well, I'd like to think of destruction as my specialty more than creation," Orion smirked with temptation.

"Good, I could use a bit of a workout so try to keep me entertained," Hestia smiled softly levitating away from the youth. She then snapped her fingers as seven crimson lances came from behind her rotating around her entire being slowly. Orion raised an eyebrow in wonder before speaking.

"When did you bring those in here?"

"Oh I used an ability to call them from my interdimensional storage. Rift is quite a handy ability of mine."

"Well then, I shouldn't be surprised about what the Queen can do," the male chuckled as he readied himself in a fighting stance.

"Oh? You're not bringing out any weapons?"

"No offense Lady Hestia but I'd prefer not to get in a close quarters fight with you."

The gravity-wielding beauty only yielded a gentle smile upon hearing that statement from the cautious opponent before she closed the gap between the two in the blink of an eye. The moment she did, Orion had a bead of sweat form at his brow; before he could say anything in protest; the woman had flicked him in his forehead sending the youth flying through space crashing into a nearby planet. The lad's body burst through the body of the spherical object as it quickly dispersed into fragments of debris floating endlessly into the night.

"Silly child, you really don't have a choice in the matter when I'm feeling bored," the long-haired woman muttered observing the destruction she caused with just a single move waiting to see what would happen next.

"Tch, damn that was something else," Orion spoke catching himself by manipulating the space around him to reduce the momentum at had sent him flying. The enigmatic individual floated in space as he dusted his suit off from the dust that covered him when he went through the planet. The shock to his body definitely got his mind aware of the threat he would have to face but he definitely didn't let his consciousness slip into panic. Instead, a sadistic looking grin filled his face as he felt himself getting excited as a result.

"You definitely know how to have fun Lady Hestia."

Orion quickly took off through space heading back to where Hestia was located. The woman sent him relatively far, about 600 million miles (or about 965 million kilometers) to be precise. Within a second, the dark-haired individual was levitating before the woman ready to fight this time. The gravity user was just suspended in the air twirling her weapons around to pass the time waiting for him to come back knowing that the attack wasn't nearly enough to finish him off or anything like that.

"Welcome back," she stated casually as her primrose gaze locked with the soulless, navy blue eyes of her opponent. She could see the excitement building up within the enthusiastic individual as well as the presence of his more sociopathic nature. Now it would get interesting for the woman. After all, Orion had a very destructive nature but he kept quite a leash on it unless it was triggered. Now this would become something she could her own fun with. Though she had her regal atmosphere of being a sophisticated leader of an elite group, there were times when she really needed to cut loose.

"Well don't just glare at me Orion, show me what you can really do," the woman taunted. The man could only chuckle in delight as his hands began to radiate with dark blue energy.

"As you wish my Queen," he uttered before propelling his hands forward with his opening move.

"Cluster Shot!"

A barrage of celestial orbs discharged from his hands rapidly assailing the location that Hestia elected to stand in. It was one of Orion's most basic techniques that was really only lethal to foes that had no real abnormal feats to really think about. As the energy found their mark, they began to detonate one after another as each explosion could render a city to be broken down into rubble within seconds. The destructive individual knew this wasn't enough to even remotely affect his opponent but the rapid explosions did cloud up the visibility in the immediate area which allowed him to close in from a different angle to attack.

Drawing twin serrated machetes of about 2 ½ feet in length, Orion rushed in from the rear seeking to land a decisive blow to at least cause Hestia to be on her toes; however, a loud ring of steel echoed within the vacuum of space. The dust cloud was swept away instantly as if a gust of wind carried it away but what remained was the white-haired female dressed in her dark purple blouse and lavender, long skirt. A singular crimson spear had blocked the blow that the crazed individual sought to land. The calm expression of the woman donning her relaxed smile remained.

"That is your opening move? So much for not wanting to engage in close quarters no?" Hestia jeered politely once more. It was then that she raised her right arm elegantly as the other lances came swinging around immediately rushing forward to assail their target. Orion doubled back as the weapons were flying in stabbing through the air and swiping from left to right threatening to tear the man's body to ribbons. Keeping on his toes, he dashed back batting away the onslaught of weaponry with his own trying to make sure that he maintained his balance.

Hestia kept her hands clasped together behind her back as she pursued her sparring partner. Her weapons danced in a deadly waltz of murderous intent without her having to use so much as a finger to direct how the onslaught would flow. She didn't have to guide them using her eyes or swaying movements in her neck; the woman was just that in tune with her teigu's abilities. Gravideus gave her the feel of truly being free for she was not bound by the laws of physics. In addition, the extract allowed her to have the means of being able to truly control just about anything she wanted to.

"Come now Orion, we are supposed to be testing the limits of this realm. Surely you don't intend to waste time by trying to fight me head on?" teased the ambitious ruler as she watched the man feign to the left and the right in order to avoid her lifelike armaments. Even though she had only seven spears, the way the weapons mercilessly went after her target made one feel like there was more present. This goes without saying that her skills with the weapons are greatly translated with her mastery of gravitational manipulation. One could argue that she is as dangerous if not more lethal with them in hand than as they are currently flying around. Orion backed off at last now seizing the moment to catch his breath. He could not believe that he had just come out of that onslaught virtually unscathed; then again, it's not like Hestia was actually trying to hit the man. After all, she seemed to be toying with him if anything.

"You're right, I almost forgot why we came in here in the first place," Orion said as he tossed his daggers aside before snapping his fingers to make them disappear. The sole purpose of this exercise was to test just how stress could be put on Hyperion. Trying to actually fight his boss was just an added bonus to test his skills but he had gotten a little carried away. From here, it would be all out destruction and that was always a fun time.

"Let's see how you fair against this! Dispersal Wave!"

Orion spread out his arms holding his hands flat as pale blue energy gathered around them like his limbs became swords. He swung his arms forward like he was slashing at the air as the energy gradually cascaded towards Hestia. The waves started small but soon grew to lengths that could envelop small islands. It was yet another one of the degenerate's lesser techniques but not one that could be underestimated. The energy itself could disintegrate matter and that evidence became prominent as fragments from the planet listing around was dissolved upon contact. The darkness of space began to chip away too as what seemed like tears in the dimension began to appear.

Taking note of this, Hestia tore open a portal and let her spears fly inside it one after the other storing them for possibly later use. As the attacks barreled towards her, the speed began to pick up as the dangerous attack broke the sound barrier. Raising an eyebrow, Hestia extended one finger out and made a motion like she was cutting something in half. In that very next instant, the waves of energy split causing the sources of power to destabilize and disappear just like that. What the woman did was use her gravity powers to influence the molecular bonds between the disintegrating particles and alter the physics of the chain reactions that composed the structure of the attacks. By severing those bonds, the attack was essentially rendered useless.

"Please tell me you aren't using what I would consider Bushido tier techniques for the duration of this entire test," scoffed the bored woman. Her soft composure now slowly faded into one of annoyance as she found herself getting more and more into this mock fight scenario. Little did she know her mind was actually trying to take this skirmish slightly serious to distract her from dealings in reality. Ever since the end of the Pandora Conflict, the self-proclaimed queen found that she was tirelessly working to piece together her plan to rule this nation.

She had to reorganize and rebuild her army to make up for all those that was lost. Thankfully the soldiers had been set to the task of resupplying and rebuilding the base but there were still other variables she felt were not accounted for. The movements of the Imperial Army as well as the Revolutionary Army have been greatly restrained due to the ceasefire and semblance of peace that everyone possessed but now that threats on a scale that was equated to gods have been revealed, she had to plan ways to deal with such events in the future. There were many responsibilities she had as a leader to deal with along with ideas on how to cope with her ambitions but lately she as distracted by matters of the heart. The rise of Team AKARA gave her the feeling that she would lose her son again along with Adena—one of her most trusted subordinates; then seeing Mercer's face…the father of her one and only child…she couldn't help but feel joy at that time but now…

Snapping back to reality, Hestia's face still held one of disappointment as she sought entertainment to sooth her troubled mind. Orion was one of those that she knew had a wild side and often had times where she would have to rein him in but for some reason, he was particularly tame. In fact, she noticed that his outlandish behavior calmed down almost instantly upon Raizo's arrival. No, that was too strong to say…his wild streak became sporadic only popping up to show off but after the encounter with Deus, Orion just stopped being himself altogether. He mirrored Genesis in some ways by becoming a brooding type though more often than not he was developing this dimensional space they were currently in. Sure the man wanted to show off since he had one of his creations on display right? But it wasn't happening.

"So be it," she sighed as she raised both arms up in the air. It was then that she redirected her hands towards her target before uttering these words: "Meteor Rain."

A delay of at least 5 seconds had passed before a massive wave of objects came rushing from behind the gravity goddess. Various rock formations that ranged in sizes from small islands on earth to objects as large as Earth's moon blazed towards the target before her. The velocity combined with the mass of the projectiles could easily destroy a planet but this was just something that the woman did to goad the young man into doing something that would spark her interest. As Orion saw the flurry of objects surpass the hundreds set to barrage him, he quickly came up with a proper counter.

"Calamity Rain!" he shouted with a snap of his fingers. Orange pillars of celestial energy channeled instantly by the surrounding stars burst forth firing down upon the barrage of objects that sought him as the primary target. Each beam of light effortlessly destroyed the meteors one after the other boasting the same amount of energy needed to wipe out the largest of planets within the nearest solar system. So far the pair had traded planet busting attacks as if testing the other but more power would be needed to affect this realm in any sort of significant manner. As the meteors were effectively wiped out, Orion prepared his next attack.

"All right, it's time to step it up," he said clapping his hands together and rubbing them with anticipation. He dashed back again putting about a 10 mile difference between himself and Hestia. He turned his torso drawing his arm back as if preparing to thrown something at the woman ahead of him in the distance. A dense amount of cosmic energy gathered in his right palm pulling apart the space that surrounded him. Stars that had been light years away from their battlefield were drained of their luminous luster at the call of Orion's drain. The purity of the cosmos had then been altered to create a dense form of antimatter. The last time he used this attack was against Raizo when the boy went berserk but that was only with enough power to destroy the Earth in its orb state. This time, he had gathered enough power to wipe out the galaxy.

"Stardust Cannon!"

A violent mass of energy surged forth from the man's palm as he lunged it outwards. Within an instant the beam of death traversed the distance between the origin point and its intended definition ripping apart the space it covered leaving nothing behind. Even though this was not meant to be a serious skirmish, Orion accidently let his emotions slip a bit because he hated being looked down upon. It was the one thing that he resented the most since childhood. After all, it was a result of emotional abuse from his parents but such memories were events he did not wish to recall…yet that feeling had been reciprocated. Was it by accident or on purpose? The man didn't know nor did he care at this point.

The billowing mass of energy continued its rambunctious charge not giving the time for Hestia to dodge at all but the woman did not waiver a single bit. In fact, she welcomed the attack with a smile on her face. As the attack successfully converted with her person, one of her passive abilities had displayed itself in full effect. Around the body of the woman virtually all the time was a gravitational field that protected her vessel from bodily harm. It was an invisible layer of security that shielded her practically effortless prevented many attacks from touching her unless they bypassed durability or broke through based upon higher dimensional scale. As it stood, she could survive the detonation of this entire realm right now and come out basically unscathed. Orion's attack did not even register as warmth upon her body; therefore, the beam attack bisected around her passing her completely not even managing to singe a single strand of hair on her body.

"Sad," she stated as the beam finished its assault and continued surging forth before ripping apart the galaxy they were in. Now they had been drifting about in an empty cluster where their battlefield remained but various other galaxies surrounded them. The amount of celestial objects that flew between was virtually innumerable as billions of stars and comets littered the blankets of space.

"I think it's time I ended this," Hestia sighed. The woman took off in that very next instant leaving Orion behind. She flew past the boundaries contained within that universe and out to a higher layer of space that served as the interdimensional gap between universes. From her location, she easily pinpointed where Orion was given the small little pinhole in the space below where the man destroyed one of the countless galaxies contained within that sector.

"Pitfall of the Void…"

In that very next moment, the area where she had departed from suddenly had a large pull in the spot she stood in before. The white-haired leader cast an ability that utilized gravitational up-force to pull everything it possibly could into one place essentially creating a black hole. The size of the area quickly grew as the countless amounts of celestial bodies were torn from their fixed orbits and drawn to the location in question. From meteorites and asteroids to planets and stars, anything contained within the spatial cluster had collided with one another being forced to that particular location. From where she levitated at, the dangerous possessor of Gravideus watched as the universe collapsed upon itself.

Orion had little time to counter, if any at all. Hestia threw him quite the curve ball that he would have to possess significant skill to overcome. As the gravitational force grew, instantly the man felt himself being sucked in. It was a powerful just about irresistible force to contend with but he knew that there was a way to overcome this. First thing's first, the man encased himself in a barrier of antimatter that would rip through the material structures of any and all celestial bodies flying at him. Basically, he manipulated molecules around him to dissolve any atoms that dared approach his person. Secondly, Orion had to eliminate the force that was pulling him to a very painful experience. There was one of two ways to do this: a simple counter or a greater force. Given that he still remembered that the purpose of this exercise was to test the strength of Hyperion, he elected the latter.

"Void Annihilation!!!"

By taking the time to generate matter in one hand and antimatter taken from his barrier within the other, the youth made use of a two second window of time to unleash a devastating attack. He hurled both energy sources at the source of the pull as the combination of opposites generated a massively unstable chain reaction; this generated enough kinetic energy to completely destroy the contents of the universe alongside the space-time continuum that governed it. A large implosion occurred as a result but the force of it radiated outward and rippled through the various rifts that composed the structure composing Hyperion.

"How spectacular," spoke Hestia in awe observing the beauty of the destruction laid out before her unmoved by the strong G-forces that rippled around the area threatening to blow her into the distant cosmos. As the reaction soon faded, Orion floated in front of her taking a moment to catch his breath staring at the woman.

"Most impressive, Orion, that was quite the display of power. I would love to continue but I'm afraid if either of us went any further then reality would be affected. We wouldn't want to destroy Hyperion before its inception with my son's upcoming battle now would we?" explained the woman tilting her head smiling with an expression that could be misconstrued as judging.

"You have a point Lady Hestia. I almost lost myself there in our fight so I do apologize. I think destroying one or two universes is enough for our casual battle. There's a whole entire multiverse in here that Hyperion has to offer but we have no need to get carried away."

"I'm glad that we agree. Let's head back then."

The pair heads back through a gate that readily appeared the moment the action died down traveling back into reality. Like opening the door to go into a new room, they were back finding a redheaded girl standing there waiting for them both. Sensing that there was something serious to be discussed, Orion quickly elected to exit the room saying that he had a few more variables to account for with Hyperion before it is used. Letting the man be dismissed, Hestia and Adena were left alone to talk.

"Welcome back Lady Hestia," spoke the girl in a calm and respectful tone.

"Thank you Adena. It feels like it's been hours but it seems like only twenty minutes have passed since Orion and I went inside Hyperion," she stated calmly before walking over towards the opening in the tent to peer outside.

"How was it?"

"It will definitely come in handy for training sessions and one on one matches but it needs more work I suppose. Orion has done a masterful job crafting it but more than likely he wants to research a way for us to use it in case enemies like those from the Pandora War show up once again. After all, if we possess abilities that can destroy our universe then it would be wise to find a way for us to fight without having to threaten the place we live."

"Yeah, it would be nice to go all out without having to worry about the safety of the people. Thinking about how many lives were lost because of all the fighting…it's heartbreaking."

Hestia did not comment on this as she did not really think about it. The woman only saw the consequences of that war as something that set back her plans from advancing. Losing soldiers did weigh on her but she didn't bother looking at the fuller spectrum of the reality that came from this fight. How many innocent people died because they were not nearly prepared to survive threats like that? How much did the world change as a result? These were two things that didn't fully register in her mind despite all her wisdom and it was something that she would have to face eventually.

"So what's wrong?" the leader inquired looking to change the subject before being plagued with additional thoughts. Adena merely raised an eyebrow at the sudden topic change but paid it no heed as of now.

"I was going to ask you if you knew where Raizo went but I'm guessing since you were with Hyperion, you wouldn't know…" Adena responded in a somber tone.

"Apologies, but I have not seen my son all day. He's been rather distant lately and I haven't had an opportunity to approach him about it either."

"Oh…I see."

The normally enthusiastic ginger had felt a sadness weigh on her. There was a strong pull in her heart telling her that something was wrong with the boy in question but she had no idea what it was. She wished to talk to him about it because this feeling was just all wrong. Just as she was about to exit, Adena had something unexpected to say to her 'boss'.

"With all due respect, you're losing him. You don't want to admit it but I can feel it. Sooner or later you will have to choose between your own ambitions or a future with your son. You won't be able to have both. I've followed you for years and never questioned you once but things are different now. My eyes have been opened to the endless possibilities that go beyond our world and I'm starting to see things in a different light. Your relationship with Mercer helped you see this spectrum far longer than me but here you still choose this solitary path. It's not too late to change…"

Adena left immediately after saying all of that leaving Hestia alone. The woman looked down at the ground for a minute before walking outside into the warm sun. Taking a deep breath, she then proceeded to stroll out into the open field just a ways away from the tent. As the breeze sailed silently over her, the mind of the military strategist began to swim with thoughts of doubt over her path.

What if Adena is right? Perhaps this isn't something I can truly pursue anymore. I let go of the man I loved and suffered for so long because of it…now I'm losing the only piece of him that I have left. Can I truly live with that? Does ruling over this land truly mean this much to me? I already have people that follow me…but I've already come this far. How can I stop now with all that I've sacrificed? No…there is no way for me to stop now…is there?

*****

In a village that was just south of the location where the Sapphire Phoenix base resided, a lone man was preparing his horse to ride off into their territory to confront his destiny. Armed with a cloaked spear on his back, the man with long, silver hair and green eyes stared up in the sky as his mind prepared for the looming battle ahead. With his satchel full of supplies such as food, water, and medicine, this man referred to as "The Silver Fox" fixed his gaze on a particular box that was jutting out inside.

It was before he left the Capital that Aquilo was met by the now one-armed Supreme Commander Esdeath at the gate. She carried this box on her person in her metal arm that reminded him of a woman that led Night Raid once before. The two individuals who once shared the relationship of master and apprentice overcame quite a bit together. After all, he owed everything that he was to this woman upon his induction into the Imperial Army. Being trained by her was no easy task but it ultimately led to his station as a General as a result.

"This could be our last meeting so I want you to take this. If you use it, I'm sure all of your training will truly shine. Come back with the head of your opponent on your spear or don't come back and be remembered as a weakling like the rest who died before you," Esdeath instructed in a cruel tone but one that was meant to ignite his determination.

"I appreciate it sen…er…Commander," Aquilo responded taking the box at the time, "What is it?"

"It's a teigu that's perfect for you. If you're able, be sure to take out a few of those Sapphire Phoenix bastards while you're at it," the Ice Queen stated plainly.

"As you command."

With a single wave, the lone man departed from the city. That memory occupied Aquilo's thoughts when he saw that box but he couldn't let himself be bound by memories. He had a day's ride left until he would be able to confront the man he hated beyond recognition. As he rode off into the distance, all he could think about was severing the life of his former comrade and fellow blood wolf—Raizo Arashi—once and for all.