《Reaper of That Which Was Sown》 INTRODUCTION In the beginning there were the Five. Beings of immense power. They sought out to do something, to follow their purpose, their order. Create life. They began in an interdimensional space they together created using massive amounts of both positive energy and negative energy. Two of the Five were in charge of theses two forces to keep the space intact. Archurion, wielder of the positive, and Hebrechrion wielder of the negative. The remaining three set out to start applying logic to their space. Dervion the creator of destiny and the path life will follow. Tiernion the creator and keeper of ever passing time. Farchrion the decider of fate and the end of life. These Five were brothers, they created this space because that''s what they were meant to do, they know very little of their origins, and only have one thing they need do. Stick to their purpose, and not go astray. They together created the stars, the universe, and the species scattered across it. They made an even number of everything and came up with a simple algorithm, a simple equation to keep balance in their space which was needed to maintain it due to the sheer size of their space. It is thus, the universe holds 100 billion Hypersystems. Each of those Hypersystems holds 50 billion Supersystems. Each Supersystem holds 1 billion systems. Each system holds an exact amount of mass which is recorded in their tongue and has no direct translation but most matches celestial mass. The mass amount is exactly 100 billion celestial mass units. Each of these systems is given a limit using Tiernion, a path set by Dervion and an end saw to by Farchrion. Farchrion, Dervion and Tiernion are always in the same place, at the same moment, focusing on the same task. Their task of balancing the universe, by wiping the slate of a system at its given time is always done in twos, this job is becoming an increasing difficulty however due to the feud that began millenia ago between two of their brothers with the exact opposite views. Hebrechrion wanted nothing but more negative to be spread so he created all things deemed evil. To combat this Archurion had to create all things deemed good, to keep the balance. Both of them however failed to see the effect this posed on their three brothers, whose jobs were getting needlessly and extremely hard. The three got to the point to where they would need to add one to their ranks just to keep up,. They chose to create a sixth brother. They willed into existence the most powerful of them all, Veruchion. With Veruchion¡¯s purpose that being in helping keep the balance he gained immense power, and with that power, greed. His greed led to his doom and he would then, in his dying moments create a path to his redemption, a randomly chose being, one being, out of the entire universe. This being would be the sole way that Veruchion would regain his position. They chose a point and time for his arrival to them, and also his path that would prepare him. Little did this single being in such a wide universe know he would soon become the most powerful being in all of the systems, and his arrival on planets and in systems would mean only two things, the end, and the beginning. He was destined to be, time would deliver him at the proper moment, and his fate will be absolute.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. CHAPTER I: Fate Begins With Small Steps Supersystem: Lunariexion-12823 System: Lunari Galaxy: Milky Way//::{ Local designation }::\\ Solar System: 5b-1283044//33ssd Planet: Earth, Earth Year: 2017 A.D. Space lingers on his mind, always had. The thought of being the only intelligent species in the universe just could not sit right with him. The thought of his species as considered as an intelligent one made him cringe as well, some of the people he had to deal with threw off that designated name. He sat in his homeroom in school not really paying attention to anything or anyone, staring off, dreaming of seeing the universe. Exploring the final frontier, discovering all new things. Meeting new species other than humans. He snapped back into reality when a loud noise came from the room he was in. One of the other students had flipped their desk onto its back. One more reason he thought that disproved humans as an intelligent species. He continued on his day, every now and then going back to the ultimate question, the ever present one in which is ingrained in our very beings. Why. He thought about this a little too much at times, often failing to do something he was trying to do or just plain living in his dreams. He was different than everyone else around him, no doubt smarter, although he didn''t show that as to fit in a bit better. He was able to see and understand more than the rest, his mind was more willing to let in the information that others so desperately cling to. He found more logical approaches to things, whereas others may find the simpler way. He would often be approached by others seeking help but when he explained it his way, no one could understand. No one would ever understand him, or the things he did. No one not even himself would or even could understand what he was fated to become. His start down that path was nearing its first fork in the road, little did he know. He would have to make a choice, he would know the right one when the time came as well. He also craved to be noticed above all else as capable of things greater than what he showed. He had done some incredulous things in the past but no one would seem to notice him, except for one. One in which whose sole purpose of existing is to find exactly that which he had, the one who would alleviate some stress and help the cause of the greater masses. This one being is not human, nor is it a physical being. This thing is a collection of energy that is so powerful, it can mimic all things around it, no matter the size or energy output, minus a few beings in and amongst the scattered universe. This being held a name, a name not able to be translated into such a simple tongue as any on Earth, so he gained a new name to adhere to the simplistic roots of Earth languages. He was named, the Seer, his job was to scour the Supersystems, and Systems, and Galaxies, to find one species that held the key to the salvation of his masters. He had been searching for centuries and he was nearly done with his stint in this solar system when he found what he was looking for. He felt the potential of his mind and he knew as soon as he felt it he was certain. He continued watching this human go through his daily tasks for nearly a month, he could not be too quick to assume he found what his master''s¡¯ needed. The Seer noticed that this particular planet restricted the ability for the humans that lived their to realize many things. The electromagnetic field around Earth was drastically different and irregular which caused some problems with the electrical impulses in the brain limiting the capacity of the humans brains, even the one with whom the Seer had his eyes one. However it was to a lesser extent than the rest but in order to find his true power the Seer would have to collect him and take him to his master¡¯s in order to see if this was indeed the one they were looking for. With his time spent on this planet he found ways to make this person disappear, as to where no one would think he were still alive or he just vanished. He noticed as well the same disease that plagued many of the other human races scattered across the many systems. The humans call it seemingly the same thing with little or no knowledge that they are not the only ones of their species in the universe. They all call it cancer. Most of the other races of humans have long since been able to cure this ailment but this particular race had a hard time in doing so. The Seer snickered at them, seeing them so close to the answer but unable to notice due to the unique problem of the planet blocking their ability to see it. So the Seer started shifting through the possibilities but ultimately landed on the final conclusion, he would have to create a lookalike and kill it using a simulated cancer that would be cured as soon as the person would ¡®die¡¯ but they would instead be swapped with the lookalike and he would take the person back to his master. The Seer planted the cancer, which was an actual cancer, into a part of his brain near the rear lower half. He also, when sneaking around within his mind found a presence that cemented his thoughts of that person being the one whom he was tasked to look for. This presence was one of intense strength held back by the bonds that were placed on all systems by the masters and could only be lifted by the masters. This person also seemed somewhat aware that the Seer was there trying to find out what the feeling was. The Seer had to act quickly and get out before the person revealed his existence, it would cause major upsetment from his masters and unrest for this race which was not yet ready to understand the knowledge they have been blinded from. As he left he sent a jolt through the brain which caused the person to collapse into a short coma, which was planned to last 2 days. The Seer had placed a certain sized tumor in that would, based on his findings give him a week exactly before he could be collected. The Seer left and resumed his plan but not without first contacting his masters. The Seer flew through space near across the Universe to where his masters resided in a flash. He consulted with his masters and told them of his find and also the location. They warned him that in order to be sure he must bring him to them, and the Seer told them of his plan. Although they seemed very uneasy as to the find of the one they needed they believed him. They needed to find the one fast, or they would be overwhelmed. They ordered the Seer to return to the planet and make sure he gets back to them. The Seer nodded and let his masters in on another thing he found as he was leaving the person¡¯s mind. He told them that a great anger was present, although held back by sheer willpower and determination. The Seer also told them of the power that could be felt, even through the blocking forces that the planet exuded. He flashed back to Earth while his masters though on the massive anger that lied in wait, could they risk it, or would they have no choice but to do it no matter what. He awoke, at first he could not speak, think, or even remember. As the seconds went by he regained his bearings and figured out where he was. He was lying in a bed, a hospital bed. The room was very bright and he had to squint so as to not make his eyes hurt. He looked around and noticed the date, two days later. His head hurt and he could not remember why. He felt around with his hands to try to find anything he could grab onto to try to see if he could still do certain things. He found the remote that called a nurse in and he pushed it, and about 30 seconds later a nurse came into the room in which he was in. She asked him a series of questions to see if he was feeling alright. He nodded to them as speaking was a little difficult for him. Also if he wanted anything or had to go to the bathroom. He only said ¡°Water.¡± and ¡°What happened?¡±. The nurse got him the water and went to get the doctor as she said he could better explain it. Several minutes went by and the doctor came into the room and shut the door behind him. The doctor started off by saying, ¡°You¡¯re awake that''s good, You were out for about two days now. Well Jack, you must be wondering what happened. Do you know where you are?¡± Jack spoke which seemingly became harder for him, he could say water just fine earlier but it¡¯s more along the line of length that was difficult. He said, ¡°The Hospital.¡± ¡°Yes. Are you having trouble talking?¡± the doctor said. Jack nodded as to spare his voice for the important stuff. The doctor said, ¡°I¡¯m going to start off by saying you collapsed from an irregular surge in your brain. When you were brought in it was merely like you were asleep but as we ran tests you seemed perfectly fine. This led us to eventually taking CAT scans and which led us to the discovery of something. What we found was not the cause of the surge which still eludes us but rather something worse. Your parents are arriving here in a little while so I will come back and tell all of you at the same time, to do it all at once. I¡¯ll see you in a bit and if you need anything just call the nurse in and she will help you.¡± The doctor left the room and Jack feeling very uneasy. He thought what could it be, what is worse than irregular signals in the brain, a disease, what is it? He sat thinking like this for about another hour. He then thought on what he felt before he collapsed, the feeling in his mind, like something didn¡¯t belong, something that wasn¡¯t there before is now present. He searched for this same feeling now and it was not present, he felt that when the doctor came back he should explain it to him. Over the hour his speech came back, not to normal but near, and he became ever more nervous about what the news was. He had friends, what if he was going to die, he would never see them again, then he hit another thought. He thought of something he never could let come true. This made him buckle down and get serious, telling himself he would continue on regardless of what he was told, he would not let a little inconvenience stop him from going on. After about another 4 hours and 8 sandwiches later his parents arrived down in the lobby of the hospital. The doctor arrived in his room with his parents in tow, they looked concerned and hopeful that this wasn¡¯t something bad. This was the first time in a long time that both his parents were in the same room, and it made him feel like the old days, when he felt happy. Then he snapped back from his flashback at the doctor saying, ¡°There is no easy way to say this. I never feel good telling families of these things either. While doing our CAT scans we found a brain tumor. This is the first time we have ever found a tumor that we could not at least treat with anything we have in the medicinal field. Based upon the size and location which is near the stem of the brain. We estimate that he has near a week to live. I¡¯ll leave you be for the meantime, if you have any questions I¡¯ll answer them as best I can.¡± The doctor left the room and the only thing that rang in Jack¡¯s head was a week, they gave him a week. He searched his mind and rethought everything the doctor said, and gaining more determination to show them wrong. He did feel a sort of odd feeling when the doctor said it was cancer near the brainstem, and would in most cases end in death. Jack however was different, he was more capable of fighting off diseases than most others. Both of his parents were talking avidly, like they even cared Jack thought. He spent most of his life doing things himself, his early life was great then something changed. Something he could not understand, something out of his range of things he could see logically and understand. He no longer cared what that event was, or why, or how but only that it happened and he would go along with his life. He often lived in his thoughts, keeping to himself nearly all the time. The only times he did things that were constructive was when his thoughts led him to make something out of pencils and tape or even legos. He drew lots of things and didn¡¯t think he was the best at it, nor the worst because he had seen some that were definitely worse than he was. He didn¡¯t care about many things, and the ones he did he protected with a fierce fire that ached to be released. He felt that same fire every day, every waking hour, when he slept was when he battled it in his mind. He could feel the power the Fire held but he himself had the same power. Time after time in his dreams he fought back the Fire and awoke, restless. Not of lack of sleep, but of his unending internal struggle to keep the Fire quelled. He looked at his parents who were arguing now, he wasn¡¯t listening. He only had one thought on his head, the same he was thinking about when the doctor first talked to him. The thought that would keep him living on, through this minor deterrent in his life. He thought of a single person. He thought of a girl. He knew that in order to keep his promise he must go on and he must live through this and he was determined to. The day drew on and he felt the same as his eyelids dragged down wanted to enter sleep. That was when he realized what the feeling in his head was, it was another person, or being. A sentient though not his, and he came up with a plan to trap it. He slept on it, and once again fighting off the Fire, keeping it quelled for another day at least. The Seer arrived in a flash outside the hospital at which Jack resided. He knew he must keep an eye on him and make all of the necessary arrangements to proceed with his plan. He started off by going into an expansive wooded area in which he would set up a small base. He held his right hand out and focused some of his power and raised a small tree. He grew the tree over what felt like seconds to him but ages for the tree into an immensely large oak tree with an opening large enough for him to enter but random looking enough to deter unwanted onlookers. He entered the hole which was actually a passageway to the Seer''s own little space. He had placed in this space all he would need to create the clone of Jack, as the Seer finally learned his name. He began by gaining three simple ingredients, DNA of the father, the mother, and Jack. he followed Jack¡¯s parents around long enough to gain some of their DNA and went to Jack as he was sleeping in his hospital bed. As the Seer stood over him, he thought of the power he would soon hold, the potential he held was immense. The Seer decided to look into his mind once more, just a peek at what this particular human dreams about. He went in and he was standing in an open field, breeze cooly flowing over and around him. Birds busy singing in the trees, and chirping loudly, without a care in the world. The field was very large, and at one end there was a person standing. At the other end however there was something the Seer never saw before, only felt. The Seer hid within the treeline only to watch what was going to happen. He recognized the person as Jack, and he assumed the other figure was the intense anger he felt when he had first delved into the human¡¯s mind. The birds altogether stopped chirping and singing. The breeze stopped and the cool air became hot, far hotter than the Seer could have thought possible in a dream of a human. Then it began like a flash the two slashed, sending a shockwave through the open area. Fires raging all around, and the sheer energy exerted by the two was far stronger than the Seer first guessed, he relayed this info to his master¡¯s when something unexpected happened. Jack flew back and slammed into the ground, and the figure, a fiery visage of a human and something else the Seer had heard of, something far darker and deadly. The Seer¡¯s masters watched through his eyes and they remained quiet as Jack stood back up and brushed the dirt and dust off of him. Jack yelled at the fiery apparition, ¡°Hey, next time don¡¯t hit me with your purse.¡± This remark sent the fiery being into an intense fury, the air grew hotter even and the two charged at each other. The masters told the Seer to leave immediately for they knew the fate of this dream and the Seer was nowhere near strong enough to withstand the torrent of flame about to be released. The Seer waited until the moment they hit. With the collision an unbearable crash rang out, and the Seer saw a wall of flame rushing towards him, and he flashed out once again standing beside the bed Jack laid in, his heart rate rose intensely and then leveled back out and he started to wake up. The Seer panicked and flashed out of the room as quietly and as fast as he could. Once out the Seer went to the tree he had raised and entered it checking on the progress as it was a full day later, progress was on schedule. Jack¡¯s day started off differently than the rest had, his last fight had not gone as the others had. This fight he nearly lost, and there was another presence there, the same one he felt before he collapsed. He could not tell what it was but he was sure it was not human as to the oddity of the way its energy feeled. He could feel it better in his dream than when he could in his head previously. He was ready now for his plan to attempt to trap this other thing and find out what it is and why it¡¯s in his head. He set out to try to lure this thing back into his head where he was king, where he had control, because it obviously knew that if it stayed any longer in that fight it would have been obliterated by the wall of fire. It is mortal and that means he can use that against it. He took a start on his next day by being released from the hospital, he walked home which took several hours but he needed time to think and prepare his trap. He had refused all treatments for the cancer and insisted that he would use his own strength and willpower to fight it. He would not die, he could not let it happen, he had a promise to look after. He reached his house, it was empty, he wasn¡¯t surprised these days that there was no one around. There used to be but things happen that he chose not to understand for his own reasons. He walked up to his front door, he slowly felt the solid wooden frame and the door itself, he opened it slowly and the hinges creaked and groaned. With the door wide open he stepped in, looking at the house he lived in for the past decade and thought to himself for a while. He closed the door after about 3 minutes of this thinking and went to his room. He opened the door he called his, and stepped inside the room. He looked around at his various creations, pencil crossbows, and lego guns. He scanned over his sword, his knives, and his hatchets. He looked at all these things and thought of what would happen should he not be strong enough, should he not overcome this obstacle. This led him to doubt his ability in keeping his promise and that reignited the Fire in him. He delved into his mind, seeking the Fire. He could not bring the Fire out of hiding with normal prompting so he thought of a better way, he would fight him again, now. He called out in his mind a challenge. The ego of the Fire grew and became a noticeable presence that Jack could feel. Even though he was used to feeling this presence he still got taken away at just how powerful it felt. He called out his challenge in exchange for the help of the Fire in trapping the one who was invading them. The Fire being an insanely smart counterpart to also being ruthless and merciless agreed, feeling with the new presence it was a threat on the continuation of the Fires plans. As the fight started Jack was on the lesser ground, not being able to focus all of his energy on fighting as he was still awake. This led the Fire to intensify its attacks. Blow after blow Jack took he hung on, every punch he threw was blocked and every kick missed. He was knocked down and when the Fire was about to deliver the final blow, something happened. All the fatigue Jack had felt went away, lifted by something. His mind opened up, and he stood to face the Fire. His mind being fully capable now of fighting and keeping him awake put a pep in his step and power behind his punches that he never felt before. He was using his power that was slowly being freed by the Seer which Jack did not know of at this point in time. Jack instantly charged the Fire, who was caught off guard by this sudden change. Within seconds the Fire was subdued by the clearly refreshed Jack. Jack was surprised by this sudden power shift. He said to the Fire, ¡°Looks like another win for me, you better keep your part of the deal.¡± the Fire smirked and said, ¡°You can¡¯t live without me, however I can live without you. I will do this, only because it was a deal, after that, hell shall take you.¡± Jack smirked and said, ¡°Hell wishes it could hold me.¡± with that remark he walked away from the Fire and off into the distance leaving the Fire to recover. He recovered nearly instantly and started to go over his strategy one final time. He knew that he could beat Jack by making him think he was better than him at all times which he most definitely was not. The Fire knew he could not show Jack his full power he would need him to get rid of that presence which was no doubt behind his sudden shift in power. The Fire recognized this presence from the partial energy radius as he flashed into the mind of Jack. From many many years ago before he was cursed into a human form by none other than the presence himself. He was surprised that the presence, the Seer as he was referred to in human tongues, did not recognize him. The Fire knew when the time came to trap the Seer he would kill him as to allow himself to be free before Jack learned of this and gained the ability over him. The Fire could hide his power from the Seer but not for long, he would need to act fast if he is to be ready to spring his own little trap. The Fire was ready to regain his past strength free from the bonds of this prison, although he does not hate being trapping within this human, this one is different than all the others, and he will amount to great things.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The Seer returned to his tree at the fourth day of seven to check on his clone progress. The process was hours from complete but the Seer was more worried than anything. He knew the evil Fire that raged inside of Jack, as it is not Jack¡¯s rage but a rage far older and more dangerous now than it had been. The Seer remembered him as a brother in the beginning and as a traitor in the end. They are opposites and in order to punish the traitor he cursed him to eternal damnation in his worst nightmare, the mind of humans. The Fire hated humans more than any other race and thousands of systems of humans fell by his hand, which upset the masters and led them to forcing the Seer to curse him in that way, they however wanted the Fire to be killed by the Seer, he could not. So he banished him in a way far worse than death and also to keep the balance. The Masters believe the Fire is dead however, which they learned the hard way he was not. The Seer has managed to keep the truth hidden for a long time. Jack went to sleep that night thinking about many other things than he normally would. Mainly the hypothetical thoughts of where his friends would be when he died, what they were doing, would anyone even care. He knew some cared, he knew others would only care after he is gone and will be of no help. He thought of school, how useless it would be to go in the morning but he thought he would anyway, to show he was not being deterred. He slept and to his surprise the Fire did not show up to fight. The Fire said, ¡°I realize you haven¡¯t slept in a while, so go for it.¡± Jack hesitated at first but then tried to remember the last time he actually slept, years. He left the plane of that dream and drifted down the slow path falling into his imagination. The Fire was good to go, he summoned the Seer in Jack¡¯s mind. The Seer was ready to give into whatever the Fire had in store for him. As soon as the Seer appeared he clapped his hands which sent a shockwave through Jack¡¯s imagination which he felt as he dreamed. Jack pulled himself from the deepest reaches of sleep and into the plane, seeing the Fire, and a new face. Jack stood in the same field he fought the Fire in days before. He listened to them talking, the Fire knew who this ¡®Seer¡¯ was. Jack never heard of anything or anyone called the Seer before. He learned the shockwave was meant to incapacitate him so they did not know he was there. He learned that the Fire was an ancient entity that was not caused by him, which made him wonder where all of his anger went. He learned of a prophecy and that he might be the one who fulfills it. The Fire told the Seer that Jack may indeed be the one they seek but due to the Seer¡¯s lie it won¡¯t matter. The Master¡¯s will learn of this false truth. He also learned that the two were brothers and the Seer seemed to be around the same age as his, unbeknownst to Jack they were the exact same age. This exchange was immensely important for some reason Jack could not understand why. Something in his core made him want to do something. Something he thought he could never do, ignore. He could never let the Fire be as it would eventually grow to big for him to control unless he could strike a bargain with him. If the Fire was indeed trapped within him then wouldn¡¯t he hold the keys to his return. Perhaps the Seer would as he was the one who trapped him within humanities mind. As the secret meeting went on Jack felt another strange feeling coming on, one that told him to wake up, and a sound came along with it, the Seer and the Fire immediately left at the start of these events. Jack went to his normal start position as fast as he could hoping to make it in time. He arrived and got into position as soon as the Fire blazed up from the ground. Jack made sure he was secure and left the dream plane back into the real world. He got ready for what was potentially his last day of school and the last time he would see many of those people. He got up got dressed and got ready to head to school. He got on the bus he rode at the usual time, and as the bus traveled the same route to his high school he saw everything in the world with a renowned beauty that only one thing can bring to you, the fear of death. The bus arrived at the front doors to his high school at the same time it always did. He got off and walked down the sidewalk towards the entrance doors of his school. He went through them knowing he would never feel them again. He looked at every personas he walked the hallways. He looked at the groups of friends talking and laugh, having a blast. He became slightly saddened at the fact that he would no longer feel that, he could no longer feel that. He arrived at his first class and sat in the seat he was given at the beginning of the year. His teacher was somewhat confused as to why he was there and asked him, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you want to spend a few more days at home than here after being in the hospital and whatnot for a couple days?¡± Jack simply nodded no and said, ¡°Regardless of what I was told then, I will choose my own path to my end, I choose to feel the effects of school again, and my friends one last time before it all goes on. I¡¯m not sure if you know but im not going to be around much longer and I would kind of like to hold onto what I¡¯ve taken for granted all these years you know. Nothing makes you cherish and love more than the ever approaching black curtain of death¡¯s embrace. He went his last school day remembering, looking through his past papers, old homework and grades. His friends tried to understand but they would never be able to. They won¡¯t have to understand for a very long time just what death can do to someone when they are not ready for it. Then again is anyone ready for the end, the thought that everything they¡¯ve ever known or heard may be false, there may be nothing, or there may be everything. Jack simply went to school this last time for his sanity, to keep it on top, and to keep his composure. Showing others he wouldn¡¯t let cancer keep him down, but it did. He knew there was no chance of living which reminded him of what the Seer and the Fire were talking about. If he was chosen for a prophecy then why is he going to die, unless that''s how he would be able to go through with that fate. He did not think too much on it for he had other pressing matters to attend to, like who he would leave his stuff to. He made a will with relative ease, giving everything to every person whom he thought would take care of it as he had. He had all things handled after he died and he had nearly all things before he died taken care of. He had a few people to tell off and a few people to tell them how he felt. He also needed to try a few things before he went out, a few risque things that may or may not involve fire and abandoned buildings. He would often joke to others about doing things like that never actually being serious. He had a large amount on his plate at this time, which needed to be done in little time. He set out after his last day of school, first talking for a while with his friends and later went towards doing the things he always wanted to get off his chest. While he was talking with his friends he got one of those things done, fight someone. Through his constant sparring with the Fire he knew that he could do everything he did there minus the anti gravity shenanigans that sometimes ensued. He was in the middle of a conversation with two of his closer friends when a very interruptive group of kids walked by and were messing around and being obnoxious. He was dealing with them up until the point where they were shoving each other around and he had someone get shoved into him. This knocked both him and the kid that got pushed onto the ground, the Fire woke up from his slumber and aided in the venom of the words that Jack spit out after he stood back up. The group of kids yelled at him to watch where he was going and to get out of their way, Jack told them that he would stand in front of them for as long as he likes and that they needed a lesson in respect of their upperclassmen. They laughed at him and their ¡®leader¡¯ said, ¡°What are you going to do about then?¡± to which Jack replied, ¡°What are you going to try to get me out of your way?¡± The kid that acted as the one in charge said, ¡°We¡¯ll make you move.¡± Jack smirked and said, ¡°You may try.¡± at that the kid hit Jack, Jack went down to the ground while the kid was getting hyped up and yelling things like this is what you get when you mess with me and other things like that. Jack stood back up and assumed his fighting stance which was merely that of a boxer and said, ¡°Next time don¡¯t hit me with your purse.¡± The entire time Jack was preparing for the Fire to be flared and make an appearance, he learned from what the Seer had told the Fire that he was imprisoned for a reason and he would not be released. Jack guessed it was pretty bad, most likely something he did against humans because the Fire hated them, Jack knew that much from his encounters. The kid and Jack started to fight, the group of friends waiting to jump in and overwhelm Jack who was easily dodging and juking the kids punches when he threw one of his. He socked the kid right in the jaw with a left and drove a hard right into the kid¡¯s chest which sent him backwards a few feet to where he landed. The kid got back up and yelled at his friends to help. As the group of 6 advanced on Jack, he felt that ever familiar presence rising, the Fire was about to make a surprise appearance. Jack went out of his fight stance and assumed a standing position with both arms crossed. He said at the approaching group, ¡°Now let me show you why you don¡¯t make me angry.¡± As soon as he said that Jack felt the fire take over his limbs, feeling a bit freed at the unsuspected gain on his movements the Fire was weary. Jack only said one thing to the Fire, no killing, just hurting really bad. The Fire could do that just fine, he was going to have some fun today. This last leg happened in seconds, punches hitting, bones breaking, cries ringing. Once the carnage stopped it was a single figure standing over the group of 6 beaten to a pulp and having many bones broken. Jack stood, the Fire laid to rest and he felt good, the Fire let him on a secret about anger and it was thus, ¡°The key to anger is to be in control of it. Not to let it control you. You have far more potential as a being with anger as a weapon versus anger as an addiction.¡± Jack didn¡¯t fully understand this and when he asked for clarification but the Fire only told him, ¡°You will learn in time, well, you may just be surprised in how little time you can learn life¡¯s greatest secrets.¡± Jack accepted this but he was still skeptical, he did have a sinister sense of satisfaction in seeing the group lay on the ground writhing in agony. He added one last parting shot to the leader of the group, ¡°That is why you don¡¯t mess with ME. This is your only lesson in respect, be glad I didn¡¯t kill you.¡± As he walked the Fire said to him, ¡°You know he lived because I let him.¡± Jack replied, ¡°Because I wanted you to let him live, if I wanted you to kill him i would have said so. Therefore I spared his life and you were the tool I used to complete it. It felt good to let go a little, but don¡¯t get too comfortable.¡± The Fire chuckled and said, ¡°You enjoy being angry, it gives you strength. You are on a path of great power in using it that way, if only there was but more time. With that Jack left and went on with his list of things to do. On his final day, a sunday, he only had one thing left to do, one last necessity that he must complete. He would rest well knowing he had at least done this. As he walked down the street to the house on the far end, his destination, he felt a pain in his head. The tumor was pushing on his brain as its size was larger than he thought it could get to. He kept walking and ignored the dull pain in his brain. He approached the house at the end of the street and he stood in front of it for a while. He walked up to the door and knocked, he waited for what felt like an eternity when the door opened and an older man answered. The man asked, ¡°Can I help you?¡± Jack replied, ¡°Is Anahira home? If it wouldn¡¯t be too much trouble I would like to talk to her.¡± The man said, ¡°Yeah she¡¯s here why don¡¯t you come on in.¡± Jack simply said, ¡°I¡¯ll wait here, I don¡¯t want to intrude too much. I¡¯d like to keep it short too.¡± The man shrugged and said, ¡°Suit yourself.¡± The man closed the door and walked off while Jack sat on the steps. He waited for most likely 10-15 seconds but it felt like hours to him. When the door opened again behind him, he turned to see Anahira standing in the doorway. She said when she saw Jack there, ¡°Jack? What are you doing here? Why don¡¯t you come inside.¡± Jack said politely, ¡°I¡¯m fine here and I won¡¯t take too long.¡± He continued by explaining why he had only been at school the one day this week, taking a while to getting to the cancer part, his mind throbbed near unbearably now. The Fire within him rose to beat down the pain but was surprised that Jack stopped him, he felt all of the pain. Jack had explained all of it the best he could except the part where today was his last day alive. She looked at him and said, ¡°Well why are you here then shouldn¡¯t you be getting like treatment or something to try to save yourself?¡± Jack replied, ¡°No, if it¡¯s my time, it¡¯s my time.¡± This made Anahira to say, ¡°How long do you have or do you even know.¡± Jack sighed and said, ¡°Let¡¯s just say I won¡¯t be in school tomorrow. Before the inevitable happens though I would like to say what I¡¯ve been meaning to say for years.¡± Anahira stopped him short by saying, ¡°You have today left to live? Aren¡¯t you going to spend it with family and those you love?¡± Jack chuckled at that and said, ¡°My family couldn¡¯t care less and I am spending some of my last day with someone I love.¡± Anahira said, ¡°Oh, sorry to hear that, but who do you mean you¡­¡­¡± she paused and thought for a moment. She continued, ¡°You mean me don¡¯t you?¡± Jack nodded and hung his head. Anahira was about to say something when the man, who was her dad, opened the door and said, ¡°Dinner¡¯s ready so could you wrap that up?¡± Jack said, ¡°We just got done talking anyway.¡± Anahira went into the house in a sadder mood than when she had first thought he would be today. Her dad said to Jack before he left, ¡°Your name Jack by any chance.¡± Jack nodded and said, ¡°Yes. Why?¡± Her dad stepped outside and said, ¡°My daughter has told me about you¡­.¡± Her dad paused and Jack said, ¡°Good things I hope.¡± Her dad continued and said, ¡°Something like that. She seems to like you, and she gets happy when she¡¯s talking about you.¡± Jack looked down and went quiet. Her dad asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Jack said, ¡°I¡¯m dying today, that''s why I came, I wanted her to know what I felt. I felt as though I should let her know before it happened, the last thing actually I wanted to do before I die was let her know I love her.¡± With that Jack started to leave, he got about 40 feet down the street and he looked back, he saw Anahira in her window watching him leave. He noticed she was crying and he felt as though he should¡¯ve just let it go, not told her, but it wouldn¡¯t be right now that he knows she felt the same about him. He waved and he turned to leave, not looking back again. The Seers work was done, the clone was ready. The Seer followed the path of Jack, watching and waiting for the perfect moment to capture him. He found it fairly quick as Jack was walking at night and going in and out of alleyways. He went into Jack¡¯s mind and made him slowly start to fall asleep, Jack noticed this and he sat down ready for what he thought was death coming to take him. Once he was asleep the Seer blinked Jack back into the tree in which he made his clone and blinked the clone into the same spot Jack had been sitting, the clone was dead however. The Seer left and his plan went perfectly to plan. He relayed a message to his master¡¯s telling them that his plan had worked and he was bringing him to them on a ship instead of blinking him there, as he was not ready for that way of travel yet. He got a ship ready to go and all the while Jack was in dream state within the tree. He had an uneasy dream, the Fire had avoided him because he knew the Seer was claiming him and Jack needed to think he was dead. So the Fire though of something else, he would pretend to die. He stumbled out into the clearing Jack was in, and he fell onto his hands and knees gasping for air. He fell face down and stopped moving, his fiery corpse slowly dying out and turning to ashes. Jack thought it was weird the Fire was here but he kept walking a very long and winding road for what seemed years. The Seer got the ship into position and moved the tree with Jack still inside into its cargo hold where it and Jack would remain until the ship reached the Master¡¯s domain. This would be a lengthy journey to the end goal and Jack would be asleep the entire time. The Seer knew that Jack would not fail to go through with the master¡¯s plans for him and he would do his job well. The Seer went to a chamber on his ship to meditate for the remainder of his journey. He meditated on his findings and how he would explain to his master¡¯s the Fire situation. The Seer would come up with a counterclaim to his survival, like he was deceived about his demise and go from there. The journey stretched on and eventually made its destination. The domain of the Masters came into view, the massive pillars of black dominating a white landscape, three in all. One for each Master. These pillars were not in universe but the Masters plane, the plane in which none have power and the Masters control the flow, it is their network, their house. The things that guarded the gates to the realm we''re never know by the Seer as he was always allowed to enter. Should one try to force their way in however, unspeakable horrors and absolute annihilation await. The horrors are the most deadly beings in the entire existence of the planes of the masters, more fierce than any demon under Hebrechrion¡¯s control and more swift than any Angel under Archurion¡¯s control. These behemoths are, the Unhallowed. They wield the wrath of the Master¡¯s and have but one sole purpose, to destroy any who dare take the Master¡¯s down, or try to anyway. The Seer¡¯s small ship was speeding over the Vast white lands that lay before the dark pillars that stretched higher than any structure in existence. The Seer had not named his ship in all the millennia he had used it, he thought of a couple names but they never stuck, he would most likely give this same ship to Jack to use as it was outfitted with many a useful items that would aid him. The Seer put the ship on and autopilot type mode and went to wake Jack up from his sleep, Jack would think he was dead so the Seer would keep him in a state of him being moved through whatever end he thought he was in and if he could still feel things. Jack awoke a bit startled, noticing the same man he saw the Fire speaking to he played it off and said, ¡°Where am I? Am I dead? I can¡¯t feel the cancer anymore so I must be. Who are you? The Seer said with a voice that Jack knew he heard before from the same meeting making him know that this was the same being, ¡°I am in your tongue called, the Seer.¡± Jack asked him, ¡°Well why am I here with you?¡± The Seer asked him, ¡°Is there any other place to be?¡± Jack didn¡¯t say anything at that and thought for a moment but still said nothing. The Seer said, ¡°I¡¯ll show you where you are, and where you are headed, but not what you will do when you get there.¡± Jack nodded and followed the Seer to the front of the ship. Jack looked out on the vast white space and his eyes came upon the black pillars. Jack gasped at the sight of them and the Seer said, ¡°I had the same look on my face when first I saw them, they are the Pillars of the Brothers Three. Each standing for one of the three brothers, my master¡¯s. One being Fate, another, Time, and the last, Destiny. Jack looked at the Seer and gave him a questioning look and asked, ¡°What do your master¡¯s expect from you?¡± the Seer smirked and said, ¡°To find the one they need, to find an extra hand capable of helping them.¡± Jack looked back at the pillars and asked, ¡°What do I have to do with it?¡± The Seer chuckled, ¡°You know the answer to that question¡­.¡± the Seer looked at him and continued, ¡°....I was tasked with finding a being who would have the potential, and I have done just that.¡± Jack said quickly, ¡°Me?¡± The Seer nodded and Jack went deep into his mind to think about things. The ship reached a landing zone and both Jack and the Seer got out. They were on the middle pillar, the Pillar of Fate. There was a long hallway that led to a circle on the ground, once reaching it Jack stood on the center of it and the Seer stood beside him. Jack asked, ¡°Now what?¡± The Seer said, ¡°Hold on.¡± Jack asked looking around, ¡°To what?¡± as he finished that sentence the circle they were standing on shot up, flying at a speed Jack could not comprehend. As it climbed Jack regained his bearing and stood, finding it easier than he thought to stand straight even with the force of the platform moving so fast upward. The Seer said, ¡°We are almost to the top.¡± And as he got done saying that the platform stopped suddenly and Jack nearly lost his footing again but stayed standing. The Seer turned around and bowed and said, ¡°Do the same Jack.¡± Jack turned around and saw three beings before him, apparitions of the actual ones who were away at the moment from this plane. He bowed as the Seer told him and he stood up straight again. Suddenly the three apparitions became solid, the misty images twisted and contorted to become solid. He saw them appear from nothing and become something he could touch, feel, and smell. He could feel energy radiating off of them, more energy than he ever though he could feel at one time. He could smell something. Something he could not place but it brought a word into his mind. A single word. Life. CHAPTER II: Life is but One Aspect of Reality Jack stood motionless as the beings walked around him inspecting him when one, which was Time said in a deep thunderous voice that Jack would never forget, ¡°Let us see his mind, the proof lies within it.¡± the other two said in unison, ¡°Indeed.¡± As soon as they had said that Jack felt the three of them peer into his mind. They plowed through his memories, his life, and other aspects he didn¡¯t know he even had in his head. They were busy pushing through his very being back into his soul, and they found what they were looking for, on their way out however they found the Fire. An intense rage welled up within the Masters as they simultaneously pulled from Jack¡¯s mind and held the Seer by his mind. The Seer¡¯s screams filled Jack¡¯s ears as the Master¡¯s barraged the Seer¡¯s mind to find the answer as to why they were deceived in the past. They quickly found the answer, because the Seer could not kill his own brother, only spare him. The Three stopped their assault on the Seer and he slumped down to the ground in pain. Time said something in a language Jack could not comprehend, it was far more complex than any he had known of, definitely more than what he heard as well. Destiny asked Jack, ¡°Do you know who the Fire really is?¡± Jack said, ¡°No, I always thought he was my anger that manifested into a metaphysical form.¡± Destiny swiftly replied, ¡°He is a hater of man. He was doomed to die by his crimes against all races of humans spread across the universe. He killed trillions and we understand what the Seer did, condemned him to a fate worse than death, a life forever lived within human life. For this we forgive the Seer. The Seer saw that the death of the Fire would unrest balance, so he kept it even though it was our job to do so.¡± The Seer rose, the pain seemingly went away instantly and he bowed. The three beings stood in front of Jack and Fate said, ¡°We must prepare you for your task human. You must be trained to handle the power we will gift you.¡± Jack said, ¡°Am I not dead though, I had cancer.¡± The Seer said, ¡°I placed that there so I could secure you from Earth, otherwise the balance would be upset. You have no cancer, but you do have a new purpose.¡± Jack asked inquisitively, ¡°What purpose is that exactly.¡± The Master¡¯s said in unison, ¡°To become our Reaper.¡± Jack looked at them and asked, ¡°Reaper of Death or what? What exactly will I be reaping here?¡± Time started, ¡°You are hereby tasked with the monitoring, and keeper of balance in this universe¡­..¡± Destiny started, ¡°....You are hereby sworn in as our loyal servant and you shall not defy us in any way shape or form possible to your mind¡­.¡± and Fate started, ¡°.....You are now in control of balance, should you fail, the universe fails. Should you succeed you will spend eternity keeping the balance¡­..¡± All three at once said, ¡°You shall start by assuming a new name, one of your own device, and you shall begin your training immediately. Do not fail us.¡± Jack did not know what to say next. Before he could question anything however the Master¡¯s departed leaving him with the Seer alone on the top of the middle tower. The Seer simply said, ¡°You have your task, now to start your training.¡± Jack asked, ¡°But why me? What is so special about my mind that I was chosen for this?¡± The Seer said, ¡°You have great power lying dormant. Your mind is the same as a lost master, a fourth made for this task but he was lost eons ago in a great war. He latched himself onto a living particle, that traveled throughout the universe and left a trace. A trace which I followed right to you. So you see, you are the fourth of them, you are the Reaper, and you will become more powerful than you could ever dream of. You cannot refuse this as the proof is in your deepmind. The Master¡¯s found their brother, and they want him awoken.¡± Jack asked, ¡°Would I still be me should I separate him from me?¡± The Seer answered, ¡°Sadly, no. He is you and you are him. One cannot survive without the other. You are fused at an interdimensional layer. There is no separating you from one another.¡± Jack said, ¡°Well, I guess I have to go with it now thought don¡¯t I?¡± The Seer said, ¡°Yes. It will not be easy however, this will no doubt test both your mental and physical strength but your determination, willpower, and patience as well. You will need to start your training by first travelling to a system in which you will be helped to open your mind and allow all things to be felt by it. You must learn to feel the things around you and know at all times where they are and what they are doing. You must become aware of all things, a Reaper must be able to see when things are not right, and fix it.¡± Jack listened intently to the Seer¡¯s description of where he would be going and what he would be doing. He would travel to a system far from here and on the way he would work on the name he would choose for himself. The Seer gave him his ship and let Jack name it. Jack named it, the ¡®Daedalus¡¯ and the Seer said in approval, ¡°Good name for this ship, good name. I have seen the glimpses of the future as my purpose changes and I am turning into a knower of knowledge and secrets. I can see the ship in not such a long time in fact and I should say the name is fitting. Good luck Reaper, may you return task done and new identity in close pursuit.¡± The Seer bowed and faded into mist and Jack boarder his new ship. Jack input the system''s coordinates into the ship''s navigation console and the Daedalus lurched towards its destination. Jack searched the ship and became familiar with it. Ever since leaving Earth he felt a stress lifting from his mind that he could not explain. Like something that was limiting him before was leaving. He looked at a small book on a shelf opposite of him in the store room aboard the Daedalus. He tried to lift it with his mind and to his surprise, with a little effort, the book rose from the spot where it laid for many a millennia, a perfect outline around where it sat of dust could be seen. He moved the book towards him slowly and it came to rest in his hand. He was just about to try some more when the ship started to slow down. He had arrived at his destination and he had the perfect name for himself. He landed the ship in a very large open area occupied by thousands of other ship''s. He thought to himself, that it looked like an interstellar parking lot and he chuckled to himself. He was leaving the Daedalus when he saw an armour locker he had not found before, within it a set of armour. He went to touch it and it collapsed into a harness type object. He put the collapsed set of armour on and he was not expecting what happened next. As soon as he turned his back to it, it shot towards him slamming into his back. It drilled spikes into his back, connecting itself to him, becoming part of him. Intense pain shot throughout his entire body, the worst pain he had ever felt in his life. As it ended images were spread through his brain of how to use the suit of armour and he knew how to use it within seconds and he was amazed. That was the fastest he had ever learned how to do something ever. He held both arms at 45o angles and pushed his fists together fast and the armour formed around him. It had crisp white plate with a solid black outline and gold accents flared the trim around his shoulders, elbows, knees, ankles, neck, and wrists. The gauntlets had on one hand just a jet black glove and the other had five white claws and he knew what to do even though he never had before. He placed the five fingers on his head as if putting his face into his palm, his helmet came from the white claws on his fingers very quickly enclosing his head. He looked at his reflection in a mirror and his visor was a skull whose mouth was open and whose eyes glowed a fiery color he could not give a name for. He exited his ship and walked to the tall temple like building on the horizon at which he would start his training as the Seer left the image of the building in his mind. He walked for about 15 minutes when he came upon the massive structure. There were thousands who upon seeing him hurried away as if they knew who he was just by seeing him. He walked on to meet the heads of the temple and he was met at the gate by a group of elite guards blocking his path. He said, ¡°I seek your masters, let me pass.¡± The guards laughed at him and the head guard said, ¡°No.¡± Jack took a few steps back and lifted his right hand to them and said, ¡°I¡¯ll find my own way then.¡± He sent the group flying back several hundred feet further into the temple and entered it. He was surprised at what he could do and he realized now what the Seer was saying. He felt the armour also helping in remove the blockage of his powers which got stronger within every step he took. He walked past the group of guards that were still dazed by it and he said while walking by, ¡°Who¡¯s laughing now?¡± he continued on into the depths of the temple and found who he was searching for. He approached the Blademaster of the temple and said as bluntly as he could, ¡°I require your training. Your guards seemed not to want me here but looks like they couldn¡¯t hold up to my power.¡± The old man looked at Jack eying his armour, somewhat concerned and said, ¡°You made it past my elite guard then ehm? How easy was it for you?¡± Jack replied, ¡°I threw them back without even touching them. I am not here to play 20 questions old timer, I need training.¡± The old man scoffed and said, ¡°You need training? You could knock men back with your mind what would you need training for? Unless you are under par with a blade. Ahh that''s it isn¡¯t it? You need training with a blade. With this I can help you. I must know your name first stranger.¡± Jack said proud of his choice as a new name, ¡°Atlas, Reaper extraordinaire.¡± The old man gasped at the inclusion of reaper and said, ¡°So it¡¯s true, they found him. They found the Reaper, the keeper of balance. Tell me¡­.Atlas, Where do you hail from?¡± Atlas answered, ¡°Earth, have you heard of it?¡± the old man said, ¡°I don¡¯t believe so what system is it in?¡± Somewhat confused Atlas thought what he meant by system when on the inside of his helmet¡¯s visor a group of locations appeared. Atlas said the locations aloud, ¡°Lunari is the system, Lunariexion-12823 is the supersystem, Milky Way, Solar System 5b-1283044//33ssd.¡± The old man said, ¡°That¡¯s clear on the other side of the Universe! I haven¡¯t been there for many ages, did not like it there, the electromagnetic field around it limits those who are exposed to it for too long, inhibiting their abilities. Surprised you hold as much power as you claim. I showed them the secrets of forging steel weapons, but not the secret of imbuing them with power to convert them to a weapon beyond physical matter¡­¡±the old man pulled out a small round elongated cylinder shaped object that was simple yet elegant and he pushed a button and a strong beam of intensely concentrated energy came out of it. This made Atlas think of movies he used to watch about this same thing but he was looking at the reality of them. The Old man continued, ¡±....This is the weapon you will become accustomed too over the course of your training, however. You first must master the steel before you master the power. You will forge a sword using the materials I give you of your own design and to your own specs. You will use this blade for the next 10 years in order to become familiar with it and to learn its secrets. Then you will forge your own Drahka, and I will show you how to imbue it with the power necessary to create a strong energy blade. You will proceed to the forge now, you will find all your materials there, go, so that your training can start.¡± Atlas walked in the direction indicated by the Blademaster. He reached the forge in a couple minutes and went to work forging his sword. He imbued some of his own power within it so that he may use it faster and with much more accuracy and swiftness. Also to enhance the blade and make it stronger and unchippable. He constructed a blade that was had a two handed hilt that fit his likings perfectly, a cross guard that was a diamond shape with very ornate cutouts included on it creating a sharp spiraling design towards the center where it connected to the hilt. His blade was a solid blade, 10x as sharp as any katana, and 10x as strong as any other blade ever made. It had a very elegant shape starting wide at the crossguard, about ? of the crossguards width slowly arching inward up and back out for a total of 1 and a half feet to where it went at a slight angle for another 2 and a half feet where it ended in a pointed off edge like a triangle on the end of the blade. A simple but effective blade style. He etched into the blade near the crossguard in runes of his making a word, his new name, Atlas. His sword was complete, it was lighter than a feather and sharp enough to cut thousands down and still be sharp enough to cut thousands more armour and all. He also made a scabbard for his new sword. Making sure to have it be strong enough to hold the blade securely and safely. He also etched on the scabbard with a deep black the same runes as on his sword. He colored the sword to mirror his armour, blade being the white and crossguard being deep black, the top half of the hilt was deep black with a band of white separating the top and bottom halves of the hilt and the bottom being the same deep black.The pommel was a skull that was surrounded by black onyx and glowed the same fiery red as the eyes on his helm. He approached the Blademaster and once again surprised the old man. The blademaster said, ¡°In all my years none have made a blade of such elegance yet such deadliness, these runes on here, what do they mean?¡± Atlas replied, They are of my name, they give me purpose, they show me that I am on with my blade as it is one with me. I lose it, I lose myself.¡± The old man sighed and said, ¡°You are excelling at your training already and you haven¡¯t even started, I think the stories fall short of what you will become in the future. Now we must begin your bladework, follow me if you will.¡± Atlas followed the Blademaster to a sparring arena where there were others there sparring and challenging each other. There was a group in the far corner whom Atlas realized as the arrogant ones based upon their reaction as they get challenged. They would laugh and tell the challengers to go away and that they are not good enough to duel them yet. Atlas made a note, he would show them they are not as good as they think, very quickly. The Blademaster said to where all could hear and Atlas was not aware one could be so loud and was taken back at the intensity of the Blademaster¡¯s voice, ¡°Gather round, do not dally, we have a new student to join us.¡± As all the others joined around the Blademaster said to Atlas, ¡°Introduce yourself to the class, all we need is your name, nothing more.¡± Atlas said with a fiery determination that all others there could tell he wanted them to remember his name, ¡°I am Atlas, greetings to you all.¡± The class greeted him and the entire time he was eyeing the arrogant groups most arrogant person. He stared at him showing that he would want a piece of him if the chance arose but the Blademaster interrupted his thoughts by announcing, ¡°Seeing that Atlas is new he will need to partnered up with another I believe Karee is open yes? Good. Atlas, you and Karee will be sparring partners for the remainder of your training. Reminder to all, the tournament will be in several weeks so be ready for that, now resume your activities.¡± The Blademaster left to go about his official business leaving Atlas standing in a new atmosphere he had only been in once before, when he first met the Master¡¯s¡­..no. His Master¡¯s. He still had to get used to the fact he was a tool not an ally. He was in his thoughts when a woman approached him. She said, ¡°Atlas, it¡¯s good to meet you, I¡¯m Karee your sparring partner.¡± Atlas bowed and said, ¡°Good to meet you as well.¡± Karee said, ¡°I will show you to the dorm rooms now, so if you will follow me.¡± Karee led Atlas across the sparring chamber in front of the arrogant crowd and Atlas¡¯s suspicions were correct. As Karee walked by they group of students whistled at her and made lewd jokes, she simply ignored them when Atlas stopped and said, ¡°How about I rip the tongues out of your mouth, let¡¯s see if you still laugh then?¡± the group stopped their whistling and their leader approached Atlas and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are or why you strolled in easily like that, my parents had to put up a good deal of money to get me here and I am no doubt the best bladesman here short of the Blademaster. So I¡¯ll be the one making the threats around here.¡± Atlas laughed and said, letting the Fire shed some light on the subject, ¡°I believe you will see my power soon enough, so get off of you high horse, before I knock you off of it.¡± The student laughed, ¡°Do you want to challenge me? Really? Day 1 and he wants a piece of the best. I¡¯ll tell you what you have a week to get into fighting shape and I¡¯ll tickle your fancy. how about that?¡± Atlas dropped the scabbard and sword from his belt, the whole room went quiet and watched and he said, ¡°How about we go now pretty boy and I teach you a lesson in respect?¡± the student stepped back and his group of friends stood up and approached his back and he said, ¡°You get all of us then.¡± Atlas laughed. He lifted his right hand and lifted the entire group with ease, the students around looked on in surprise. Atlas said, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way, HAHAHAHAH.¡± the menacing laugh sent shivers through all of the other''s spines, especially the group he had levitating above the ground. He dropped them suddenly and as they hit the ground the were dazed. Atlas said, ¡°I would tread lightly if I were you, I¡¯ll see you in the tournament pretty boy.¡± Atlas moved his scabbard back to his waist using his mind and turned to a breathless Karee and said, ¡°Shall we?¡± she led him into the dorms, questions already rising within her mind. As they reached their dorm Karee turned to Atlas and asked, ¡°What the Hell was that? How did you do that? What are you not telling us?¡± Atlas responded, ¡°Hey, we just met alright, calm down there. Besides, I was told not to tell you certain things by the Blademaster.¡± Karee asked, ¡°Well what can you tell me?¡± Atlas said, ¡° I come from the other side of the Universe and I hold great power, I cannot tell you my job, I cannot tell you my past or future. I can tell you however I will continue to be as sincere as I can be¡­.¡± Karee cut him off and said, ¡°You call that sincere? That was far from it.¡± Atlas explained, ¡°He was being rude and I intervened, I have always done those things.¡± Karee said, ¡°Oh, well, this is our stop, now head on in and get some rest, you must need rest coming from the other side of the universe, did you use a system traveler or your own ship?¡± Atlas replied, ¡°I used my ship, the Daedalus. I arrived within a week so it was not too bad.¡± Karee was once again left speechless and only said, ¡°I¡¯ll come back in a bit to tell you when dinner is.¡± Atlas watched her walk off and he only was reminded of his past and he was pained a little bit at the thought of her, Anahira. He entered the dorm room and there were two beds, one was obviously taken so he took the other, he took his armour off in the way he knew how too, even though he never did it before. He placed his right hand on his helm, returning the claws onto his right gauntlet. He reversed the arm motion and the plates disappeared. The harness still visible however he donned the students clothes to cover them up. He meditated with his blades for several hours when Karee arrived and told him dinner was ready and she was surprised by the sight of him. She thought he would look different, Atlas without the armour was above average muscular, tall and had fierce flowing black hair that flowed in the wind as he walked. He stood and really enforced the vision he put out within his armour. He was large and stocky, far from what he had once been, perks of the armour conforming his body to the suit. He put on the clothes he was given, the standard at the academy and he followed Karee to the mess hall. He sat with Karee in the far corner, he positioned himself to where he could see all entrances and exits, he started this habit of his own accord, always be weary, always be ready. He ate very little and listened very little to those near him but tried what the Seer wanted him to be able to do. Feel and know where all the things around him were, to know at all times their position and movements. He steadied his mind and took in all the ambient sounds, voices, chairs moving, utensils screeching, and plates banging. He let in everything he felt and saw and everything he could not, using the others around him to fill in the blanks. He saw the outlines of the building he was in, it stretched far lower than most of the other''s knew. He felt every passageway and every nook and cranny that existed. He followed the deepest corridor down further into the complex to a room that looked like a prison cell, for a single being. Atlas searched for this being and found a presence there, as well as counter to his prying, like the being knew he was there. He withdrew and knew what he was going to do, he was going to find whatever was down there. After nearly the entire mess hall cleared out only Atlas, who at this point was alone in the corner, Karee, and several of Karee¡¯s friends remained. Atlas formulated his plan and rose from his seat preparing to leave the mess hall and start on his pry into the deep corridor. Karee noticed him get up to leave and ran after him to talk with him. She said, ¡°Wait up.¡± as she tried to catch up with him, however when she exited the mess hall Atlas was already gone. Karee went back to talking with her friends as Atlas stalked wearily through the halls of what was the temple¡¯s restricted area. He snuck through the entirety of the are and came upon the final hallway. It was a long straight hallway with which he felt traps were littered throughout. He knew their location as he had studied the location intensely for the past few hours learning the traps function and their location. He slowly made his way down the hallway, he took about a half hour to make it to the far side where he was looking at a pit. The pit stretched far down and he looked down into it. He saw a lone figure sitting, laden with chains made of a material whose name he did not know. The figure looked up at him as if knowing Atlas was there. The figure spoke with a chilling voice that sent shivers up Atlas¡¯s spine. He said, ¡°I feel your energy stranger, I do not know who you are or why you are here, but the Headmasters will not like your intrusion here.¡± Atlas asked, ¡°Who are you, and why are you here?¡± The stranger answered, ¡°My name was forsaken, and I am here for crimes against an entire peoples that once populated this world.¡± Atlas asked, ¡°What did you do to this people?¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The stranger said, ¡°I used a forbidden power to take their souls from within them, erasing them from both the physical and metaphysical realm. I am doomed to live with their agony and pain, and I sit here listening to their screams.¡± Atlas asked, ¡°Can this power be learned?¡± The stranger chuckled and said, ¡°If you truly crave power yes, if you regret things then no. I can teach you, as my lifeforce is near its tearing point to where I will only be the agony and pain of this people. I will teach you, if you will promise to get revenge off of those who call themselves Headmasters. I know I was within balance, the three wanted it done but they did not ask me to do it.¡± Atlas chuckled and said, ¡°I follow the three now, I am their Reaper.¡± The stranger laughed, ¡°So the time has come, and he hath risen once more. The fourth strives to live again, I feel it in the way you talk, you crave power and you enjoy using it, like he did.¡± Atlas said, ¡°I was sent here to train or so I was told, fate has a funny way of letting you know otherwise however.¡± Atlas and the Forsaken as he started to call him worked for the next several days and Atlas learned this soul harvest ability. The Forsaken made a remark when Atlas had done it for the first time, ¡°What is a Reaper without a way to harvest souls. Now you know how the power flows through things, no doubt another one of your tasks, learn to feel everything.¡± The tournament was coming up and Atlas knew he had little time to work on his swordsmanship. He only had two days to prepare and cram all that he had missed whilst training with the Forsaken. He worked with Karee to perfect only a few parts of the discipline he chose but they were the hardest to master. The days drew on and the tournament arrived. Although Atlas was not technically able to participate he did so anyway, the Blademaster allowed it. The matches drew on Atlas fighting and winning his matches made it seem easy. However he was struggling towards the end as the ones who he dueled knew his weaknesses. He managed to make it to the final round which was against none other that the same arrogant pretty boy with whom he had taught a lesson days earlier. The duel began with the boy on the offensive, Atlas was on the defensive blocking his attacks with ease. After a few minutes of this Atlas went on in an explosive show of force beating the boy back with heavy blows from his blade. Atlas used his blade to throw the blade of the boy away from him. He then took a single slash across the chest of him leaving the dueling armor they spared in in tatters. He held his sword at the throat of the boy and only smiled. He sheathed his sword and held out his hand to help the boy up and he said when the boy was on his feet, ¡°You might think it weird I¡¯m saying this but you have potential, you¡¯re just too sure of yourself, know your limits and know your strengths.¡± Atlas then proceeded to the final task of the tournament, a duel with a Headmaster. Atlas waited in the sparring pit for the Headmaster to arrive and he heard them before he saw them. Large hulks of men, clad in plate from head to toe, the plate covered in stones of wavering energy, he assumed this was how they beat the Forsaken, limited his power and took him down as the same stones littered the pit. All of the Headmasters came to watch, 10 in all. They all had unique sets of plate armour and weapons at their sides. The Headmaster he was to fight was the most skilled of all of them with a blade. The headmaster was also the worst tempered. The Headmaster entered the sparring pit and asked Atlas, ¡°Do you have a set of armour, this will be a proper duel ending when blood has been spilt, but no life will be taken.¡± Atlas replied, ¡°I do, shall I put it on for you?¡± The Headmaster, whose name was Karken, replied, ¡°Do so quickly I have business elsewhere.¡± Atlas dropped his belt from his waist and he donned his armour. All around him were in awe of his armour being with him at all times, and this made them wonder who he was. Headmaster Karken scoffed, ¡°Fancy armour, too bad none have withstood my blade.¡± Atlas stood with his arms at a slight downward angle. His sheath and belt moved up through the air and repositioned itself on his waist. This again brought murmurs from the crowd. Headmaster Karken and Atlas assumed their positions and the duel began. This was one of the hardest tasks Atlas would face for quite some time. The duel was about halfway before the first time mark when Headmaster Karken and all the other Headmasters shuddered, they felt something stir. Atlas saw the pause and moved in on it, he struck Karken¡¯s chest plate severing several of the stones and slicing deep into his plate and found his flesh. This cut was not severe but did cause blood to spill. Atlas came out on top of the best bladesman for many Supersystems. The cheers from the crowd roared out and the Headmasters rushed off as if to check something, Atlas knew what it was, he freed the Forsaken and was hiding him in the same tree that the Seer used on him, right outside the temple door in fact. The Headmasters stormed into the mess hall hours later and demanded a full council and everyone was to report to the council chamber immediately and with caution. Once everyone was in the council chamber the Headmasters locked them all in and dimmed the lights. The Blademaster had his blade drawn and was looking out of the windows while walking around the chamber. Headmaster Brauen spoke very loudly to where all could hear, ¡°We have an unexpected event happen. As you know we keep prisoners in the restricted section. What you may not know however is that one of these prisoners is the same being whom we will simply refer to as, the Forsaken. The once prosperous race that dwelled here were annihilated by the Forsaken, using a forbidden magic we will not speak its name. He has escaped from his cell, we do not know how. We also do not know what he plans to do. We ask you all to take great caution until we can make sure he is either dead, or recaptured.¡± as he finished and went to walk away Atlas stood up and asked, ¡°What exactly did this magic do?¡± Brauen said, ¡°It takes the souls out of its victims, we made these stones to protect us from it and we imprisoned him. It is a cold and unforgiving magic, forbidden in nearly all of the systems, who knows where he learned it from.¡± Atlas sat back down and the Headmasters unlocked the doors and sealed off parts of the temple, leaving only the internal sections and a single exit and entrance for supplies. The lessons resumed however and after several months the temple was reopened and everyday life went back to normal. All the while Atlas perfected the soul harvest on the local fauna. One day he was sitting outside about to try and rip the soul out of a bird that was annoying him when Karee approached. She sat next to him and asked, ¡°What are you doing out here all alone?¡± Atlas replied, ¡°Honing my skills¡­.¡± he caught himself, ¡°....within my thoughts of course.¡± She said, ¡°I know you snuck away all those days way back. I really hope you aren¡¯t caught up in all of that.¡± Atlas asked, ¡°Why is that?¡± Karee said, ¡°I overheard the Headmasters and they said when they found out who freed him they would use the magic on him.¡± Atlas scoffed, ¡°Not if he finds them first.¡± At this point Atlas was growing weary of waiting to strike so he let loose his secret. He said, ¡°Watch this.¡± He pointed towards the bird and he laid his hand out flat. The bird came down and landed on it. Atlas, with little effort took its soul, and when he did that the bird seemed to burst into flames and the all too familiar rush of power surged through him. Karee surprised asked, ¡°What was that? How did you do that?¡± Atlas stood up and offered his hand to Karee and said, ¡°I¡¯ll show you.¡± She hesitated at first but took his hand and followed Atlas to a tree a good deal away from the temple. When they got there Atlas said, ¡°Once you see this there is no going back and no turning away, for fear of what I may yet have to do.¡± Karee not totally understanding nodded to continue on. Atlas drug his hand softly downward on the trunk and the tree opened revealing a living space within. They both entered and Atlas clapped 2 times very loudly. The Forsaken moved out of the shadows, his arms still scarred from the eons in chains and Karee asked immediately, ¡°Who is that Atlas?¡± Atlas smirked, ¡°The one who taught me how to harvest souls. Like with the bird earlier.¡± Karee nearly fainted, this was not happening. She got dragged into the plot against the Headmasters and turned to leave when Atlas said, ¡°I told you there is no turning back, let us explain before you overreact.¡± Karee saw no other alternative and listened to what they had to say. After the lengthy explanation Karee sat in though. She said after a while, ¡°How can I trust you?¡± The Forsaken approached her and said, ¡°I will show you young one, through my eyes and what I saw, did, and felt. I warn you however you may not like what my past entailed but I have moved on and I know that I was in the right.¡± She asked, ¡°How will you show me?¡± The Forsaken placed his hand on her head and closed his eyes, immediately after which a surge of energy went through the Forsaken and into Karee. Most of which was memory being shared. After he was done the Forsaken keeled over and Karee sat in shock. Atlas asked, ¡°Do you believe us now?¡± Karee said nothing and remained quiet. Atlas and the Forsaken talked for awhile and Atlas made a choice, he would complete his part of the bargain and get revenge on the Headmasters at the end of the week. Karee was told to stay put within the tree and be safe as she knew too much now to be of any use other than for later use when his ship would need to be staffed. He underwent his preparations for this week slowly making the defences the Headmasters dwindle down to no longer working although giving off the appearance they are. He also decided he would harvest them all at the same time. He would take all their power in as one as they took the Forsaken¡¯s power all at once he would give them the same punishment, minus the still alive part. Atlas set his drain runes, or so the Forsaken called them around their patrol routes and waited until the end of the week. Atlas ran the plan through his head hundreds of times and he knew it perfectly. The day came, Atlas awoke from his sleep in the normal way, stressed. He rose from his bed and looked in the mirror on the stand next to his bed. He barely recognized himself, he barely noticed any part of his old self save from the hair, which no longer grew for reasons unknown to him. He took his sword and put his belt on heading out to the tree where he would release the Forsaken from it and sneak him into the temple to cause the distraction. Atlas worked his way into the mess hall which was filled with the first year students, he planted the distraction device which he stole from one of the first year dorms and set it off. As he walked out sparks flew around the mess hall and sirens were set off, the device was part of the distraction Atlas used to sneak the Forsaken into the temple where he would spring the trap. Atlas led in the Forsaken while everyone was busy trying to find out what was going on. A large crowd manifested outside the mess hall and the Headmasters had shown up and entered. They found the device and traced it to the first year who had it in his dorm room who planned to use it later on and they scolded him deeply for a long while. Long enough for Atlas and the Forsaken to both get into position. As the Headmasters resumed their routes they came upon the section to where they all met at a single section. They stopped to talk about what they found, one spoke of the mysterious appearance of a tree and the other''s reported nothing of great interest other than Karee was nowhere to be found. This was the moment, the Forsaken stepped out from where he was hiding and laughed a very maniacal laugh that shook all the Headmasters and had them turn in fear to meet their greatest foe. They drew their weapons and the Forsaken raised a device. The devices purpose was to expel the last of the power in the stones the Headmasters had to repel the soul harvest. The Forsaken said as he used it, ¡°Balance comes for you, I hope your ready for revenges chilled embrace.¡± The Headmasters stumbled as their power was drained from their stones, they regain their footing when the Forsaken moved out of the way and all the Headmasters saw was Atlas. Atlas stood with both hands raised towards the Headmasters and he was in full armour. Atlas yelled as he let loose the soul harvest, ¡°The time of your Reaping is at hand, You shall be erased as you defied my masters and upset the balance.¡± the Headmasters froze in their advance, their blades clanged to the ground and they burst from the inside out in an intense red energy almost as if they were burning from the inside. The same red energy raced towards Atlas¡¯s outstretched hands and went into them, transferring all the power into his very being. Atlas was not ready for the amount of power that was flowing into him, he fell to one knee midway through not sure that he would survive when a familiar presence rose from within, the Fire. as the Fire compelled him to stand, he did. The Fire compelled him to finish the job, and he did. The Fire left almost as soon as it had came, it only helped him power through as to not pass out and die. Atlas stood up, sweating and he made eye contact with the Forsaken who was on his knees. The Forsaken said, ¡°Now for the final part, the final task in our deal. End my suffering.¡± Atlas asked, ¡°Are you sure this is what you want, I can find a way to take the suffering away, I¡¯m sure the Three will show some form of thanks.¡± The Forsaken though for a moment and said, ¡°No, I want this. I cannot forget what I¡¯ve felt, I must.¡± Atlas said, ¡°As you wish.¡± Atlas held out his right hand and soul harvested the Forsaken. As Atlas watched the same fiery red energy envelop the Forsaken, the last thing he said was, ¡°Thank you.¡± Atlas felt the onrush of power from the Forsaken, nearly knocking him over and he remembered. There was an entire populations worth of energy he was getting from the Forsaken. As the Forsaken slowly disappeared a large crowd started to gather around Atlas. One of the students asked, ¡°Who was that?¡± Atlas replied, ¡°That was the Forsaken¡­¡± gasps could be heard around the hallway, ¡°...Sadly he killed the Headmasters, but I used his own powers against him to defeat him.¡± Atlas was heralded a hero even though it was a lie. When the crowd was about to dissipate and make arrangements for the funerals of the Headmasters the air grew somewhat dense near Atlas and all could feel it. Atlas remembered this feeling before and he knew what it was. A visage of Fate appeared and he said, ¡°Well done, your training is complete, return to us and we will give you your next task, bring some other''s along as well, you will need them.¡± Atlas replied, ¡°As you wish.¡± The crowd around began murmuring as Atlas went to leave. He went back to the tree to get Karee when he approached the Blademaster. The Blademaster said, ¡°In all my years here none had as much potential as you show. You are worthy of the secret of pouring energy into a blade. Here¡­¡± he handed Atlas a book titled, ¡®Enargo Bentunari¡¯, and the Blademaster continued, ¡°....This book will teach you how to do it, and take this as well¡­..¡± Handing him a blueprint for the receiver of the energy based blade. ¡°....This was of my masters design, he made it for a reason which he never told me, only that I would know who to give it to when the time came. I also felt Fate¡¯s presence. Are you their Reaper?¡± Atlas replied, ¡°Yes, and your Headmasters interrupted the balance, and they paid the price.¡± The Blademaster scoffed and said, ¡°They were elected by the Council of Peace, they may be Heads of the temple, but they are not my masters. I didn¡¯t really like them anyway.¡± With that the Blademaster made his way back to the temple. Atlas opened the tree, Karee came out and asked, ¡°What was that feeling I felt?¡± Atlas replied, ¡°That is not of concern now, go get your things and that one guy, what was his name? Karvan? Korvan! that¡¯s it. Bring him and tell him to get his stuff.¡± Karee asked, ¡°Why?¡± Atlas replied with a smirk, ¡°We¡¯re going on a journey.¡± Karee returned with Korvan after about an hour, Atlas had the ship prepared and ready for takeoff when he noticed them walking up. He exited the ship and approached the two. Atlas said to them both, ¡°You will go to places you will most likely never go again, you will see things you will never forget and you will have the greatest and most epic fights of your life¡­¡± he directed at Karee, ¡°....As I said you will be my first mate¡­.¡± now directed at Korvan, ¡°....You will be the head of my personal guard.¡± Both Karee and Korvan agreed to the positions offered by Atlas. Atlas said, ¡°I have one more thing before we go on this journey. You both must pledge your unending and ever faithful loyalty to me.¡± Both Karee and Korvan pledged their allegiance and loyalty to Atlas and he said, ¡°Excellent, now let¡¯s be off, we have a mission to receive.¡± The three of them boarded the Daedalus and Atlas flew the ship into orbit. They were cruising through space when the Seer surprised them all by appearing out of nowhere. Startled Atlas had his blade drawn and at the Seers throat before he realized and when he saw it was the Seer he sheathed his sword and apologized. The Seer said, ¡°That is fine, I did come unexpectedly, I see your task went well, and I have a treat for you¡­..¡± The Seer handed Atlas a black onyx skull ring. Atlas took it and asked, ¡°What is it for?¡± The Seer laughed and said, ¡°You are human, and humans die of old age don¡¯t they. With this ring you will never age and you can grant this same power to other''s. They however don¡¯t need any certain thing. Atlas placed the ring on his hand and he felt a short but powerful surge throughout his body. He felt an energetic onrush of adrenaline and his body went a bit awkward but resumed its normal functionality within seconds. Atlas asked, ¡°What was that?¡± The Seer said, ¡°That was the effect setting in. You will be fine now, do not dally now however, the Masters are waiting.¡± With that the Seer vanished in a plume of smoke and sparks. Atlas didn¡¯t really know how to feel being immortal now or so the Seer said. He didn¡¯t dwell much on it and he went back to piloting the ship. For the remainder of the trip he tasked Karee and Korvan to explore the ship and find out where everything is, get familiar with it. As Atlas approached the white plane he called for Karee and Korvan to return to the bridge. They returned as they were entering the massive maw of the portal to the Real of the Three, they both sat in awe as well. Atlas put the ship into overdrive and it shot forward into the portal and as if within seconds of seeing the blinding white light he pulled up and went level. In the distance stood three solid black towers. Atlas said as they came into view, ¡°Welcome to the realm of my Masters. Welcome, to the Realm of the Three.¡± Neither Korvan or Karee could say anything, they only sat in shock at what just transpired. Atlas said, ¡°Your questions will be answered soon, you will meet them of course and you will find your purpose from them.¡± Atlas brought the ship into the landing pad and set it down. Atlas, Karee, and Korvan stepped out of the ship and Atlas led them to the lift, he thought about warning them beforehand but where¡¯s the fun in that. The three of them stood on the platform and Atlas said, ¡°Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times, and you also might want to hold on to something.¡± Korvan asked, ¡°Hold on to what.¡± The platform shot up, Atlas was ready for it but Karee and Korvan both were far from it. The platform reached the top and both Korvan and Karee were unexpectedly laid out, as they were not ready for the stop either. They both regained their footing as Atlas approached a small circle on the ground. Or the floor? There really was no differentiating the two within the Realm of the Three. Atlas kneeled in the circle and placed his right hand on the ground, he sent a shockwave of green electricity through the tower and it shook. Soon the other two dark towers shook and the masters appeared from a swirling cloud of mist. Both Karee and Korvan backed off a bit when Fate, Destiny, and Time materialized in front of them, Atlas remained kneeled. Destiny started the meet by saying, ¡°You have done well our Reaper, balance has been restored in that portion of the universe.¡± Time said, ¡°Your next task will be told to you after we give you your prize. We see the Seer has already given you the Ring of Archurion. We must gift you the Ring of Hebrechrion now. The masters each held out a hand and energy poured out, three different colors, all shades of red and near inseparable by normal eyes, and formed a white onyx ring, of the same design as the black onyx ring. Fate said, ¡°This ring harnesses a power you must use and learn how to use it on your own, it is a power we use and the Seer uses, and many of our past adversaries as well. This power is essentially teleportation between any two points in this universe. You will be given access to come and go in this Realm as you please¡­..¡± Now directed at Karee and Korvan. Fate asked, ¡°What is the knowledge you seek to know? What are your deepest desires, your lusts? Do you crave war? Or peace? Follow me and I will show you, even though you may not know, it is in your very soul.¡± As Karee and Korvan followed fate they came to a large room and they walked inside, the door shut closing off Atlas¡¯s view. Atlas turned to Time and asked him, ¡°Is there any way I could learn to transfer or show my memories with another?¡± Time answered, ¡°Yes, but not from us. It is a self taught ability, and everyone and everything is connection is different. You may find your answers within your past, the Forsaken knew it but he did not learn it his own, oh no.¡± Atlas asked, ¡°How did he know how to do it then? If he never taught himself then he shouldn¡¯t know how.¡± Time explained, ¡°Soul Harvest an immensely powerful ability. You take the power and knowledge from another and you burn their soul to do so. You know how to do it, even though you did not learn it because what the Forsaken did, you did. You absorbed the power and knowledge of one who knew how to do it. You only need to try it and you will know how to do it.¡± Atlas thought on this for a while and he understood once he went through it in his head several times. As Atlas waited for Karee and Korvan to come out Destiny and Time gave him his next task. Destiny said, ¡°You will go to the Hypersystem: Tervon, Supersystem: Dexitervon, System: Onidexitervon- 13812, Solar System- Solemus, and the fifth planet from their largest star. You will use a device we have retrofitted into the Daedalus and all you have to do is arrive on the planet secure it, and end it. You will then plant the seed for new life and a new era to begin on the planet, a single seed, which is also on the Daedalus already. You will meet an especially dangerous race of beings, far from the humans you dealt with before. They are near invincible and are immune to most forms of elements such as fire, ice, electricity and diseases. They are also a war born race, fighting even whilst still in the womb. Always born in fours and always hot tempered and brutish. Their time has come our Reaper, for them to play their part in putting the next check into balance.¡± As Destiny finished telling Atlas his task Fate rejoined the group with Karee and Korvan behind. Karee and Korvan seemed eager to get on their journey and they assumed positions on either side of Atlas. Time said, ¡°You have your task, see it be done well and swiftly. Balance is a precious thing.¡± Atlas and his two companions went back to the Daedalus and set off to their next location. Atlas knew that from the talk with Time that this would not be easy. He thought back on his life and many choices he made in it were not easy, but they were necessary. The Daedalus raced off, away from the three massive towers of black, over the pitch white ground, towards the start of their journey together, the start of a new age, the age, of the Reaper. CHAPTER III: Taming of the Savagery
They arrived at their destination and Atlas could see by the appearance of the planet there was a war ongoing. The surface of the planet had random bouts of fire coming up from unknown sources. Atlas said, ¡°I want to do this one alone, You may be immortal but you¡¯re not invincible. Besides I need to have a good fight. You two be ready to activate the weapon which is right over there¡­¡± Atlas pointed to a chair that had a screen in front of it and Korvan walked over to it and sat down in it. Karee laughed a little when Atlas said that and she said, ¡°You think you¡¯re invincible then?¡± Atlas laughed and said, ¡°No, but I am more powerful and that''s for damn sure.¡± Karee said, ¡°There¡¯s no denying that ya, we going to take it in low and you jump out or what?¡± Atlas said, ¡°Bring in about 50 feet above and keep it at a steady speed, I¡¯ll make one helluva entrance.¡± Karee brought the ship down to 50 feet and opened the rear loading door and Atlas walked to the opening and drew his sword. He held it in a reverse grip turned to look at Karee and said, ¡°20 minutes and the planet will be secured.¡± Karee nodded and Atlas turned and looked out the door,the ground racing by. He tightened his grip on his sword and he jumped, as he saw the ground rapidly approach he focused his power to his sword, slamming it into the ground as he hit, sending a shockwave throughout the entire planet, revealing his presence. The ground split where he landed, cracking for nearly 200 feet in some directions and startling those close enough to be affected by the landing. Atlas stood, his sword now back to forward grip let out a warcry and charged the ranks of an approaching army of large stature lizard like creatures. As they watched him charge they became enraged, charging with even greater speed than before, Atlas was intruding on holy land and this made the beings angry beyond comprehension. He met their front line and quickly made his way through them. Cutting them down like a hot knife through butter. He was nearly overwhelmed at more than one point, his armor taking a good deal of damage in the process. Eventually his armour gave out in places allowing for the beings to cut deep into his flesh. Atlas seeing his blood spilling gave him determination and made him angry. Atlas called on the Fire to pitch in some and join the party, the Fire was happy to oblige. Atlas let the Fire take over and his movements became thrice more powerful and increasingly deadly. He cut down what felt like thousands and thousands more came after that as he made his way to the world leaders. It took him about 15 minutes to reach the ¡®elite units¡¯ and he had nearly double the ground to cover left than he already did in a third of the time. Atlas released a burst of energy sending all the nearby beings back about 10 feet in all directions. Atlas sheathed his sword and used Soul Harvest, the single largest he would ever use. His goal was to take the army, and charge the citadel of the city he was evidently fighting through which he just now realized. He held his hands out and he focused his power on taking everything around him. He watched as legion after legion fell, he, without knowing how he was doing it, started to levitate off of the ground while still harvesting the souls of the now desperate attackers. He saw thousands fall to him, and he felt thousands of souls and their power flow into him. He channeled this into a single thing, his blade. He put as much power as he could handle into the blade and drew it with one hand while still using the other to harvest more souls. He felt nothing but power after seconds of this. He felt as though he would not be able to hold on to this power, that it would eat him from within and corrupt him, the Fire however assured him that would not be the case and all Atlas needed to do was go on a little more. Atlas reached the point the Fire wanted him to reach and the Fire sent out an immensely large blast that stunned all things on the entire planet. Atlas stopped levitating and slowly approached the ground. He landed and charged for the citadel, he only had a couple minutes to work with now. He made it to the citadel within a minute and he needed to act quick. He found the leader of the race kneeling on the floor with a weapon near him. As he saw Atlas enter the room he grunted in a language Atlas did not know but his helmet translated it to him, ¡°You have come here, slaughtered my people, used an unknown type of sorcery to do so. What are you here for?¡± Atlas answered, ¡°I am the Reaper, your time is up, your destiny has reached the end it was set out for by fate. I have come to ensure the balance goes on without fault. Will you die easy, or do I have to end you myself?¡± The leader, who was nearly twice the size of all the others and was clearly a bull of their race stood. The leader shrugged off the cloak he had on his shoulders and picked up his weapon. He let loose a warcall, and he charged Atlas. Atlas laughed loudly and stood in the path of the charging hulk of scales and muscles. Atlas, at the last moment, pivoted to the left and as he drew his sword he delivered a slash across the bull¡¯s back. Atlas asked him, ¡°What is your race called, I might keep one alive as a trophy.¡± The bull yelled angry back to him, ¡°We are the Chentarki, we are trophies to none. We fight to live and live to fight.¡± Atlas answered, ¡°Then show me your power, or are all of your race so easy to defeat in combat.¡± This last remark showed Atlas just how angry and enraged this species could become. The Bull of the Chentarki, Berok¡¯Tiek as he was named by his people was a sorcerer of sorts. He dabbled with many types of magics and abilities. He used one against Atlas which when he became enraged he grew taller, hit harder and moved faster. Atlas however still was able to move faster and slowly beat down the Bull. Atlas forced him on his knees and he said, ¡°I will take you as my trophy, the strongest of your kind, you will be mine forever.¡± Atlas held a hand out on the Bulls enormous head and thought of a single thing, teleport into the holding cell on the Daedalus, he focused some power and a flash went off. He then approached the citadel and signaled Karee to come in and get him. Once he was back on the Daedalus he went to the holding cell to check on the Bull, who fit in it and could barely move. Atlas fortified the cell and made it large enough to have the Bull able to move a little bit and put him in shackles. Altas put the same powers into these shackles as the Headmasters had put into the chains on the Forsaken. They canceled the power of the one held by them and disabled them from doing anything to escape. Atlas then applied immortality to the Bull, and he said before he left, ¡°You will get a front row view of your people¡¯s extinction.¡± He placed on the floor of the cell a window, and moved the Bull and shackles to where it was facing towards the planet. Atlas left and locked the cell. He returned to the bridge and told Korvan, ¡°The time has come, do it.¡± Korvan flipped a few switches and hit a large red button, which released a devastatingly large beam of energy straight from what seemed as Hell. A fire that Atlas could not, and would not forget. He thought of a name for the device but couldn¡¯t think of anything. He asked the other two, ¡°What would be a good name for this device?¡± Korvan was the first to say something, ¡°Helios Beam? It feels like it has the intensity of a star and the Helios Hypersystem has the largest star count than any other.¡± Atlas nodded and both he and Karee liked the name. It fit perfectly. They watched the energy wave ripple across the planet¡¯s surface. Once the entire planet was covered in the energy, it slowly faded from red to white and slowly receded. Once the beam was completely gone a small compartment behind the chair where Korvan was sitting opened, revealing a small vial. Within the vial was a liquid, this liquid was the start of all life. Atlas said, ¡°Bring the ship down again but hover in one place for a bit.¡± Karee said, ¡°Will do.¡± She brought the ship down around 10 feet above the surface and Atlas walked over to the cargo door and opened it. He cast the vial down to the surface and it broke open releasing the components for life to start. He watched it for several minutes to make sure everything was going fine and it was. He returned to the holding cell and repositioned his first trophy in a kneeling position and took out the window and all sources of light. He returned to the bridge after that and told Karee to return to the Realm of the Three so they could report their success. She engaged the thrusters on the Daedalus and it shot off towards the Realm of the Three. They came upon the realm within hours and they approached the Three on the mid tower and presented their success. The Three were pleased and granted Atlas the ability to commune with them at all times, so that they could start full time. The also gave Atlas the means to improve the Daedalus without needing any physical labor involved. Essentially he could add on to the Daedalus with his mind and thoughts. Atlas put his new abilities to use, he expanded the Daedalus tenfold, effectively making the ship much more menacing. He placed the Helios beam in its own part of the ship more towards the middle and a largely increased cargo hold. He made the bridge larger and added many new things that would streamline the process of keeping the balance. He designed new experimental engines that would be, or he hoped would be, 4 times faster and 4 times more efficient than the ones that were on the ship now. Atlas made all the improvements he wanted to on the Daedalus for now, he wouldn¡¯t go too much larger as he only had two other crew members. He also made his trophy block bigger. He even put in a map room which had all of the entire universe mapped within in it. It was sorted and easy to route through however. Atlas was unsure how to gain more hands to work his ship so on the way to the next planet he was tasked with ending. He and his two crewmates, Karee and Korvan made their way to the new and improved command bridge of the ship. He assumed his throne like seat in the center of the large room as Karee sat in the frontmost chair, the pilot¡¯s chair, and Korvan sat in between both of them in the Helios Beam command console. Atlas looked around at his new command bridge from one of the most comfortable chairs he had ever sat in, and he was impressed with himself. He said aloud, ¡°With this ship we will go anywhere, do anything, and kill anyone who stands in the way of balance. The Daedalus will only grow as time goes on, from dinghy, to galleon, soon to be dreadnought.¡± Karee asked, ¡°What¡¯s a dinghy, and a galleon?¡± Atlas chuckled and said, ¡°A dinghy is a little floaty boat with a small motor and a galleon is a larger wooden ship that was used on my planet for centuries as a way of travel and cargo transport, they pale in comparison for the image I have in my mind of what this ship will be. Now for the task at hand, off to the next piece needing to be rebalanced.¡± The three of them and the Daedalus shot off towards their next mission, at a far faster rate of movement than they had before the Daedalus was upgraded. Bigger engines equals better propulsion equals point a to point b in less time obviously. The Hypersystem in which they were tasked to go was one of the least dangerous but most highly populated Hypersystems in all of the universe. The system in question that they were being sent to were the furthest advanced race in the entire universe and were nearing interdimensional travel until the Masters deemed them no longer necessary and they needed to be replaced. As the Daedalus roared through space towards this system, Atlas remembered which planet to go to and he thought of all the answers he did not have. He got up and went to the map room which took him around 4 minutes to walk there and he had a fast walk speed. He arrived and input the location of the planet they were tasked with rebalancing. The planet was nearly the size of the sun around his home of Earth, the planet was massive and the stars even more so. He relayed this information to the bridge so they would know the planet when they saw it. Atlas went to the archives that were still being uploaded by the Masters and Atlas found this planet and searched for any possible threats to him and his crew. The dominant race was of near humanoid but with millennia ahead of the nearest race as far as technology goes. Atlas was in the middle of researching into their weapons systems when Karee Radioed him and told him the planet was in sight. Atlas cursed under his breath and returned to the bridge to see the planet for himself. He arrived seeing the massive hulk of a planet lingering in front of the Daedalus. The three of them saw on the surface of the planet that which appeared to be a singular large city that spanned across the entirety of the planet. Atlas said, ¡°Karee, find a landing pad that looks like a public one and I¡¯ll go on foot, after about 10 minutes take off and wait in orbit for me until I give the signal from that tower.¡± Atlas pointed to the largest tower on the planet making sure Karee knew which one he was talking about. Karee brought the ship down in a public landing area and Atlas exited the ship and started through the massive city he had to make it near to the other side of. Cursing under his breath he looked back at 10 minutes and saw the Daedalus take off back into orbit. There was no waiting now, he had to find a plan and do it quick. Atlas picked his way through the crowded streets and he felt as though he was slowly going down. His suspicions proved true as he ended up nearly 300 feet below the level of where the Daedalus had set down. This planet was far from even and had buildings that held tens of thousands and stretched both far into the sky and into the ground. Atlas looked for the tower in which he would need to signal from and he saw it, far in the distance but there was no mistaking a tower of that size. He met lots of interesting folks and saw many interesting things, most of which set him on edge. Least dangerous Hypersystem, but the most dangerous planet within it, seemed very promising to Atlas but he soon shrugged it off and pushed on. On his way he saw an advertisement for their nearing ability for interdimensional travel, that they had mastered teleportation by storing energy in certain stones using an ability called, Apochrimation. Atlas wanted to learn this, so he could eus it on the Daedalus as well as Karee and Korvan. So he delayed going to the tower to find one who could show him this ability. Atlas reached the cities research and development area within a few hours, it was closer than he thought it would have. He found it following the directions of the advertisement and he entered the building that he assumed was the one he needed based upon a quick game of eenie meenie miney moe. He guessed right but he entered on the opposite side of the complex that he needed to be on so he charged some of his energy and pick a spot in the complex to teleport to. A flash went up and Atlas landed in a barely lit room, all but a single window let in light and it was not natural light either. He was in a test chamber of sorts, he saw several stones next to him that he had no clue what they were for. He focused his energy again but this time to place himself on the other side of the window. Once he was on the other side of the window several of what appeared to be scientists walked in and saw Atlas. Atlas drew his sword and asked, ¡°Do you understand the words I say.¡± The lead scientist said in a language nearly identical to english, ¡°Who are you?¡± Atlas took his free left hand and switched some settings around in his helmet to where it would translate it to his liking for both what he said and what he heard. He repeated, ¡°Do you understand what I am saying?¡± The scientists looked at each other and the lead scientist said, ¡°Yes, who are you?¡± Atlas replied, ¡°I seek your knowledge of Apochrimation, I will get what I want no matter your choice.¡± The scientist shooed away the other''s telling them not to say anything to anyone so he could speak to this stranger alone. Once the other''s were gone the scientist said, ¡°My name is Irevon, and I can help you with what you seek if you lower your weapon first.¡± Atlas sheathed his sword and introduced himself, ¡°I am Atlas, good to meet you.¡± Irevon began, ¡°Well Atlas, the technique of Apochrimation is not so easily learned, only one of our race has been able to achieve it, our most powerful and our leader. He can be found atop the highest tower but I would not try to approach him so warlike, his guard is the most fierce in the system.¡± Atlas laughed at that last remark and said, ¡°Good thing I¡¯m not from this system then. Can you teach me or must he.¡± Irevon answered, ¡°He must, I will show you however to get there if you truly wish for a challenge. We envy those of great heart and we reward those with great strength and we condemn those of great greed. You will have to prove yourself to him and it will not be easy. As Atlas went to walk away he turned really quick towards Irevon who had some weapon looking device pointed at him and it was shaking. Atlas held out a hand and Soul Harvested Irevon. Irevon dropped to his knees simultaneously dropping the weapon. Irevon said before he was taken fully, ¡°What devil are you?¡± Atlas swiftly replied, ¡°I¡¯m the Reaper of the Three, and your time has come.¡± Irevon faded out of existence and Atlas felt all his knowledge rush into him. He found that the scientist wasn¡¯t lying so he turned and left the complex. He walked out of the northern side of the building and he started making his way to the Tower which was more North West. He estimated that he would make it there in a little under 8 hours based upon how far he already traveled in how long it took for that. He used the knowledge from the scientist Irevon and got the distance but he could not get the time it took to travel there so he started out at a little faster of a pace than he normally had. With his faster pace he made it to the tower in around 6 hours, faster than he thought he would have. As he picked his way through overcrowded streets Atlas realized something, something the scientist forgot to mention. He retraced through his mind to where the scientists memories lied in his mind and he searched through them for the answer to his question. His question, how would a scientist know what I would need to do in order to learn Apochrimation. He found the answer to this, Irevon did know how to do it he just withheld the information from Atlas in order to lead him to his doom. Atlas became enraged by this and went to the tower to show this planet who his is and why he was here, he was going to say screw the Helios Beam, he was going to Soul Harvest them all. He climbed the massive tower in under an hour and when at the top he was faced with several hundred guards standing between him and the one he intended to learn Apochrimation from and whom he also needed to kill to secure the planet for annihilation. Atlas drew his sword and let his anger fill his movements he swung hard, precise and with ease he cut down the guards. They were no match for him, at least that''s what he thought until the Head of the Guard showed up. Atlas finished off the remaining guard and then faced the Head of the Guard who he saw was not any normal soldier, and whom he nicknamed Tiny. He used this as an insult due to the Guard towering over Atlas. Atlas yelled at him, ¡°I¡¯ve fought bigger , Tiny, you stand no chance so why don¡¯t you lay down your weapon and let me kill you, it will be easier and is inevitable otherwise.¡± The guard grunted as he lifted his massive mace onto his shoulder and motioned for Atlas to attack. Atlas charged the hulking guard and he quickly realized that he underestimated this guard. Tiny, swung the large mace in the blink of an eye, faster than Atlas could react to and it threw Atlas across the room slamming him on his back and falling to the ground where he regained his footing. He again charged the hulk but from an angular approach as to try to get around the speed and strength that he swung the mace. This proved to be useless and Atlas was again batted aside like nothing. Atlas became enraged by this and he stabbed his sword into the ground and once again charged the hulk. As he did this the guard laughed at him and prepared to swing the mace once again. Atlas jumped as soon as the guard swung, swiftly flying over the mace and he drove his fist into the guard¡¯s jaw. This effectively threw the guard back several feet and he dropped the mace. Atlas walked over to him and took the mace, he heaved it behind him and prepared to end the guard. Alas swung the mace over his shoulder with great force and crushed the guards head and splattering the nearby wall with head chunks and blood. Atlas then held out his right hand and his sword removed itself from the ground and made its way to Atlas¡¯s hand in a split second. Atlas approached the one whom he was searching for who was in a fearful mood. He just saw his best guard get his brain matter splattered with his own weapon on a wall, it would shake anyone. Atlas said bluntly, ¡°I seek the knowledge of Apochrimation, teach me or die.¡± The man said, ¡°Apochrimation is a secret of our people, threaten me as you like I will not teach you.¡± Atlas Asked, ¡°Would you care to know who I am? And why I¡¯m here?¡± The man said, ¡°Yes I would like to know who the murderer is and why he is here other than Apochrimation.¡± Atlas took a few steps back and sheathed his sword, he said, ¡°I am Atlas. Reaper of the Three, your time has come whether by my hand or the Helios Beam. You are unbalancing the Universe and you will be taken care of.¡± The man said, ¡°I am Berkin, and I have no wish and no care for your balance. I have only done good for my people and I will not let you destroy what I have worked so hard to build.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Well, Berkin, I will get what I want with or without your help, and you will care when I single handedly kill your entire people with my right hand.¡± Berkin asked, ¡°And how do you plan on that?¡± Atlas smirked and held out his right hand, once again feeling the onrush of knowledge and power from Berkin.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Berkin sank to his knees, and he said, ¡°What is this, what have you done?¡± Atlas said, ¡°My masters will not be defied, you will be destroyed both in flesh and soul, and your power and knowledge will be mine, so now you see what I meant by I will get what I want no matter the course. I will do this to your entire people, and I will gain unforeseen power, and I will gain your knowledge and comprehension of the Universe, and might I say, you were close to interdimensional travel, you were just looking in the wrong place.¡± As Atlas finished the sentence Berkin disintegrated into the red energy. Atlas walked over to the open edge of the tower and held his right hand out with only one though in his mind, let''s get a jump on my power, I¡¯m feelin¡¯ saucy. He gathered all the energy he could muster, and he sent it out, he felt the entire planet slowly giving him knowledge, and power. The more he did it the more he became intoxicated by it, he used the power he was gaining to increase the power and speed at which he Soul Harvested. He could not collapse, he could not stop no matter the forces beating on him. The intense gain in power caused the time and space around him to start to crackle and burn. He soon found himself levitating above the floor of the tower. The tower was crumbling and he released some of his energy into a shockwave of force that multiplied as it got bigger, he sent it crashing into the surface of the planet, leveling the structures, and completely destroying the surface and making it unrecognizable. Karee and Korvan saw from the bridge of the Daedalus one of the most magnificent feats they ever saw Atlas perform. They saw the red energy radiate from the entire surface, turning the planet for a split second into a pseudo star. They were mesmerized by this moment and they started to bring the Daedalus towards the planet. Atlas was still levitating as the Daedalus came towards him, as he was about to enter through the now open cargo bay he felt the presence of life, this life was different however, it was not of the species he just put into extinction. He turned and went to the surface of the planet and started to move towards the presence. He quickly reached the presence and he found a species unknown to the denizens of the planet he was on which surprised him seeing as how they were the most technologically advanced species that existed, well not anymore. Atlas thought of the Daedalus and the crew he needed, he dropped to his feet and started a conversation with one of them. Atlas asked, ¡°Who are you?¡± the sounds that he heard he could not understand so he once again went into his helmet and switched the auto-translate feature on. He asked the same thing again and he got a response, not from the one he first started talking to but an elder of their race. ¡°We are the Nebrechion¡¯s, and ancient race, long since pushed to the core of this once majestic planet by those demonic beings you have slain so justifyingly. How can we repay you for returning our planet to us stranger. Also who are you?¡± Atlas answered, ¡°I am Atlas, Reaper of the Three, and this planet was the epicenter of unbalance. I am supposed to kill all life, however. I have a ship¡­.¡± Atlas pointed towards the Daedalus and continued, ¡°...I do not have a large enough crew to man it efficiently. I am proposing I save your entire race, and you help me run my ship and you can have your race once again become great and never forgotten. I would much rather that option as I have heard of your race in a teaching by my Masters, and that you are ingenious builders and inventors. So what¡¯ll be? Eternal servitude, or death.¡± The elder thought for about a minute and said, ¡°Eternal Servitude, and we will remain loyal to you for sparing our life.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Good, I really would¡¯ve hated to lose this opportunity. I will show your people the utmost respect and hospitality, you will find all you need onboard and if you should need anything more I will gladly acquire it for you.¡± They bowed to each other and Atlas went aboard the Daedalus, via his newly acquired power of Apochrimation and told Karee to land it. Atlas helped get the Nebrechion¡¯s settled in and ready to complete their fate. As they were leaving the planet Atlas remembered the Helios beam and the seed. He told Korvan to fire it, which he did and Atlas used the knowledge he took from Berkin and teleported to the new surface of the planet and he planted the seed. He then returned to the bridge of the Daedalus with great ease and he thought, Apochrimation really streamlines this whole teleportation thing. Atlas and his now fully crewed ship made its way back to the Realm of the Three to report his success to his masters. He arrived there far faster than the first time he did after his first mission. He was impressed by the amount of power he had shown by Soul Harvesting an entire planet. He mainly told himself that it was the fourth brother in him that allowed him to do these things and he did not really care, only that he was able to do it and he would continue to do it. He preached his success to his masters. Fate said as Atlas arrived, ¡°There is a new air about you Reaper, you are becoming more and more powerful by the second. You are doing your job well.¡± Destiny said, ¡°We now have made the choice that you will choose where to go. You will use the room in the Daedalus that shows the universe and you will have to learn when the balance is listing away from equilibrium.¡± Time said, ¡°We have added something to it which shows where the most potential locations are, and when one comes up you will need to act quickly as they stack up. Now go, take your ship and your crew and do what must be done, for balance is a fragile thing.¡± Atlas bowed and left and once again searched for any place where the balance is failing. Atlas then set out, searching the universe and finding and eliminating the places where balance needed to be restored. Thousands of planets were rebalanced, and many many years went by, and Atlas soon found out time changed based on where he went in the Universe. He saw that in one system time went on slower or faster than in another. Atlas also found that he was building quite a reputation as a savage and a murderer. His prison in his ship was filling up with the last of species, and they were not happy. Atlas sparked a mild revolution and he thought little of it, as they had no real impact on him and they were still in the lines of balance and until they weren¡¯t he would let them run their course. They kept gaining support from other systems and manpower from the various systems and Atlas could feel the balance slowly being pulled out of its path by this revolution, but he could not do anything about it just yet. Atlas watched as this rebellion grew and many times he conferred with his masters and still he was told not to do anything until the balance was in peril. Atlas searched the systems that claimed to be part of the rebellion and found one in need of rebalancing. He set out towards this particular system and he only had one thing in mind, show them his power. Atlas set out on the Daedalus once again and he made several small engine tunes that nearly tripled their power output. He took his newest power of Apochrimation and put it to use fashioning himself a belt of stones, stones in which he collected in his various travels and that were strong enough to hold the power. He set up where the locations were on the Daedalus that would be teleported to, his prison being one that only he could teleport to as it was cut off from the rest of the ship. He set up one in the armory, his universe map room, his personal room, the bridge, and several other areas he visited frequently. He had his systems enhanced and his ship brought up to tip top shape with the Nebrechions help. He provided for them food, drink, shelter, and a job. They were the happiest their species had been in millennia all thanks to Atlas. As the system neared Atlas was busy going over his plan of securing the planet when Korvan rushed into the room in which he was meditating in and said, ¡®Atlas, the rebels know your coming and they are fortifying the planet with anti air weapons, we won¡¯t be able to get close enough to land.¡± Atlas found the solution he was looking for and he said to Korvan, ¡°Tell Karee to bring it in as close as possible, I¡¯ll handle it from there.¡± Korvan left Atlas in the room and Atlas felt the ship slowly glide in and halt to a stop, he then went to the bridge to see the planet for himself. He saw thousands of ship''s within the planet''s atmosphere, leaving? No. They were advancing towards the Daedalus. Atlas smirked and said, ¡°Let''s have some fun shall we?¡± Atlas teleported to the cargo hold and he radioed Karee and said, ¡°Open Bay 1 in the cargo hold.¡± Karee replied, ¡°Will do. What¡¯s your plan here?¡± Atlas said, ¡°I¡¯m going to surprise them with a few of my new upgrades. I am going to show them there is no stopping us.¡± With that Atlas jumped from the cargo bay and launched himself under the Daedalus using the momentum from him jumping out to carry him to the front end of the Daedalus with great speed. He flew threw the vacuum of space with ease and as he neared the advancing ship''s he used thrusters he constructed and added to the back of his armour to gain even more speed. He directed himself towards the nearest ship and drew his sword. He started to channel energy into it as he lifted it overhead holding it with both hands. He kept gaining speed until he was about as fast as a small spaceship. He kept pumping power into the blade and when he was nearly upon the ship he prepared to swing. He swung at the perfect moment striking the ship, ripping an enormous gouge into the front of it where he made his entrance. He quickly dispatched the several hundred revolutionists who rushed him sending the other''s running. Atlas radioed Korvan and said, ¡°Calibrate the Helios Beam to target the ship''s, let''s make short work of this fleet, im making my descent to the planet shortly.¡± Korvan did this in minutes, targeting all the ship''s currently advancing towards the Daedalus. Korvan hit the button after about a minute when Atlas gave the thumbs up, sending the Helios Beam ripping into the ship''s one by one. Korvan and Karee watched from the bridge as the glorious deep fiery beam disintegrated the ship''s. Atlas while falling, as he jumped from a hole he ripped through the rear of the ship with his sword turned back to see half melting chunks of metal falling behind him towards the planet. He also saw that the remaining ships were being consumed by the Helios Beam and he was happy. He had however not payed attention to his fall speed and he slammed down on the surface on his back with much greater force than he would¡¯ve liked to. He sent a shockwave throughout the planet, he heard alarms wailing in the distance as he regained his bearings. He stood on his feet and turned to see an army rapidly running towards him. He smirked and reached for his sword but was surprised to find, it was not there. There were far too many to Soul Harvest in enough time. He thought for a split second and came up with a solution. He used his gauntlets to hold charges of energy and fire, he channeled this while the army approached him, he did this in a short time and he became exceedingly efficient at it over his weeks of practice. Once the gauntlets were charged he struck the nearest of the soldiers rushing him with a flame that scorched the ground wherever it touched. Atlas smirked again and yelled, ¡°Let¡¯s not dilly dally, we have a party to commence.¡± He charged their ranks, literally throwing fire from his hands and decimating the army set before him, the army set to defy him and his masters. Once he ate through about half of the army he started to get an uneasy feeling, he was right to do so. He looked out into the horizon and saw several thousand large artillery units. He sighed and kept on pushing towards the command center which he hoped to get near enough to stop the artillery from annoying him. He got about another 20 feet forward when he heard a distinct whirring, he paused for a moment then looked up and he was immediately sent flying backwards by the splash of artillery. He regained his footing quickly and he started to channel more energy into the gauntlets than he was used to, he was going to try something. He channeled for probably another 10 to 15 minutes and he felt that any more energy in the gauntlets would cause them to erase him, by exploding in a fury of energy. He let loose the fiery energy he had placed in them and directed it at the artillery which was now on a ridge nearly 30 clicks to his Northeast. He brought his arms over his head and brought a large and swift swing over his head as if he were splitting wood with a log. In this scenario however he was splitting a mountain with fire, which was close enough for him to deal with the artillery. He brought down a torrent of planet melting fire on the ridge where the artillery legions were located. He watched, the same twinkle of amusement in his eyes at the sight of the immense destruction left by this small motion. He still was not used to the power he wielded, and he had even more that he had not discovered which would continue to vex him for a long time. Once he quenched his inner pyromaniac he once again went for the command center and walked in and did what he planned on doing. He deactivated the anti air systems and had Karee land and pick him up, he was feeling a bit drained after the mountain ordeal. Once he was on board the Daedalus Karee asked him, ¡°What was that large heat spike we detected up here, we even saw it when we looked up. Did you find a new ability or something?¡± Atlas replied, ¡°No, I just put more power into one I¡¯ve already learned, and should I say, it was damn impressive. I¡¯ve lost my sword however so I will need to make a new one¡­..wait a minute?¡± Karee asked, ¡°What?¡± Atlas focused for a moment and said, ¡°Apochrimation may be able to bring me my sword.¡± Atlas focused even more and held his hands in front of him and both Karee and Korvan looked on curious as to what Apochrimation was, Atlas never explained it to them. They saw a blue energy start to form and his sword slowly materialized through a bright blue light which suddenly vanished leaving Atlas¡¯s blade resting in his hands. Atlas smirked once again and said, ¡°I love Apochrimation, never seems to fail me. Korvan, hit the button.¡± Korvan activated the Helios Beam and Atlas went to the map room to see any other potential sites of unbalancing of the universe. Atlas spent many of the next years, decades, hours, it all felt the same to him at this point, keeping the balance in the Universe. He still recalled the timing he used when he was on Earth and it would be roughly several long years, 7 to be exact. Then he recalled the first planet he visited in his travels, in their time it was nearly 30 years. Atlas realized that throughout the universe time was different based on where you were. He hated this fact as tales of him spread throughout the universe always had different times, he cared little about it however. The rebellion was still in full swing and he was nearing the point to where he would wipe them all out within seconds, he was capable of it completely as well. Balance was the only thing he thought of now, doing his duty and nothing else. He became not too unlike a machine, with no feeling, scarce thoughts of the humanity that once was present. He walked his prison block aboard the Daedalus at the beginning of every day, and he tormented those within, once again showing them they were the last of their kind and they would forever be his prisoners. Atlas was busy tormenting one of the first of his prisoners for what felt like the thousandth time when an explosion shook the Daedalus. Atlas immediately knew for something to shake the Daedalus it needed to be massive, seeing as how the Daedalus was far larger now than it had been since the time in which he was reminiscing. He did restrain himself and he instantly teleported to the command bridge where Karee, Korvan and the Nebrechions on the bridge were rushing about to get the situation under control. Atlas looked out of the command bridge into the space between the Daedalus and the next planet chosen to be rebalanced, another with a resistance stronghold on it. Atlas said nothing but walked towards the pane of ultra-strong glass interlaced with tungsten and titanium and held out a hand, palm facing upwards. Those on the bridge watched, except the few Nebrechions who were rushing about ordering the technicians around to fix the hull damage. Atlas concentrated on the engines of the thousands of ship''s approaching and slowly made a fist. The ship''s slowly started crushing matching the speed at which Atlas moved his outstretched hand into a fist. The ship''s crushed and exploded in rapid succession to Atlas¡¯s hand fully clenching in a fist. He turned around and said, ¡°Korvan¡­...Burn them.¡± Atlas teleported off of the bridge and Korvan followed the order, activating the Helios Beam engulfing the planet it a fiery plume of red energy. Atlas added a specific gun onto the same console as the Helios Beam that not only supplied the seed for life but also multiplied it, so they could streamline the Helios Beam and seeding process to be faster. Atlas resumed his walk throughout the prison block and he came to a final cell, the farthest and most guarded by his self made defenses. He knew what was in it, he knew who was in it. He knew before he even opened it he would be disgusted by the sight of the being inside, a being that is not following his rule of last of the species. The cell door opened and it revealed a shady black figure whose face could not be seen as it was facing down. The figure moved a little at the sudden invasion of light into the previously pitch black cell. Atlas entered the cell, As Atlas was about to say something he was shaken, his mind was telling him something. He paused to try to figure out what his mind was trying to say, he looked back at the figure who was now looking at him. This sent a shockwave throughout his entire self as the being he saw, was himself¡­.. Atlas awoke with a very sudden and violent shake. He tried to decipher the dream he had, which felt much more real than a dream to him, like it was his life, or a warning from the fourth brother in him. He got a call from Karee over the radio system the Nebrechions overhauled. The Nebrechions were by far the most useful ship crew Atlas could ever want, they were unquestioningly loyal, and extremely good inventors. They also should be dead but Atlas outweighed that fact by them giving up their life forces to be his loyal servants so the Three accepted that. Atlas put his armor on and proceeded to the bridge, he would walk the distance there to try to figure out the dream he had. When he arrived to the bridge he ended up with more questions about the dream than he first had but he told himself that would be better for a later time. Atlas asked, ¡°What do we have?¡± Karee asked him, ¡°What took you so long, We figured you would¡¯ve teleported up here? Anyway, we have the system in sight and we are nearing the drop off point.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Good, good. Let''s hope the plan goes as well as the last few.¡± Atlas approached Korvan and talked with him about the potential threats, which is what Atlas asked him to try to find out in order to better attain control over the planet, which was another thing that bothered him in the dream. He did not gain control over the planet before razing it to the ground, then again it was only a dream. Or so he hoped. Korvan said, ¡°This should be a relatively easy one, not too large of threats to be worried about. The dominant species is a peaceful species, they also believe in the Three so they may worship you when you get there. The planet is an odd one, compared to the ones we¡¯ve been to before. It has a sort of presence there that is unknown, I tried to view archives of the planet but nothing explained the presence. You should be able to feel the presence, it is extremely powerful. That is all for this Planet Atlas, should be a walk in the park.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Good news, I¡¯ll find what that presence is before I leave, or try to anyway¡­.¡± now he turned towards Karee and said, ¡°....Let me know when we are on approach to the planet, I have some thinking to do.¡± Karee nodded and Atlas teleported into the prison complex. He wanted to find out why he had the dream or vision. He was confused on the cell numbers, the difference between them and the time between them doesn¡¯t really make sense to him. He had an exact number in his head that he knew from , a rather large number, 467,890. The cells he had now only numbered, 3,203. He searched throughout the dream to find an answer to why there were so many so fast but he could not find it. He was nearly to the end of his cell block when he felt something. He felt a presence, an immensely powerful presence. As soon as he felt it Karee radioed him and said, ¡°We are on approach.¡± Atlas replied, ¡°Good. Be ready for rebellion ship''s that may have followed us, and take the ship down for a landing, I¡¯ll be ready soon.¡± The Daedalus landed and Atlas exited the ship. He felt the presence grow when his feet touched the ground, like it knew he was there. He turned to see the Daedalus slowly return to orbit, an image from the dream flashed through his mind, showing a far different looking Daedalus than the one he was looking at. He looked down at the ground and all he saw was a fiery lake of molten earth and rock. He looked around and panicked a little until he suddenly, and violently snapped back to reality. He would need to see the Three after being done with this planet to find out what exactly is going on. He approached a rather large craterlike structure after about a half hour of walking. All through the walk he felt the presence slowly rising, and he saw the plants around him and he felt like time did not exist here. This planet was old, very old. He could tell just by the way it felt that this planet was unlike any other planets he visited. This planet had a hymn to it, a sound that resonated with the Universe, and he was slightly confused by this. He shrugged it off and walked a path that slowly spiraled down into the crater where a small statue resided. He approached the statue and could not recognize who it was when another image flashed through his head. This image however was of a face, a face he did not know but felt every day. This was the statue of the Fourth brother. There was only one statue of this brother, and only one place where it would be fit to have it. The battlefield where he was lost to the universe. Atlas slowly brushed his hand against the statue and as he did he felt the same hymn run through him and throughout his being and all the way to the Fourth Brother within him. As it felt the Fourth Brother the statue started to glow, Atlas could not remove his hand from the statue and soon he started to glow as well. He could not feel anything, no pain, no heat, not even mild discomfort, aside from the blinding white glow engulfing both him and the statue. His visor darkened to keep out the glow and Atlas closed his eyes, ready for whatever could come next, or so he thought. Suddenly the glow went away and a flash of energy rang out and was both heard and felt around the planet. Atlas opened his eyes and he saw a face, the face of the Fourth Brother. CHAPTER IV: Arrogance of One Leads to the Downfall of Many Atlas looked on in mild shock and amazement. He tried to speak but nothing came out. The Fourth Brother began, ¡°I see you have found the place of my mistake, and my brothers wish you to destroy it. The balance was really the only thing on their minds, they never cared for the beings in the worlds they created, only the equilibrium of energies. I was here to show them balance is not everything, and this crater was what¡¯s left of that talk. The peoples on this planet were a violent and volatile race before this¡­.¡± The Fourth Brother motions to the crater, ¡°.....They fought since their inception into this universe, until I came. I came for my brothers to see that the balance could be kept by the very thing that unbalanced it, power. Whether it be a lack of power, or an excess of power. You can always unbalance what is balanced and always balance what is unbalanced. That is what they failed, and still fail to see. You¡¯re wondering how I am here talking to you. I left part of my being in many places, all of which you have been, this being the last. I gave the most of it here, and your path has brought you to collect all of my power. That glow was the aura of this planet, which was given to it by the terrible war that ravaged this planet and eventually led to my distribution if you want to call it that. I chose your planet as it had the perfect means to grow my power until the one my brothers were looking for would arise, you. I was within many different humans of Earth over my stay, Hammurabi, Muhammed, Jesus, Alexander the Great, and essentially many of your species more important figures. I sparked many of the religions of your planet by trying to once again become a physical form, I still am not able to, only this visage that you see. Thats is why you must use the power I have helped you use so many times, on my brothers. I want you to do it to me once I reach the physical form, I am the most powerful of my brothers and even them all at once. Do you have any questions Reaper?¡± Atlas looked at him confused for about 30 seconds before he said, ¡°So you want me to harvest the souls of the Three, my master¡¯s after I do it to you?¡± The Fourth Brother said, ¡°Yes, it must be done, it is as you have foreseen is it not?¡± Atlas asked, ¡°Are you talking about those dreams? They were not accurate, they could not be, could they?¡± The Fourth Brother said, ¡°I have the art of foreseeing the future, which is why I know what you will do and how powerful you will become after you follow my instruction. Your closest care will eventually make for an impressive target for a Rebellion attack, your planet will be chosen, and you will become the most powerful being in the Universe. Until next time, Reaper.¡± Atlas wanted to ask him more but the flash of light came again and when it dissipated the Fourth Brother was gone, returned to the depths of Atlas¡¯s mind. Atlas turned, now focused on his mission, saw a single elder man standing near the steps. The man took a deep bow and motioned for Atlas to follow him. As Atlas walked the presence was still very heavy and it clung to every bit of air he breathed in. He walked through ruins of an ancient battlefield, towers once gleaming and buildings that once stood dominant over the horizon. He followed the old man to the center of this town, where half of a statue resided, the bottom half. Atlas looked at the statue and wondered who it had been of and what had happened to it. Atlas was interrupted by the old man who said, ¡°We have waited a long time for you to arrive. We know why you¡¯re here, and what you are to do. We will make this easy for you and surrender, but first you must prove to us that you are in fact, Reaper.¡± He was then led from the center of the town through the main part of it towards a coliseum, or what remained of it. As Atlas was being led through the town the people who lived there peeked out of their houses just to see the one they spent their entire lives ready to meet. Atlas felt on edge, this was very weird to him but he would continue on as he noticed the presence shift as he and the old man entered the coliseum. The old man said, ¡°Proceed to the center and your test will start.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Alright then, I bet this place was magnificent in its glory days.¡± The old man said, ¡°It was, it was indeed. Your task has been one tested by many who came here, they failed, our hopes are that you will not. And that you will finally be the one who we¡¯ve waited for.¡± With that Atlas went to the center of the immensely large coliseum and stood in the center of it. He turned to see the old man gone and the presence was growing stronger and stronger. Atlas felt he presence become so heavy he thought only one thing, move. He dashed to the side and drew his blade when a massive armored behemoth smashed through where he was just standing. Atlas chuckled and went to cut the beast down when he saw a person riding atop of it, wearing a belt of jewels that radiated the presence that he felt. Atlas wondered what the belt came from when he felt the all familiar Fire rise up within, ready to explode outwards, it screamed in his head, ¡°That is the one who stole my heirlooms, kill him now, and reclaim my birthright.¡± Atlas charged forward sword in a backward hold. He slashed at the legs of the behemoth while he slid under it and the beast stumbled a little but was not taken down. The behemoth turned and went towards Atlas slamming down into the ground with the massive metal fists which sent Atlas flying back into the lower stands of the coliseum. Atlas stood up and ran towards the behemoth sword drawn and jumped from the lower stands and buried his sword into the chest of it. The behemoth staggered back and fell backwards, Atlas stood on the chest of the defeated beast and watched the man on the top who jumped off before the behemoth fell. Atlas heaved his sword free from the chest of the dead behemoth and walked towards the now scurrying to stand man. Atlas sheathed his sword and went to soul harvest him when the Fire rose again and took over, Atlas blacked out for a while but when he came to he was standing over a headless man, bloodied hands, and a belt of magnificent jewels in his right hand. Atlas could not feel the Fire anymore so he shrugged it off, he cleaned his hands and went to do his job, end this place. He walked into the center of town, the old man kneeling in front of the half destroyed statue and he drew his blade. The old man turned and looked afraid and he said, ¡°You beat him? You truly are the Reaper then.¡± Atlas cleaved his head off with one swing and said, ¡°You¡¯re damn right I am.¡± He used Apochrimation to board the Daedalus and he told Korvan when he arrived, ¡°Scorch it, and plant the seed. I will need to make a quick stop before we go to the next planet. I will update you when we will leave and to where.¡± Atlas looked at the Helios beam as it tore through space and slammed into the planet, blanketing it with a glorious fire. This made Atlas remember, the Fire was alive and he needed to have a talk. Atlas walked a short distance away and then he remembered his vision or dream and he had knowledge in it of a place on the Daedalus that only he could go, to meditate. Atlas thought this was a good idea and he made it somewhere near the core of the ship and he went there to speak with the Fire. He kneeled and searched deep within his mind where the Fire slumbered. Atlas awoke him and said, ¡°Who are you really?¡± The Fire said, ¡°I am one who was cursed by the Seer, I am his brother and his opposite. I am the embodiment of anger, war, and destruction. He rather, is the embodiment of happiness, peace, and construction. I never told you this because you did not need to know until now. I remembered that planet, I was there you see, when the Fourth fell. I brought him down, and my punishment was this, to be coupled with the species I hate most.¡± Atlas interjected, ¡°I thought you killed millions of humans to be stuck like this.¡± The Fire replied, ¡°No, although that was the reason I went to that planet, I heard that they like war, so I wanted to test them. I was however, met with the Fourth brother and their armies. My power was stolen from me by the one whom rode atop the beast he created with it. My belt, the fiery gems have no equal, I have no need of them now so they are yours, use them to enhance your power, and you will also find they have as much knowledge to give as they have power. You know the power to take from the gems, they are the souls of 6 Lord''s from my planet¡¯s high court, immensely powerful and near all knowing. They thought they were so invincible, I showed them why they weren¡¯t.¡± Atlas laid the belt out in front of him and soul harvested the gems, he could feel the life forces of the souls trapped within these gems, and he was disturbed. They were conscious the entire time, they were able to see and feel all that was going on and they knew their end was here now. They were screaming in intense pain, and the Fire said, ¡°That was a measure so they would stay, they would die if they left, but it would take millennia for them to do so and it would be unbearably painful. I held no respect for them after their wave of destruction shocked our planet from behind cover of an almighty warlord.¡± Atlas felt a little less terrible about causing them intense pain now that he both heard it from the Fire and felt it from the memories of the Lord¡¯s coursing through him. Once the belt was completely empty Atlas saw inscribed into each of the sockets a name. Atlas read the names to himself; Bavarius, Ichidna, Faregraves, Carreon, Geljarden, and Tarkor. Atlas asked, ¡°Are these the names of the Lord''s?¡± The Fire said, ¡°Yes, they are the ones responsible for the ending of our race, but I ended them before what they caused to happen unraveled. Their greed and corruption caused my species to go to war up until the point none but me and the Seer remained. I left them in eternal agony, but soul harvest is an even darker end.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Then you¡¯re not too bad of a guy after all it seems.¡± The Fire chuckled and said, ¡°Oh no, I still very much am, I just have my moments.¡± Atlas talked with him for about another hour when he went back to the bridge and told Karee, ¡°Head to the Realm of the Three, I have a few questions, let me know when we get close.¡± Karee nodded and set course for the Realm of the Three and Atlas returned to his newly fashioned room to meditate. The Daedalus arrived within hours at the ¡®gates¡¯ of the Realm of the Three. Karee radioed Atlas and he arrived at the bridge via Apochrimation. Atlas said, ¡°Good to see the familiar portal again, we will not be here for long, only so I can get some answers.¡± Karee said, ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll have the ship ready to leave as soon as possible. Atlas nodded and paced side to side in the bridge as the Daedalus approached the Realm of the Three. Atlas watched while still pacing from side to side he saw the familiar portal closing around the bridge of his ship. As soon as he saw the white disappear behind the bridge he saw, stretched out before the Daedalus the same white landscape. His dream flashed through his head showing a dying plane, masterless, towers crumbling, energy taken from it. Atlas stopped pacing and stood, contemplating what exactly this had meant and what it had to do with what the Fourth told him. Once the Daedalus was in position, Karee snapped Atlas out of his trance by saying, ¡°The Seer is waiting for you. As are the Master¡¯s.¡± Atlas looked over and saw the Seer standing at the landing pad, Atlas looked back at Karee and said, ¡°As soon as we can leave, do it.¡± Karee nodded and Atlas teleported beside the Seer who did not seem too intrigued to ask Atlas about it. The Seer only said, ¡°Long time no see Reaper, you have filled in well so far. You have questions for us yes? Of course you do why else would you be here. Let¡¯s get going, you don¡¯t want to stray from your job for too long.¡± Atlas and the Seer went to the top of the central tower as they had before. They once again faced the Three masters they followed. Atlas began, ¡°I have experienced somewhat of a disturbing image through my dreams. I do not wish what I saw to happen so I would like a little clarity on why I saw what I did. I also saw into the future.¡± The Seer said, ¡°I can explain easily. You are experiencing the Fourth brother in you, he had the visions of the future and sadly he could do nothing to stop what he would become. It may be different with you as you saw it while in sleep, the Fourth only saw it in battles or when in extreme focus. That is all and nothing more.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Makes me feel a little better but I also have another pressing issue.¡± The Seer asked, ¡°What is that Reaper?¡± Atlas turned to the Three and said, ¡°Your brother spoke with me on the same planet he was lost on. I touched a statue in the center of a crater and he became a physical form that I could see and could¡¯ve touched. He told me some disturbing things that I do not wish to repeat, for even the thought of them eats at my soul. He tried telling me that no matter what I did the things he said would happen would, and I would be the means to my own destruction as he was. He said it was my inherited fate, once he clung to my soul. I would follow the ashes of his rebirth, to the ashes of this universe and only I would stand.¡± The Three looked at him and their barren faces showed no sign of emotion so Atlas could not tell what they are thinking. Fate said, ¡°Would you show us this vision, we would only view this and not the interaction between you and the Fallen One, Veruchion.¡± When Fate said the name of the Fourth Brother the Realm shook, Both Time and Destiny looked upon Fate in wonderment. The Three swore to never speak The Fourth¡¯s name in the Realm of Three. Fate felt their piercing gazes and said without looking at them, ¡°He was our brother, no matter what he did, we simply failed to keep him in check. We must see this vision, to fully gain the severity of our Brother¡¯s words. So that if what you say is true, then we may prepare.¡± Atlas nodded yes and opened his mind where all but the Seer were transported deep into Atlas¡¯s mind, seeing the vision once again. Once the vision was over the Master''s disappeared almost immediately. Atlas and the Seer were left wondering where they went when suddenly they flashed back in front of them. Destiny said, ¡°Reaper, it is time for you to meet the two who cause your job to be needed, you are going to meet Hebrechrion and Archurion.¡± Atlas could not comprehend the two figures he saw instantly materialize beside the Three. One, a fiery apparition that had obsidian like armour, and a hulking figure, towering over the Three. Two, a shining individual with armour like diamonds stood defiantly and proudly. The both of them opposites in every way, but in all ways they were the same. They were separated by Fate, Time, and Destiny. They were the causes, along with the Fire of so many religions spread throughout the Universe and with the nudging of the Fourth. The Fourth spent most of his time trying to convince humanity they are not alone but it seems they were not ready for the truth. Atlas after all he saw and has done could not understand what he saw. He saw the literal causes for God and the Devil standing before him, the causes of so many wars and religions. He thought a great deal about the two who stood in front of him, separated by the Three so they would not fight amongst this meeting. Hebrechrion and Archurion stood, emanating the power they possessed at all times as they were in control of many things at every moment. Atlas bowed his head to them and said, ¡°It is and honor to finally meet you both.¡± Hebrechrion said, ¡°The honor is¡­.¡± Archurion cut him off, ¡°...Mine, o¡¯ Reaper.¡± Hebrechrion stepped towards Archurion which caused Destiny and Time to step in front of him and Fate to stare down Archurion. Hebrechrion said, ¡°Forgive my naive opposite, he doesn¡¯t get out much.¡± This comment made Archurion take a slight step towards Hebrechrion and the Three to intervene by standing in between the two of them, bracing for the only inevitability between the two, violence. Atlas and his more morbid side wanted to see a slight skirmish between Archurion and Hebrechrion, he knew that if they started to fight the Three would not have the power to contain them both, so Atlas would have to intervene, which he felt eager to try to find the summit of his power, should any point exist that is. Atlas took a few steps back, leaving about 15 foot in between him and where the Three and Archurion and Hebrechrion stood. Noticing this Fate said, ¡°With the hopes of these two the universe would implode, which is why we, and you, have to do our job.¡± Archurion added in there, ¡°Ya, right, Farchy¡­.This is what he means.¡± When Archurion said that the Three knew what would come next and they moved swiftly out of the way of the blast of energy Archurion sent towards Hebrechrion. Hebrechrion however knew his opposite well, they were brothers after all, and he dodged it with ease and uppercutted Archion sending him tumbling backwards towards the edge of the tower. Archurion stood up and drew a obsidian-like blade that blazed with fire Atlas had not seen before, the Fire of Creation. Hebrechrion drew his axe in response, a blindingly white light emanated from it, the Light of Creation. The Three tried to intervene but they could not stop what was bound to happen, the inevitable can never be stopped. As the two titans clashed Atlas watched intently never taking his eye off of Hebrechrion nor Archurion. Atlas called upon the inner Fourth brother from within him, beckoning the will, the will of balance. Atlas drew his sword and grasped it in two hands, he felt the power of balance fill his very being, he poured it into his blade and self, making him grow in size. He grew to the same size of the titans currently locked in a voracious battle not noticing what was going on nearby. Atlas¡¯s sword started to become half fire and half light, he pulled his hands apart and his sword came into two equal halves, Fire, and Light. He walked towards Hebrechrion and Archurion and started to feel he was becoming something that would end up backfiring on him, he did not care. He got to the two titans and they separated for a moment and then both wound up for a strike, all three swung at the same time and they all clashed at the same moment, a moment that shook the universe, and left only one standing. Atlas, stood, no longer as Atlas but as the pure embodiment of balance, a swirling vortex of fire and light, endlessly moving and shifting, always changing. The Three looked on, they were happy. They saw the future in front of them, they saw the Fourth once again. This abruptly ended when Archurion got back up and struck the Fourth in the back which caused him to stumble forward a single step. The Fourth turned to him smiled and laughed which he then slammed the pommel of the Fiery half of his sword into the jaw of Archurion. This sent Archurion flying backwards and Hebrechrion attempted to capitalize on this by attacking the Fourth¡¯s whose back was turned, this was not a good idea. The same thing happened to Hebrechrion, he was slammed by the pommel of the Light half of the sword and was sent flying backwards. The Fourth took up a position directly in between both Archurion and Hebrechrion, facing the Three. Archurion and Hebrechrion both charged at the same time at the Fourth and they jumped towards him. The Fourth stared only at the Three while Archurion and Hebrechrion hurtled towards him, at the last second the Fourth caught both of them by the throats holding them off the ground. He said defiantly, ¡°Balance¡­will¡­prevail¡­¡± He took Archurion and Hebrechrion and slammed them into each other several times, then alternating them slammed them into the ground with such force and intensity the tower shook from the force of the blows, after about a solid 10 straight minutes of this the Fourth took both of them up and slammed both of them down at the same time, once again shaking the tower. He said, ¡°As it always does¡­¡± The Fourth slammed the two sword halves together, reforming the single blade and he slowly shrank back into Atlas. When Atlas was once again back he collapsed onto one knee and he was breathing hard. He looked up to the Three, then at the beaten and battered Archurion and Hebrechrion lying on either side of him struggling to stand. Atlas asked, ¡°What happened? I felt such power, power I have never felt before then nothing. My mind went black and suddenly I¡¯m barely able to stand and I have two of the most powerful beings in the Universe laying beside me, barely able to even move.¡± Destiny stepped forward and let out an aura onto Atlas. Destiny said, ¡°This is a restorative aura, it will help with the side effects. That was the first time any of us had seen the Fourth since his fall, all that time ago. His power now openly flows through you, he has given you it. You should be honored now, for you have his soul. The soul of Veruchion¡­..¡± As Destiny said that name, the Realm hummed with satisfaction, and shook for several seconds and stopped.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Once Archurion and Hebrechrion got back to their feet, both of them being put back into their place, they stood quietly and waited until the meeting was over. Once it was over Atlas walked with the Seer back to the Daedalus, talking with each other along the way. Atlas suddenly dropped to one knee, a voice thundered through his head, a voice of the Fourth. The Fourth called out to him, ¡°The time is soon Reaper, the time in which my plan will swing into motion and you will achieve the fate you were destined to.¡± Atlas felt the presence of the Fourth leave and he stood up. He turned to the Seer and said, ¡°I¡¯m still feeling a bit odd from the what just happened, do not worry, I¡¯ll be fine after a bit of recovery.¡± The Seer only nodded but had a questioning look upon his face, Atlas not fully sure if the Seer knew about it but he was willing to risk it. Atlas and the Seer reached where the Daedalus was docked and they bid each other farewell but before Atlas left the Seer said, ¡°Remember what the downfall of the Fourth was. Greed. Do not let your power control you, control it. Until next we meet Reaper, good luck in the Oxcreneanunarion Hypersystem¡­.full of especially nasty denizens.¡± Atlas nodded and said, ¡°Thank you Seer, good luck to you as well in your endeavors.¡± Atlas boarded the Daedalus and the Seer returned to the Three and both Hebrechrion and Archurion who had not yet returned to their respective realms. The Seer brought up an interesting point of concern that would be talked about while Atlas was on his next several missions, it would raise suspicions about the real intentions of the Fourth returning sooner than they had thought he would. What they did agree on before Atlas left the Realm of the Three was that Atlas was exceptionally strong already to have been able to take a full switch to the Fourth and back so easily, as well as able to withstand his full force in order to even come back unless they were working together which was a fear of all of them. Altas upon leaving the Realm of Three knew that they were talking about him, he could see them, he could not hear them however. He saw them, through the Fourth¡¯s revealing of a power he himself had used to keep an edge on his two unbalancing brothers, Hebrechrion and Archurion. Atlas knew that he would have troubling times ahead of him, he walked to the Universe map and looked for the system the Seer had pointed out, Oxcreneanunarion. He found it fairly fast as it was labeled under the ¡®Entry NOT Advised¡¯ list, which only included three other systems, which have not yet reached unbalance. It was the highest risk related system in the entirety of the Universe, and it was in need of balance. Atlas teleported to the bridge and said, ¡°Listen up¡­ our next stop will be the most dangerous one we will ever face. I want all guns armed and all systems manned at all times the planet is within 10 light years. Load the guns now and keep those trigger fingers hot, I will continue to find information and will update you all as I deem fit. He teleported back to the map and continued his research into this System. After several hours Karee radioed and told him the planet was in sight, Atlas felt the massive ship lurch to a halt. He teleported to the bridge and said, ¡°This will be an especially dangerous one, possibly the most dangerous. Regardless of that however, balance will reign supreme. Be ready to provide air support with the broadsides.¡±Atlas teleported to the planet''s surface and he immediately felt the heavy pressure of the atmosphere and the intense humidity that was present. Within seconds of teleporting to the surface loud cries rang out all around him. He was suddenly taken down from behind. Atlas threw whatever tackled him off and got up but it sped off into the bushes before he could see what did it. He drew his sword and marched off towards a large mountain that Atlas saw was mentioned in the information about the planet. He made it 10 feet when he was attacked again, this time by a group and he was once again taken down and he threw the attackers off again and swung his sword at them but he missed and they ran off into the bushes with immense speed once again. He was starting to get angry now and he continued his way towards the mountain, the screeching only seemed to grow louder as well the farther he trudged through the dense humid jungle. Atlas heightened the ambient sound detectors in his helmet and he could hear all around him the scurrying of feet and hissing, he assumed this was who kept trying to attack him and he kept his guard up. After about another 40 feet he was once again attacked but this time he was prepared. He slashed out with his sword and cut three of the would be attackers in half, he turned and locked eyes with another one and tried to soul harvest the being but it did not work and it raced away crying loudly as it fled. He looked at the corpses before him that lay in halves and studied them. They were a reptilian race extremely close in resemblance to a chicken were it clad in scales which shone with a pearlescent gleam that shone defiantly against the dense dark jungle background. They had razor sharp claws which they scratched deep grooves into the back of his armour which he was not happy about at all, as it was the hardest part of his armour and the claws cut through it with ease. He radioed Korvan aboard the Daedalus and told him, ¡°Bombard the region between my current location and the mountain, do not hit the mountain itself thought. Use the broadside Hyper Turrets and level the area.¡± Korvan replied, ¡°Better hope you brought your umbrella, we¡¯re bringing the rain.¡± Atlas looked up into the planet''s atmosphere and through the clouds came the Daedalus with the broadside cannons flaring up preparing to fire. Atlas smirked and though, ¡°Survive this you scaly fiends, balance is inev¡­¡­.¡± he was cut off by something slamming into his back with much more speed than anything that he previously saw and he smashed into a large boulder about 10 feet away and his helmet cracked and he was knocked out, he is after all still human. The Daedalus rained down on the area Atlas wanted them to and they soon returned to their position a ways away from the planet, ready to help again if needed. Atlas awoke with a violent shake, he was being carried rapidly through the dense jungle. His armour had been ripped off of him and he was in severe pain, his spinal brace that his armour normally goes when he does not wear it was damaged severely and had sparks shooting out of it. He could not move and his legs and arms were being held by many scaly hands, claws digging into his flesh at spots. He was taken to a somewhat more open part of the jungle and he was thrown down into a hole. Atlas heaved himself up against the wall of the hole, he looked around the rim of it to try to find a way to get out. He was very angry that he did not see this coming and he was determined to get out when he remembered Apochrimation. He went to teleport to the Daedalus and level the planet before taking it over, and annihilating all life on it and retrieve his weapon and armour after, but it did not work. His power was weakened and he could not figure out why when an all too familiar voice rose up within him, the Fire. The Fire said, ¡°Those don¡¯t work, they seem like an uncivilized race but those were only their drones. There¡¯s a reason no one goes here, if you do, you die.¡± Atlas chuckled and said, ¡°I will break that cycle.¡± The Fire said, ¡°Not in your current condition and not with conventional means of warfare.¡± Atlas replied, ¡°What do you mean by conventional?¡± The Fire said, ¡°You will have to stealthily kill them, poisons will not work, you cannot soul harvest them because they have technology that resists it. The only way you can kill them is to cut them down with a blade. Your sword is currently being fought over by their strongest warriors. In order to see who will wield the blade, also who will kill you with it.¡± Atlas laughed at that and said, ¡°Even without my armour and sword I still hold power enough to kill them all.¡± The Fire said, ¡°Any normal race here yes, but not their warriors, their warriors are protected by an obelisk within their main hive. They are a hive mind planet which is why when one of them knows where you are, they all will. They will be able to collapse to your location in the thousands should you escape here, you must not show them your power yet, or it will ruin the surprise.¡± Atlas asked, ¡°What surprise? We¡¯re in a hole remember.¡± The Fire said, ¡°The one where you will copy yourself as the Seer did to fake your death and you will sneak your way into their hive, kill their hivemind, and destroy the thing that prevents your power from having an effect on them. Which in turn will lead all of the planet onto you but you will be able to easily dispatch them once you have destroyed the obelisk, I remember this planet before they were bestowed this power, they were worse than now and were far more deadly.¡± Atlas asked, ¡°How were they more deadly than they are now?¡± The Fire replied, ¡°They had a natural resistance to things like your power, this technology removed this from them, they are fully dependant on it now, which is why they will die.¡± Atlas waited and plotted for what felt like months, which on this current planet in this system was true, he waited for 2 straight months. He plotted, he sat, he felt as though he may never get out. He never thought it would be like this, him trapped at the bottom of a hole waiting to be killed by his own sword from an ancient race of lizards. He stood up, gathering his strength, he amassed all of his energy into his legs and fists. He jumped from the center of the hole as hard as he could in one fast, explosive launch that carried him not only out of the hole but away from those supposed to guard him. He landed in thick bushes about 40 feet away from the clearing where the hole was. Atlas then remembered what the Fire had told him, to copy himself and make the entire planet think he was dead. He went to the edge of the clearing and focused his energy into making a near perfect copy of himself. It is impossible to make a perfect clone and there is always a single downfall, the clone dies within a set amount of time as so designated by the creator of said clone. The Fire talked Atlas through the entire process even explaining how he was the one who first did it, but he gave the credit to the Seer so he could gain less attention with what he was really doing. Atlas finished creating his clone, and sent him head on into the hole so that ¡®he¡¯ could be killed. In reality Atlas would plan on, as soon as the clone would be executed he would slowly make his way to where his armour is so he could radio a replacement from the Daedalus as well as some bigger guns. He made his way South towards the same mountain he first tried to get into months earlier. He had a decent idea of where he was going, he memorized the layout of the mountain as it was in the information system, at least the upper parts. He assumed it stretched far underground as well which the information system had not known, or it was made too recently for the system to find it. Atlas scoped out the front entrance to the mountain for several hours, when he saw his moment to strike. These lizards were a hivemind, at least the warriors were. The work drones that slaved away were not interconnected to the hive of warriors, so as long as he kept away from the warriors he would be fine. Atlas made his way slowly towards an open crate, he climbed into it slowly and shut it. He would hide in this and make his way inside. He felt as one of the drones lurched the crate onto its back and started to walk into the mountain, now he must only wait. After about an hour of being carried into the mountain the drone that was carrying him suddenly stopped. The crate he was in was set down and Atlas heard hissing and slashing noises. He heard a dull thud of something heavy hitting the ground, suddenly the crate he was in was ripped open and he saw something he never thought he would. Korvan was standing in front of him. Atlas asked, ¡°How did you get here?¡± Korvan said, ¡°I might say the same with you. I felt as though you were gone far longer than you should have been, so i did a little research and found that they love themselves a little bit of fire. I am pretty much a god to them now, they seemed to only go backwards in the evolutionary chain, they used to be able to speak, not this screeching that they do now, and they also did not used to be a hivemind. Anyway, I know where your armour is and your sword has been won by one of their strongest warriors, they found you had escaped the hole, they brought me there to show you they had captured a powerful foe.¡± Atlas smirked and said, ¡°These lizards sure are tough bastards, soul harvest wouldn¡¯t work, I probably should¡¯ve went with fire, too late for that now. Lend me your radio will ya.¡± Korvan gave Atlas his radio and he contacted Karee and said, ¡°Greetings from a dead man, I need a little something if you would.¡± Karee asked, ¡°What would that be?¡± Atlas said casting Korvan a sly smile, ¡°Drop some firebombs to distract them, drop em on a secondary mountain about 40 clicks south of our current position. We need a distraction.¡± Karee responded, ¡°What do you mean we?¡± Atlas looked at Korvan and asked him without the radio on, ¡°You didn¡¯t tell her you came did you?¡± Korvan said, ¡°Nope, It was much easier that way.¡± Atlas paused for a moment, looking at Korvan who shrugged and said, ¡°What she doesn¡¯t know won¡¯t hurt her.¡± Atlas nodded and said to Karee, ¡°I¡¯m referring to me, myself and I. Don''t worry too much.¡± Karee responded , ¡°Alright, just make sure you give them what they got coming to them.¡± Atlas laughed and said, ¡°Balance will be the last thing they see. I won¡¯t be too much longer.¡± Korvan asked Atlas, ¡°Why did you say to drop them on a mountain to the south?¡± Atlas replied, ¡°It is their breeding ground. They will rush to defend, leaving us time to get my armour back.¡± Atlas and Korvan made their way to where his armour was, Atlas was in bindings with Korvan leading him, so the drones they passed would think nothing of it. They arrived and Korvan released Atlas and he repaired his armour, to a great deal of pain to himself by re implanting the spinal brace which the armour attaches to. He finished his armour repairs and re donned his once white armour which was pitted, scratched and dented in many places. He and Korvan turned to see a single warrior, Atlas went to immediately kill it when Korvan stopped him and said, ¡°You will alert all of them, don¡¯t.¡± Atlas said, ¡°They hate fire don¡¯t they, let''s give em all of the fire I got. You might want to get back to the Daedalus also, the Fire spares no one except me.¡± Korvan nodded and used apochrimation to return to the Daedalus. Atlas dug deep down into his mind and said, ¡°Anyone home? I got a house call for a Hell of a lot of Fire, and we don¡¯t have much time until the deadline.¡± Atlas felt the laughing of the Fire as he slowly took over, his armour glowed a brilliant red then he burst into the all familiar Fire, who remembered these lizards well. The single warrior turned to meet the Fire in all of his intense glory. The warrior screeched, alerting the entire planet of warriors, and the Fire turned him into a pile of molten scales and insides. He did not stop there however as he made his way to the warrior who had Atlas¡¯s sword. He found him quickly and he screeched in their tongue, ¡°The fires of Hell beseech you, burn now and end in ash.¡± The Fire worked up great energy and dispatched it in a blast that routed out the mountain he was under, every hall, every room, every lizard whose foul stench lined the walls, turned to ash. This happened in mere seconds and after he did that he called Atlas back. Atlas went down to one knee and asked the Fire, ¡°Could you keep the temp down a little next time, I can barely breathe in here now.¡± The Fire chuckled and said, ¡°You call yourself a pyromaniac, Ha! You are merely attracted to the visual, not the actual never ending ravenous hunger that is true fire.¡± Atlas shook his head to that and grabbed his sword which he could feel the heat through his gauntlets. Atlas sheathed his sword and marched on, he made his way towards the breeding mountain, clearly distinguishable as it was doused in flame and billowed smoke across the entire planet. Alas found the main entrance currently blocked my large stone doors that looked ancient but were basically brand new. Altas opened them and faced an army of lizards in front of him. He charged his sword full of energy and used the skills the Blademaster had taught him and he channeled it into his sword which burst into flame and made the lizards jump and start to slowly crawl backwards, retreating further into the caves. Atlas walked towards them, and the bravest were also the first to die as he cut through them, bodies turning to ash. Those warriors too scared to fight fled deeper into the tunnels, other''s rushed to protect their Queen who was at the center. All Atlas had to do was follow the largest group of lizards to where the Queen would be located. Atlas came upon a massive cavern, along with a massive gathering of lizards around a door, which was about as large as the cavern itself. The warriors turned to him and screeched, the ones in the far back merely stood silent and did not move when Atlas started cutting through their ranks. Once Atlas had cleared all of the warriors except those standing still in the far back he approached them when one of them spoke to him, his helmet made it to where he could understand and communicate with them. The first of the lizards said, ¡°You have disgraced this planet with your stench and your evil magic.¡± The second lizard said, ¡°You must explain yourself to our court.¡± The third said, ¡°Who are you stranger, and why do you kill our people?¡± Atlas responded to them all, ¡°I am the Reaper of the Three, and your time has come to play a part in the destiny of this Universe, and your fate is to die, here and now.¡± The third said, ¡°You have no say in how we die, we cannot be harmed by a mere mortal, for we have been here since our race was started. We are protected by the Obelisk of Kings, which is not here.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Oh right, about that¡­.¡± he radioed Karee and saif, ¡°Level the other mountain, use the big stuff as well.¡± The three lizards looked at each other as Atlas spoke in English, he then said to them, ¡°Let me show you my power.¡± As he said that the planet shook with large impacts, Atlas raised his hands out to the sides as if controlling it. The three lizards shuddered when the bombs reached the obelisk and obliterated it, causing the power to fade and disappear. They fell down to their knees and screeched, ¡°What have you done?¡± Atlas said, ¡°It is not what I have done, it¡¯s what I have not done that you should be worried about. Now it is time, for your race to play its part in destiny. Your fate is at its end, balance will consume you all.¡± Atlas walked forward and cut down the three lizards, who screeched the entire time he did, feeling pain as they had not felt in thousands of years. After he had killed them Atlas faced the massive door that stood between him and his prize, the hive queen. He charged energy into his sword and it burst into flame, he swung once punched a hole in the massive door. He looked over the breeding fields and was disgusted by what he saw, thousands of writhing and screeching lizards, who generation by generation strayed further from their original lives, he saw in the far back an immensely large lizard, and four guards who were also large in size. He walked through the fields, ignoring the biting and clawing lizards around him. He reached a large open space which the four guards were located. They lumbered around to face him and the queen screeched, the entire cavern went silent and the guards charged Atlas. He smirked under his helmet and ignited his sword once again, it burned furiously, nearly a white flame and he too charged forward. He mindlessly swept away the first two guards and soon after dispatched the last two. He walked towards the queen when he heard a quiet but large thumping. Like something extremely large was on its way. The queen hissed, ¡°You will die here and now, my King is on his way.¡± Atlas turned to see the hole he placed in the massive door was blocked by something on the other side, the door flew open, sending quakes throughout the entire cavern. In the doorway Atlas saw an immensely large lizard and he chuckled, he turned to the queen and said, ¡°I was going to take you for my trophy, but he¡¯ll make a better addition to my collection.¡± He threw his sword straight into the queens head, killing the broodmother instantly. Enraged the massive King of Lizards rushed Atlas, shaking the cavern and causing the ceiling to come apart in pieces, which crashed down. Atlas charged as well, headfirst into what he called, structured exercise. He jumped and ignited his blade which glowed a fiery white, the hottest of flames. He and the behemoth clashed sending a shockwave through the entire mountain. CHAPTER V: Greed Encompases all Beings Atlas arrived on the bridge of the Daedalus, in a fiery haze, his armour was covered in dust and ash, and was scorched in parts, his visor was cracked and Karee asked him, ¡°What happened down there?¡± Atlas said, ¡°I ran into a lizard the size of a small mountain. I got it though, it¡¯s in the hold currently. I will return, in the meantime, Korvan. You know what to do.¡± Korvan nodded and activated the Helios Beam. Atlas watched the beam strike the planet and engulf it in mere minutes. Atlas went to repair his armour, adding in peripheral sensors that would alert him of any life within 20 feet of his current location, he also linked the armour together better so it could not be ripped apart so easily, he also added technical pieces that increased the durability of his armour and made it look twice as menacing. Atlas returned to the bridge as the Helios Beam was finishing and Korvan hit the button to release the Seed of Life, and all present on the bridge watched until it impacted the planet and they were about to move onto the next planet when they were contacted by Fate. Fate said, ¡°Reaper, you are to seek council with us immediately, it is a matter of utmost importance.¡± Atlas replied, ¡°I will master, We will be there as fast as this ship can take us.¡± Atlas teleported to the largest engines maintenance room. He placed a hand on part of the engine¡¯s massive casing and charged energy into it, hypercharging the ship''s thrusters. He radioed Karee and said, ¡°To the Realm of Three, punch it.¡± He felt the ship lurch forward at a much greater speed than he thought it would. They arrived at the Realm of Three in mere minutes. They tore through the rift that served as the mouth of the portal to the Realm of Three. Atlas stopped hyper charging the engine and he felt it slow down. He teleported to the bridge where he saw the massive towers approaching, and a presence of concern clung to everything around him. He could feel anger as well, confusion, and even fear. Karee brought the Daedalus into a near enough position and Atlas teleported to the lower platform of the middle tower, he walked fast towards the lift as he could sense the urgency in the air around him. Atlas reached the top to see all 5 brothers, and the Seer on his knees, writhing in pain. Atlas asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Fate looked at him and said, ¡°The Seer failed us for the last time, he lied for the last time, and now, he shall die. Reaper, do your worst.¡± Atlas wanted to question the 5 but he knew that would not end well, then he thought of the Fourth brother in him, what would he think needs to be done here, or the Fire even. The Seer and the Fire are brothers after all and there must be some sort of bond there. He dug deep down within himself and asked the Fire, ¡°Should I execute the Seer as the 5 want me to?¡± The Fire replied, ¡°If it is their command let it be, I have no say in this, but there¡¯s another that might, try him.¡± Atlas searched deeper down within, looking and crawling his way through his very being in search of the Fourth, he found the Fourth in the deepest part of his soul. The Fourth knew he was there and said, ¡°My brothers make hasty decisions when they are in fear, but they make only decisions to benefit the Universe as a whole, the Seer has lied many times, this I know, they have grown weary of it now, and he will no longer be permitted to exist.¡± Atlas asked, ¡°Do you know why even?¡± The Fourth Replied, ¡°I do. I cannot tell you. Fate will have to as it is not my duty to question why or tell you in any way, you are the Reaper. You follow orders, nothing else.¡± With that the Fourth withdrew even further, farther than Atlas could go. Atlas opened his eyes and looked at all of the 5, who were now all looking at him. He looked at the Seer, who looked at him, his eyes seeming to say do what they say. Atlas raised a hand to the Seer, he gathered energy until he could not hold it in any longer, he used his soul harvest on the Seer, as he did the Seer talked to him through the connection created. He said, ¡°They will send you away, to a place you do not want to destroy, you will be tested, I created a little white lie, they will not stand for anything other than balance, I hope my knowledge will give you an edge on your future, goodbye Jack the Reaper.¡± Atlas said back to him, ¡°Farewell friend, may your mind be at peace, I will use your knowledge and remember what you did for me.¡± With that Atlas started his path, and the Fourths plan for revenge was set in motion. Atlas did not even realize this was the Fourths plan all along, to swing him over to betray the 5 and become the most powerful. The Fourth also knew when his 5 other brothers planned to bring him back, ridding themselves of Atlas as he is merely a tool until they can remove the Fourth from him. Atlas did not know this, and he would continue to play as their pawn. Atlas thought long and hard on what the Seer said. Where would they send him that he would not want to destroy? He could not think of a planet he was more attached to then any other hunk of rock in space. He waited for the Three to tell him his next location. Fate approached him and said, ¡°Reaper. Your next mission will send you home.¡± Atlas asked, ¡°What do you mean home? The Daedalus is my home.¡± Fate shook his head and said, ¡°Your true home. Earth.¡± Atlas asked, ¡°What am I to do their?¡± Destiny said, ¡°Balance it.¡± Atlas stood motionless and shocked. After a minute long pause Atlas said, ¡°Surely they have not become enough to upset the balance, there must be some other reason?¡± Time said, ¡°Their time has come Reaper, make sure it happens. Balance is a fragile thing after all.¡± Atlas looked down and deliberated continued questioning but he did not. He said, ¡°As you wish, I will return when it is done.¡± The Three said in unison, ¡°Make it swift Reaper.¡± Atlas walked back to the Daedalus with only one thought on his mind, a thought of a girl, the only one he could never hurt. If he did this, his promise would be broken, he would have nothing to continue on with. He made a decision there and now while walking back to the Daedalus, he would help the Fourth gain his revenge. He boarded the Daedalus and told Karee he would drive to the next location. Karee gave him an awkward look but shrugged it off and stepped aside. Atlas took the controls of the Daedalus, the ship that carried him off of his home, will now bring him back. As he started the path of the Daedalus he said, ¡°Clear the bridge, everyone. I need time to think.¡± Karee made sure everyone was out and before she left she told Atlas, ¡°We are all here for you, should you need to talk, we will always listen.¡± Atlas nodded to her and she left shutting the blast door to the bridge as she left leaving Atlas alone on the bridge. He screamed within his soul, to get the attention of the Fourth, he screamed, ¡°I¡¯M IN.¡± The Fourth rose to respond and said, ¡°Good, I will talk you through how this will need to go down to work flawlessly.¡± All the way to Earth Atlas and the Fourth talked and deliberated how exactly to take down the 5 without them knowing it was Atlas who had done it. Their conversation cut off when Atlas saw Earth on the far horizon. He never thought he would, in any timely fashion, return home. He thought at most he would have to wait thousands of years before he could return and balance then maybe but currently he was on the Fourths mission, not the Three. Atlas called his bridge crew back in and told Karee to bring the Daedalus around to the rear of the moon around the planet. After he looked back out at Earth he saw another ship. He looked closely and realized it was a resistance ship, it vanished out of sight and within seconds dozens of resistance ship''s came out of deep space to block their path. Atlas became annoyed, he was getting tired of these resistance fighters, their time would come soon with him and the Fourths plan. Atlas waited for a moment as the resistance ship''s went into position around Earth and Atlas was about ready to wipe them clear of the galaxy when he saw his opportunity to. He was contacted by the flagship of the resistance, the ¡°Liberte¡± or a rough translation of it. The message said, ¡°We have captured your cloned spy set on this planet for your eventual destruction of it, we also have another prisoner on board that we think you might want.¡± With that an image was brought alongside the message, an image of a girl, Atlas knew who it was. He could not forget her face, her smile. He became angered greatly, he said to Karee, ¡°Ready the single seat fighter prototype, I have something to finish.¡± Atlas teleported to Hangar Bay X where the prototype he had been working on in spare time whenever he found it. He was going to test out what it could do and crush this rebellion here and now. Atlas climber into the menacing ship which only had one purpose, to destroy. He retrofitted the small assault ship with a much smaller version of the Helios Beam which is intended to take out large frigates, about the size and smaller than the Daedalus. He also had placed several rocket pods on it to gain an immensely staggering amount of firepower on such a small ship. He also used leftover engine parts scavenged by his crew to build a highly experimental Hyper engine which is capable of near lightspeed travel at all times not including the lightspeed mode, it also creates a nice red trail of fiery plasma wherever it goes, streaking for about 15 feet behind the ship at all times, creating great boots of speed and capable of insanely fast accelerations and decelerations. This ship also has a stealth transmitter which refracts the light around the entirety of the ship so the black of space bends around it and makes the ship extremely hard to see and also reduces the amount of plasma shooting out of the exhaust port on the rear of the ship. Atlas radioed Karee, ¡°Open Hangar X, I¡¯m setting out.¡± As the large hangar door opened, Atlas was very determined, he also had never flown a ship like this so he was basically winging the entire thing. Atlas shot out of the hangar much faster than he thought he would, he made the engine much more powerful than he anticipated he would¡¯ve. He was flying around and he was not really worried about the engine exploding as much as he was worried he would not be able to control the ship well enough to do what he wanted to with it, which was simply destroy the rebels flagships main guard ships. Atlas finally got used to the ship''s handling and speed but he was in no way a great pilot. He set the stealth drive and went in towards the frigates, ¡°Freedome¡± and ¡°Justicar¡±, the two guard ships for the flagship of the rebels. Atlas started charging the mini Helios Beam and he got into position to where he could rip through both of the guard frigates and not hit the flagship, he overcharged the initial blast so it would tear through the first and hit the second taking both of them at once. Atlas fired the beam and disintegrated the first ship instead of punching through it and the beam smashed into the second one destroying it in seconds, this canceled his stealth drive and also debilitated the weapon for a while, how long exactly he was not sure. He did not account for the stealth drive to fail but he did route the circuitry for it near the beams travel for ease of access instead of better design. He saw the smaller assault ship''s turn to face him and start firing, he placed a hand on the nearest engine part and he pulsed energy through it, he shot forward, easily able to dodge the incoming missiles and armaments. He radioed Karee to open fire on the ship''s but not to hit the flagship or damage it in any way. He would try to figure out how not to die going about the normal speed of the Daedalus in a ship a fraction of the size, he could feel the ship shaking from the immense power coursing through the engine but he was determined, he turned the ship around and pointed it near the flagship, he sped right up beside it, so close in fact he almost scrapped along the bottom of the prototype ship''s hull, he used Apochrimation to teleport on board, sword already drawn and he put in the return command to the ship which would in theory bring the ship back to the Deadalus. He was on a mission now, find the girl, find his love. Atlas made his way to the bridge, cutting down all the rebels that got into his way. He was fueled by anger, he was unstoppable by anything the rebels threw at him. He made his way to the bridge in minutes from where he landed. As he approached the door it opened, revealing a man sitting in a chair facing away from the door and looking out at the battle going on. Atlas looked around the room, he saw no sign of the girl. He spoke with anger in every word he managed to spit out before he went berserk, ¡°Where. Is. She.¡± The man spun around quickly, startled, and he yelled in panic, ¡°How did you get here?¡± Atlas said, ¡°I am the Reaper, there is no place that can withhold me. I will not ask again.¡± The man said, We don¡¯t have her here anymore, she is onboard our fastest ship currently taking her away to our capitol, a place even you would be unwise enough to attack alone.¡± Atlas chuckled at that and responded, ¡°So there is no reason you should live then, or any of your men for that matter. Good to know.¡± He radioed Karee and said, ¡°Activate all forward batteries, leave no trace of these filth.¡± Atlas walked to the man and grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. He said, ¡°You will tell me where their capital is, or I will pry it out of your mind and make you cry out in intense pain as I rip the memory out of you, your choice and you better choose quick.¡± The man managed to say, ¡°I will say nothing, and you do not have that power.¡± Atlas burst out laughing and said, ¡°I destroy planets, and extinct species with naught as much as a blink of an eye, one more soul to torture is nothing compared to my true power.¡± Atlas threw him aside, into a wall of the bridge and held out a hand. He used Soul Harvest as he had on the Seer, taking his knowledge and all with him, however he put a twist on it. He tweaked the speed at which the lifeforce was drained out of the man, who turned out to be the Admiral of the Rebels ship force. The admiral screamed out in pain, Atlas yelled over the screams, ¡°I told you I would, did I not? I will always get what I want, I am the Reaper of the Three, and balance will overcome you.¡± After Atlas had his fun with the Admiral he used the ship''s console to divert a retreat back to their base to stock up, all forces needed.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. He planned that after his little Earth visit to wipe them out once and for all. Atlas called for a tracker to be put on the Flagship so he could cement the location of the Rebels main base and hubworld. He set the autopilot on the flagship for the retreat coordinates and reboarded the Daedalus. He told Karee when he arrived on the bridge, ¡°Do not follow them, we will deal with them later, we must restore the balance first.¡± Atlas waited as Karee brought the Daedalus into range where he could make an entrance. He told Karee to open the cargo hold doors and hover for a bit, he would make a grand entrance back home. Atlas teleported to the cargo hold as the doors were slowly opening. Atlas noticed the large amount of troops amassed near the Daedalus, and a great deal of people waiting. He jumped from the cargo hold and sped down hundreds of feet, ready to do what he was here to do. He landed in a large open area around a half mile away from the group that had gathered. He waited in the position he had landed until the military trucks surrounded him within minutes. He went from the kneeling position he had landed into a standing position. He looked around at the surrounding soldiers, spinning in a full circle. He focused on a particularly different vehicle that seemed more reinforced and more armoured and he approached it and was met by a group of men who were hesitant to approach. The man who had been brave enough to get closest to him spoke with at first a shaky but then confident voice. The man said, ¡°I am Gerault Erwin and I am a scientist on this planet, which we call Earth. Do you understand me?¡± Atlas chose to screw around with them and instead of speaking he would try to convey actions with motions. The man continued, ¡°Where are you from? How did you get here?¡± Atlas pointed at the Daedalus which was still clearly visible and dominated most of the sky. The scientist went on, ¡°Can you speak our language since you can understand it?¡± Atlas nodded and started to mess around with his helmets voice system, he converted his helmet into a computer like voice that would make it seem like he was a vastly superior lifeform using a computer like device to relay communications. Atlas spoke, ¡°I speak for our race which is approximately 10,000 light years as your species calls it, away. We have been watching you for a long time.¡± The scientist asked, ¡°Why have you been watching us?¡± Atlas said, ¡°To determine whether or not you would become a threat, but you have not discovered the means to interstellar travel so we are not worried, your weapons are not great enough to harm us.¡± The scientist looked around at the other''s around him and asked, ¡°Do you have a name, and could you tell us why you are here?¡± Atlas said, ¡°My name cannot translate to your tongue, but you can call me by the name most of the galaxy knows me by, Atlas. I have another thing to tell you as well¡­¡­¡± Atlas paused, raising the scientist''s curiosity, ¡°.....I¡¯m¡­¡± he slowly changed his helmets electronically generated distorter to revert to his normal voice and continued, ¡°.... not as much an alien as you think.¡± The scientist looked around mildly panicked and asked, ¡°What do you mean by that, and what is happening to your voice?¡± Atlas filled his helmet full of mist and when it was full he took it off, creating a mystical reveal. He said with a voice he barely remembered having, ¡°I. Am. Human.¡± The mist dispersed as he finished his sentence and revealed his face, causing surprise throughout the group assembled. The scientist exclaimed, ¡°How is this possible?¡± Atlas asked, ¡°What year is it, I must know, how long have I been away?¡± The scientist said, ¡°2024, how long has it been?¡± Atlas said, ¡°7, 7 years it has been. Let me get more comfortable.¡± Atlas arched his back and threw his elbows back, putting his armour into the spinal sheath, leaving him in more normal looking clothes. ¡°That is much better, I don''t look so menacing now do I?¡± The scientist said, ¡°You came from space and claim to be a human, menacing is all that you are.¡± Atlas laughed at that and said, ¡°Calm down then, Gerault, right?¡± The scientist responded, ¡°Yes, Dr. Gerault Erwin.¡± Atlas said, ¡°I remember a paper you wrote to me a long time ago when I sent you a thesis I worked up about alien life.¡± Gerault said, ¡°Really? I don''t remember anyone named Atlas writing me before.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Ah, you did not listen to what I said earlier. Atlas is the name the galaxy knows me by, my Earthly name, is Jack.¡± Gerault said, ¡°Well Jack, it¡¯s good to meet you.¡± Atlas said, ¡°It¡¯s good to meet you as well, as well as being back home in many a long year. It feels like it has been longer than 7 years, mainly because it has been but¡­.¡± Gerault cut him off, ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Atlas said, ¡°Time is relative remember. I found it applies to all objects in the Universe, not only the beings. Time is different with every planet you go on and every place you go there is a clock ticking at a different speed. That''s not the only kicker I have to tell you thought, wanna hear my secret?¡± Gerault asked, ¡°What might that be?¡± Atlas laughed and said, ¡°I¡¯ve been dead for the past 7 years.¡± Gerault kinda chuckled and soon found that Atlas wasn¡¯t joking. Both Atlas and Gerault spoke for a good while before Atlas got to the part he found difficult to deliver. He started by telling him of his life up to the moment he and the Seer left Earth, he left out all details about the Three and told his story up until he arrived at Earth once again. After telling the story Gerault asked him, ¡°What about those other ships, we saw hundreds of them in the sky, and they were attacking the ship you have.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Well as I said, the people I work for whom I still cannot name at this point, are in somewhat of a disagreement with that group. Speaking of my ship, I call it the Daedalus, what do you think?¡± Gerault said, ¡°The ship is very large, was it always like that or was it slowly built up?¡± Atlas said, ¡°It was no larger than that helicopter over there when it carried me off of this planet, I built it in the behemoth it is now with the help of my crew, a race of super intelligent and extremely fast builders whom I saved, the Nebrechions, if you remember them from my little story.¡± Gerault asked, ¡°So why did you return, other than to mess with us a little, what exactly has happened that you felt you should return.¡± Atlas said, ¡°My business brings me here, sadly. I don''t understand why it brought me here either, I stand by my words earlier, Earth is not much of a threat to the Universe.¡± Gerault asked, ¡°Do you know how big the Universe is, you seemed to have been everywhere?¡± Atlas said, ¡°I do in fact know, it is not infinite as you may think, their are ends to it, for a specific reason which I cannot explain. It may as well be infinite as big as it is, anyway, how goes life here. I remember some minor things going on when I left.¡± Gerault said with a sigh, ¡°We have been taken over, our government failed and the strongest took over, they allowed us to continue our research thought, these soldiers are our private militia though, they are separate and are good people.¡± Atlas said, ¡°I could help with that problem.¡± Gerault asked, ¡°What do you mean help? Like attack him? He has the support of nearly all of the world.¡± Atlas laughed and said, ¡°I have a really big gun¡­.¡± Gerault said, ¡°What will a really big gun do against thousands of nuclear weapons?¡± Atlas laughed and asked, ¡°Want me to show you the power of the weapon?¡± Gerault said, ¡°I would actually, what do you call it?¡± Atlas said, I call it the Helios Beam, not after the god but after the system in the middle of the Universe. The largest cluster of stars in the Universe, full of power and highly dangerous should it go boom. I¡¯ll call in a smaller ship, which has a smaller version on it, which I used to obliterate two ship''s in the earlier fight. I haven¡¯t even named this one yet, it¡¯s a prototype.¡± Gerault and Atlas waited as the ship sped into view within seconds after Atlas called out for it. Atlas climbed in and had Gerault get into the passenger ship. Atlas said before they took off, ¡°Keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times, and make sure your seatbelt is firmly latched¡­.¡± Gerault said, ¡°There¡¯s no seat belts.¡± Atlas laughed and punched the throttle on the ship, and it was sent flying through the atmosphere towards the Daedalus which was near the moon now, getting into position for the helios beam. Gerault was nearly crushed by the G¡¯s let off by the ship accelerating when Atlas pushed a button and the chamber pressurize and the force was eliminated. Atlas said, ¡°Sorry about that, I normally wear my armour when I fly small ship''s so I don''t need it pressurized. My armour is basically a survival suit, near indestructible and very comfortable. It was compressed into the spinal implant that I have, it was the most painful thing I have ever felt actually, and it was almost ruined on the last planet I visited.¡± Gerault asked, ¡°I thought we were going to see the small one? Why are we going on board your ship?¡± Atlas said, ¡°I forgot something which I probably shouldn¡¯t have. I won¡¯t be long, wait here.¡± Atlas teleported onto the Daedalus and he went to the armoury where his sword was, he facepalmed that he forgot it before he went to Earth and missed out on the even cooler entrance but it was too late now. He teleported back into the prototype ship in which Gerault was getting worried and jumped when Atlas teleported back in. He immediately asked, ¡° How did you do that? Is that a sword?¡± Atlas said, ¡°All in good time Gerault, in good time.¡± Let''s go shoot a big gun then eh?¡± Atlas flew to one of the cities he remembered, but they were different. Atlas asked, ¡°Where is a really important place for this new government?¡± Gerault said, ¡°Well their capital for one but no flying vehicles other than military are allowed to fly over or even within 200 miles of the city.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Good thing I got a spaceship then hmm? Besides, they can¡¯t shoot what they can''t see.¡± Atlas activated the stealth drive again, hoping it would work in places other than space but he soon found that flying past several military aircraft he was completely unseen. He and Gerault flew up to the city limits, and they both hated what they saw, human slaves, Atlas knew they would not be saved from the smaller Helios Beam being shot but he hoped it would ease their suffering, his human side was returning the longer he spent here. Gerault said, ¡°That building over there, the tall black one is the center of their chain of command, it is said that no weapon can fall it.¡± Atlas said, ¡°They haven¡¯t met me yet then. This is going to be a light show, but I am not sure on the blast radius, the original was meant to destroy planets, im not sure what this one will do.¡± Gerault said, ¡°That is the same with most of our recent experiments, we have had some, let¡¯s just say, unfortunate happenings.¡± Atlas pushed the button to charge the small beam weapon, and before it fired the stealth field went down as it had before, Atlas mentioned, ¡°It¡¯s supposed to happen, don¡¯t worry, there won¡¯t be much left to chase us anyway.¡± The beam fired and hurtled at the building, smashing into it and causing it to disintegrate on impact and release a magnificent explosion which eventually engulfed the entire city and even 50 miles away from the city. The crater it left was massive and Gerault sat in shock, while Atlas praised his weapon. He said, ¡°My gun did the job, even with the unfortunate deaths of the innocent, time will bring only more sadly.¡± As he and Gerault made their way away from the blast crater, hundreds of military planes and attack vehicles swarmed the scene, Atlas thought of this as a good opportunity to reveal his true mission on Earth. Atlas said, ¡°Gerault, I have not been totally truthful with you. I am not here for a mere visit. My business is a grim one, as in Grim Reaper. I was tasked with a job, to keep the balance, and the balance is on a Universal scale, meaning, any planet that is no longer required on a universal scale, is cleansed of all life and everything, I then populate it with some of the most basic organisms to restart the evolutionary chain. Every planet I show up on, ends and begins in the same day. All life gone until I replace it. I am here because I was told to, I am however willing to spare some of the greater minds of this planet and possibly a few more than that. I would also like to find whoever''s in charge of this country now, so that I may, speak with him for a while.¡± Gerault said, ¡°So you kill planets for a living? That must leave some sort of regrets behind.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Not really, I see it as needed, and I restart the evolution of life on every planet, although after I destroy it. I see it as necessary although my thoughts are changing, because I cannot find any reason as to why I must take Earth in the name of balance, Earth should be millenia away from that point and there is nothing that deems it over worthy. That is why we came up with a new plan.¡± Gerault asked, ¡°What do you mean by we?¡± Atlas said, ¡°Right, their youngest and strongest brother had his physical self destroyed after he let greed overcome his role, he did what I do now, keep the balance by destroying and recreating life on planets on the verge of collapse. He traveled the galaxy in search of one who could bring him back to his physical self and get revenge on his brothers, me. I did not want to help him at first, but seeing recent events that have unfolded, I may yet change my mind, now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I have an army to get rid of.¡± Atlas teleported out to the bottom of the ship, while it was still in flight but put into a hover mode. As he fell he donned his armour and drew his sword charging it with electrical energy. He slammed the ground as the blade reached the power limit it could hold, and it released an EMP like burst that disrupted all electronics in a radius around him, he wasn¡¯t exactly sure how large it was but large enough to take down the incoming helicopters. Atlas looked and saw the prototype was still functional which he was both happy and confused about, being that it ran with electricity. Atlas shrugged it off and scanned the horizon, with no new threats he teleported back to the prototype ship, and both he and Gerault flew back to where Atlas landed on Earth. For a couple days Gerault and Atlas talked over how Atlas would take the capitol, and it ended up with Atlas saying he would march on it alone, on foot, and he would level it. Gerault when he heard this said, ¡°That is not wise at all, they are not afraid to use the weapons that are meant to level mountains.¡± Atlas simply laughed and said, ¡°I¡¯ve fought lizards the size of mountains and won, I will not be stopped by weak weapons, besides, They can''t shoot them if they¡¯re dead.¡± CHAPTER VI: Balance Always Wins Atlas flew his prototype ship he named, ¡®Lil Hammer¡¯ on account of its size and firepower, also because he couldn¡¯t think of a better name to replace it. He flew it straight towards the military super complex that Gerault told him was the epicenter for their government. Atlas was not in stealth and he had only one thought on his mind, get it done quick, he had someone to save in another system. Atlas put the ship into return to Daedalus mode and he teleported under it and once again fell, this time with his sword, burning with white hot fire. He slammed into the ground and sent a shockwave to the front gate and wall of the base, obliterating it and sending an alarm up. He thought as the alarm rang, good, bring me more to kill. He made his way towards a central complex at the base which he would find the new world leader, and he would take him as his prize. Atlas stood and walked towards the base and entered it through what once was a gate, and now reduced to fiery rubble. He walked past the bodies of the unsuspecting soldiers who were unlucky enough to get hit by the flying rubble, he walked towards the thousands in his way, in the way of him keeping a promise. He cut down every man who threw themselves at him, their weapons not able to bust his armour, not able to scratch it, but they still fired on their weapons. They amassed a very large group in the front of the building Atlas needed to get into as a sort of last stand. Atlas sheathed his sword as they fired, laughing he raised a hand and soul harvested all of the soldiers blocking his way, knowing how the world he once loved fell into chaos. He wanted to cleanse this filth from it, but not destroy all of it. He knew the Five would know when he did not destroy it, he knew they would find him immediately, he and the Fourth must begin their plan sooner rather than later. He entered the building and approached a large heavy metal door. He drew his sword and charged it with flames, he cut through the door within minutes, which revealed yet another door. He cut through that one and was met with a long slowly sloping downward tunnel. The tunnel went farther than he could see and he thought of an easy way to get down in the least amount of time. He fashioned himself a board using pieces of rubble from the surrounding area and scrounge up some wheels and other miscellaneous parts. He built himself a skateboard, he traveled down the tunnel, digging the blade in the ground behind him to control his speed when the Fourth arose to speak with him. The Fourth began, ¡°Reaper, your path has been long and hard. The time has come, I am ready for what must be done. When we finish here, do not destroy the planet yet, let me once again feel what it¡¯s like to be my old self for a little while, then it must happen.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Do you want me to end this quickly then?¡± The Fourth said, ¡°The faster, the sooner, time has no affect on me, nor did it on you until recent events. Time is of the essence for you, if you are to save her.¡± Atlas nodded and smirked, he lifted his blade, which caused him to pick up speed exponentially and scream down the tunnel at a much greater speed than previously. When he was near the bottom he charged his blade and held it in both hands above his head. A he reached the bottom floor he slammed the blade into the ground, transferring all of the force into the ground in turn, shattering the remaining barriers blocking his way, and cracking the ground for miles down. He stood up and pulled his sword from the massive crack and sheathed it approaching the dazed soldiers. He grabbed the one he assumed was the highest rank and asked him, ¡°Where is your leader? Do not make me ask again.¡± The soldier only managed to spit out an insult to Atlas and laugh, which in turn made Atlas laugh. He threw the soldier aside and soul harvested him, leaving the other''s watching in fear. Atlas turned to them and only said, ¡°Where.¡± for a moment they all paused, when one finally pointed down a corridor behind Atlas. Atlas bowed and said, ¡°Now that wasn¡¯t so hard was it.¡± Atlas turned and went to walk away when he was shot at, his armour reflecting the bullet. He turned to meet the soldier who pointed down the corridor, he held up a hand and shook his finger. In a flash of intense speed Atlas sent his sword flying towards the soldier. The sword cut through him like nothing and embedded itself into the wall behind him. As the soldier slowly fell to his knees, blood shooting everywhere, Atlas laughed and walked away. Leaving the remaining soldiers in shock. Atlas followed the corridor and came upon the room in which he found what he was looking for, the leader of this world. He kicked the door in, sending it flying across the room, causing machine guns to trace the path of the door lighting it up. Atlas chuckled at that and walked into the room. He was immediately blanketed with machine gun fire, his armour not even denting as the lead rounds plinked off and hit the floor. He stood in the center of the room as the machine guns fired away at him. His plan at this point was to wait until they were out of ammo and then continue on, which was seeming to take forever. As he noticed the machine guns were getting semi low on ammo, they were still pelting away, one of the free soldiers stepped into a small room and slid out several large rectangular boxes and carried out and interesting looking device. The soldier opened one of the boxes which revealed several large drums which he loaded into the weapon. The soldier shoulder mounted the weapon and flipped some switches, the machine guns paused for a bit and a red laser found its mark on Atlas¡¯s chest. Atlas held a hand out to his side, he summoned his sword and it flew from where it was lodged in the wall straight to his outstretched hand smashing through the walls and startling the soldiers in the room. The soldier fired at Atlas, sending a small barrage of missiles out of the weapon. Atlas swung his sword with immense speed and accuracy, cutting the barrage down causing them to explode sending fire racing through the middle of the room. Atlas walked forward, out of the fire and smoke shaking his head. He soul harvested all in the room but the one he needed. The leader crumpled to the floor holding his hands above his head and babbling incoherently. Atlas grabbed him by his throat, heaving him up off of the ground looking into his eyes. Atlas removed his helmet, revealing he was in fact human to the man who gasped. Atlas smirked and said, ¡°I used to love this world, for what it was, always going back and forth from one controlling party to another. What you have done to it, pains me greatly. I, Atlas, hereby take, from you, all of your power, your wealth, and your humanity. I damn you to an eternity, and eternity of being my prisoner. You will never eat, and always be hungry, never drink and always be thirsty. You will never sleep but will be on the verge of dreaming. You will go mad and lose yourself within a week if you¡¯re lucky. You will watch your empire burn, and there will be nothing you can do to save it. Balance has come, you will conform.¡± Atlas called Karee in to bring the Daedalus down near so he could board their mission was done. He also radioed Gerault to gather the ones he wanted to spare in order to help Atlas on the Daedalus with anything that might arise. Gerault still questioned Atlas¡¯s motives about saving the men but he did not refuse the chance to save some of his colleagues and friends. Atlas teleported to the surface with his newest prisoner in tow, and he waited for the Daedalus to arrive, which was within seconds. Atlas teleported the moment he could onto the Daedalus, into the prison block and threw the man into it. He teleported back to where Gerault was, seeing a crowd of about 15 people with him. Atlas thought it was of an acceptable size. He teleported the group on board in a research and development center he had put in but never used. He then teleported to the bridge where Karee and Korvan were waiting. Atlas began, ¡°I have acquired some new hands to help, I took their brightest minds and shoved them into a separate facility near the rear of the ship so they will be quite out of the way. Korvan, you know what to do when we get there.¡± Atlas was contacted by Gerault who asked, ¡°May I see this Helios Beam in action, I feel as though, being a man of science I would love to see it.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Sure.¡± he then teleported to Gerault, grabbed him by the lab coat and teleported back to the bridge where all looked at Gerault. Atlas said, ¡°This is Gerault, the head of our new research division. Gerault, this is Karee and Korvan my second in commands, and those little guys are the Nebrechions I told you about.¡± After a brief set of introductions Gerault asked, ¡°Are you both from Earth as well?¡± Karee looked at him kinda funny and eventually said, ¡°No, we come from a distant planet, Humans are all over the Universe you know.¡± Gerault said, ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. No one on Earth knew or even thought of it. I guess we should¡¯ve been more open minded.¡± As they reached position in orbit Atlas said, ¡°Alright Korvan, burn it.¡± Korvan hit the button, sending the massive fiery beam screaming towards the planet, this time, the planet Atlas was from. Atlas watched as the beam smashed into it, and started spreading the fire across the planet, he looked down for a bit, remembering now, those he once knew, the ones he once called friends. Gerault said, ¡°Oh my¡­..the raw beauty, and its savagery.¡± Atlas said, ¡°The one purpose of this weapon is to reset evolution¡­¡± As the beam faded and stopped, the planet was volcanic looking, being freshly scorched and Atlas continued, ¡°...Korvan, the seed.¡± Korvan hit a second button that sent a pod rocketing down to the planet, you could clearly see it impacting the planet. Gerault asked, ¡°What is that ¡®seed¡¯ for exactly?¡± Atlas responded, ¡°It is the reinstatement of evolution. That is how life on Earth began, and this is how it, like a phoenix, is reborn from its own ashes.¡± Silence followed that statement and as the Daedalus slowly grew more and more distant from the planet, Atlas was reminded of his promise. He felt a sudden rush of memories, memories from his life before Reaper, before Atlas, before all of it. He remembered Jack, he remembered all of his life. He remembered, Anahira, That was her name. He remembered his promise, and he remembered the Rebels. Anger grew within him, he told Karee, ¡°Follow that tracking beacon I set up on their flagship. I have something to take care of.¡± Karee said, ¡°Right away, we¡¯ll catch up in no time, they are only a few systems away.¡± Atlas replied, ¡°Good, good. Make haste, I wish to end this rebellion today.¡± The Daedalus lurched forward into the direction of the rebellion flagship, in the direction of their base, and in the direction, of her. As the Daedalus moved through space, Atlas had his thoughts centered, his mind was enticed once again by her. Atlas knew she would not know who he is, she may not even remember who he was. Would she accept him as he is now, as Atlas. He was no longer Jack, the bound to Earth kid anymore. He threw those foolish thoughts aside and went back through his memories of her, up until the last one where he became choked up a little. His concentration was broken by Gerault who, amidst the long silence was still in awe at the sheer power of the Helios Beam. Gerault said, ¡° I still cannot even begin to think about how that Helios Beam weapon works¡­.¡± Atlas cut him off, ¡°It is not a weapon, it is a tool, the one on the prototype spacecraft however is a weapon. It works because it must, it also is magnified down probably half a million times into what it is now so it is very focused. I would show you but, you could not withstand the dimension in which it is magnified.¡± Gerault asked, ¡°Is it because I am human?¡± Atlas replied, ¡°No, it is because in that dimension, it¡¯s always on, I made sure of that when I built it.¡± Gerault said in wonder, ¡°You built that?¡± Atlas said, ¡°Yes, with a little help from the Three, who are my masters. Now for your job to resume.¡± Atlas grabbed him and teleported back to the research labs. Atlas said, ¡°These computers have blueprints for weapons I thought of and designed, I have not built them yet, all you need to do is figure out how to make them work. I should also tell you, time does not exist here, this is an alternate dimension, so when I leave, and I come back it will feel like a thousand years for you but it will actually be a split second for me. This will ensure you have time enough to make and test these weapons correctly, also each should include the microchips that are in the box over there, they make me able to make small tweaks, or change it to conform to my hands. You have only one rule however, You must remain loyal to me no matter the path that is taken, no matter how this Universe ends, you follow me to the end, or the end will come a lot sooner than you would want. Also there are vending machines that never run out of food and make anything you want, same with the drinking fountain. There is also an exercise area and whatnot to stay in tip top shape. Also you have access to my personal library, minus the Excorpus, which is my private little are where I have the books that teach you how to form black holes out of thin air and other dangerous books. I leave you to your devices gentlemen, your imagination is your only limit here.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Atlas teleported out and the group of scientists led by Gerault got to work on the weapons Atlas had wanted them to start making. Atlas could have made them in seconds but it gives him some sense of command, having others do what he could do for him. This gives him more time to focus on the more important tasks, and time he did not have a lot of for now. As the Daedalus slowly came upon the fleet of rebellion ship''s Atlas teleported to the Research Labs, ready to take up one of his weapon designs. He was surprised that when he got there, they were nowhere near even started on one design. Atlas asked when he got there, ¡°How long have I been gone?¡¯ One of the other scientists replied, ¡°About 5 minutes. Wait. How fast are you?¡± Atlas said, ¡°I must have gotten something wrong, hold on I¡¯ll be back in a few.¡± Atlas teleported to the control room he made for the Research Labs. He checked around and noticed he never actually turned the place on which confused him as to why the electronics work but he flipped a few switches and pulled a lever, teleporting back into the labs he was met by Gerault. Gerault said when he saw him, ¡°Ah, Atlas. Good that you should arrive, we have a fine selection for you to choose from. We have several carbines that you designated, and several pistols. We have that axe you designed too. Here¡¯s what we got so far.¡± Gerault motioned to a wall laden with experimental weapons, each having a different designated name but only one number on them which told the model number, 0001. Atlas surveyed the collection, he handled the axe and swung it around a few times. He told Gerault, ¡°I need a device that masks power outputs, like energy outputs, I¡¯ll calibrate the numbers into it and put the chip into it so I know I can make it work properly afterwards.¡± Gerault asked him, ¡°Do you plan to do something that requires great amounts of power and you want to hide it, I¡¯m sure I can come up with something.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Something like that, I don¡¯t really want the Three to know I took a detour to do what I am planning to do. I¡¯ll be back and hopefully you¡¯re done. Also should you run out of my designs feel free to poke around the library and make whatever you feel like.¡± Atlas teleported out and waited a few seconds, glancing at the ship''s amassed at the rebels main base planet. Atlas teleported back in and was met with Gerault and 2 of his colleagues. Gerault said, ¡°Good, just in time for our final test before we finish your power shielder box.¡± Gerault stepped into a chamber off to the left of the main room. He brought in a power generator that multiplies the power of suns in order to create intense energy. He set a timer on it to 10 seconds and left the chamber. He hit a button which darkened the glass between the chamber and the room which he explained as the light the generator gave off would blind anything that looked at it. As the vibrations given off by the humming of the generator winding up, the glass lightened up slowly revealing the generator after a while and the jet black glass went pale grey. The room soon shook with the amount of power being let off, then Gerault hit a button, activating the power shielder. This immediately caused the shaking to stop and the glass to fade back to jet black. He hit the button again which returned the shaking and the pale grey glass. He repeated this process a few more times at varying levels of power and after they were done he gave Atlas the device. Atlas said, ¡°This will be rewarded greatly if it works, if it fails, I fear we all will perish, or maybe with the fewest casualties at least.¡± Gerault nodded and Atlas teleported out, standing once again on the bridge of the Daedalus. Atlas began, ¡°I have a new device to help us beat these rebels, although we won¡¯t really need it. This box will bring great destruction and will bring an end to their petty schemes and their rebellion.¡± This was when Korvan brought up the point, ¡°What about the shift in power here, won¡¯t that attract attention from the Three?¡± Atlas said, ¡°Any normal times yes, this box however is multi purposeful. This box will simulate their power making it seem they never went away, it also fluctuates at random intervals to show great death or other things like that. This plan is hopefully fail proof, and will not be revealed¡­..Karee, bring us in close, I¡¯ll take care of the rest as normal.¡± Atlas teleported to the hangar bay and got into the prototype attack ship and exited the Daedalus. He slowly approached the fleet or rebel ship''s, and he was contacted over the radio by one of the admirals of the fleet, ¡°Unknown vessel, this is restricted flight space, turn back or be fired upon.¡± Atlas slowed the ship to a stop and contacted the Admiral over the radio, ¡°You have something of mine. You can either give it back, or I will kill all of you and take it.¡± The Admiral replied, ¡°We have taken nothing from anyone, we only saved one from a planet in danger who was to be used to give us an edge, the only danger to her is you.¡± Atlas replied, ¡°Her name, is Anahira, and she knows me even thought she doesn¡¯t think she does. I will not ask again.¡± The Admiral paused for a little bit and replied, ¡°It is unsettling that you know her name, she says she doesn¡¯t know you, and that you are mistaken. Your final warning is here, leave, or be destroyed.¡± Atlas clenched his fist and searched the energies aboard the ship''s, searching for the one he wanted, the one he needed to find. He found her on the planet within their capital, this took a weight off of his shoulders. He radioed the Admiral, ¡°Hope you¡¯ve made your peace, your end is here.¡± Atlas charged the small helios beam and shot it towards the ship in which the Admiral was in. The ship erupted into fiery explosions which were clearly visible from the planet and sent fear across the planet. The remaining ships in the fleet raced towards Atlas, who radioed Karee to go into position behind him pointing the broadsides at the fleet. Atlas said only one word to Karee when the time was perfect, ¡°Fire.¡± Karee let loose the thousands of gun batteries on the one side of the Daedalus. The guns tore apart the fleet within seconds, the sight from the planet was one of horror, sirens blaring and soldiers gathering arms. Atlas raced towards the planet, when he came to the atmosphere he activated the return to Daedalus command on the ship and he jumped as he had when he entered Earth, but this time he was much higher and he was falling much faster. As he fell he drew his sword and held it in his left hand. He slammed his right fist into the ground, creating a shockwave throughout the planet and making many look around wondering what happened. As Atlas stood, sword in hand, he was met with thousands of soldiers. He stood and let them come, he let them rush towards him, he would not be stopped in his mission. He gathered energy into his sword until it could hold no more, and he burst the blade into flames, so blindingly red and glorious all would be in awe of it. He charged towards the thousands, he swung and cleaved through many men along with whatever other species joined the resistance. Blades do not discriminate, felling thousands, showing no mercy, Atlas showed he meant business. He cleaved and slashed, he hacked and swung until the area around him was littered with scorched bodies, burning bodies, the stench of burnt flesh and death. The screams of men, still alive and burning, screaming for death or help Atlas did not know, nor did he care. He walked over the bodies, towards a single city, which held what he wanted. He arrived at the edge of the city to more soldiers along with some smaller armored vehicles and several tanks. Atlas chuckled behind his helmet, he tightened his grip on his sword and charged forward, dispatching this group with ease. His blade which glowed with fire, cut through the armor like a hot knife through butter. He searched through his mind for where the one he was looking for was being kept, he found her easily as she was in the center of the city he just entered, and she was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of troops. Atlas thought of a great idea, one which would involve Apochrimation, and some heavy calculations. His plan was to teleport into and out of their ranks, causing chaos and fear. He would then hit the rear of their numbers hard with several large blasts of energy and he would teleport across their ranks doing the same thing, until there was enough chaos to where he could walk into the building where she was with little to no resistance. He did this releasing blasts of energy as he exited the teleport to send soldiers flying all over the place. Sitting in fear of the one they call the Reaper, she sat waiting, hoping the soldiers could do what they were meant to, protect her. She peered out of a window, seeing the chaos below and wondered, would she make it? She saw for a split second the one she assumed was the Reaper, clad in white armour, and seemingly unstoppable. As soon as he had arrived, he disappeared, teleported, which surprised her every time she saw him do it. He flashed rapidly through the ranks of soldiers, terrorizing them, sending them flying and sometimes killing them. She wondered, if he could teleport why not come straight to her, why play around with the soldiers like this, who could enjoy this. She thought about her life and how she possibly could have been put in this situation, she thought for too long and her thoughts strayed over to someone she knew several years ago. One whom she thought she could spend the rest of her life with, Jack. she choked back tears at the thought of him, wishing things had turned out differently. She eventually said out loud to herself, ¡°Why can¡¯t things have turned out differently?¡± ¡°Fate demanded it.¡± A figure said behind her. She spun around, startled, and saw a dark figure in the corner of the room, sitting in a chair leaning his elbows on his knees. ¡°Who are you? Your not one of those soldiers.¡± The figure stood up, moved the chair aside and walked into the light, revealing it was Atlas. She gasped and took a couple steps backwards before stopping. ¡°Get away from me.¡± She screamed for help. ¡°No one can hear you but me, there is no help, not for them anyhow. I am here because of you, for you. I have not seen you in a long time, long enough for you to not recognize me anymore. Maybe this will remind you.¡± He took his helmet off, revealing his face. She said, ¡°I don¡¯t know you, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ve never seen you in my life, I think I would remember you if I did.¡± Atlas spoke without his helmet on, which showed his real voice, lighter than that which the helmet put out. He said, ¡°You do know me. You just need to be reminded.¡± Atlas walked towards her, she hesitated, feeling as though she has heard that voice before, at least one close to it, but at the moment fear was all she felt. ¡°I will show you who I am, and who you are to me. You have nothing to fear, I cannot hurt you.¡± Atlas placed a hand on her forehead and transmitted her his memories, as he started he said, ¡°You may not like some of the things you see, it¡¯s a drawback of this ability, I will show you every second of my life, up until now. All of my pain, my anger, and my love.¡± As he finished speaking she saw his memories flow through her mind, she felt everything he felt. ¡°I also feel all the pain, anger, and love. Another drawback of this.¡± She knew who this was very soon, she knew who he was, but not what he is. As the memories flowed she whispered, ¡°Jack.¡± What she saw next was almost overwhelming to her, the Three, Jack becoming Atlas, the killing of planets, extinction of species, the prison aboard the daedalus. As fast as the memories came they fell away, Atlas removed his hand at took a few steps backward. She could not believe what she was seeing. ¡°There are no lies here, I am not dead, I was taken, against my will, to become what I am now, all in the name of balance. I however, as you may know, have a different plan. I will execute it before I leave this planet. You already know what I feel, and why. I must get you aboard the Daedalus as soon as¡­¡­¡± Before he could finish his sentence, the doors behind them exploded open, Atlas shielded Anahira from the rubble and quickly dispatched the troops that rushed in. He heard a scream, he turned to see Anahira being taken through another hole blown in the wall, which was done at the same time to distract Atlas. He became very angry from this, he came here for her, and he was not going to leave without her. Atlas gave chase to the group of soldiers who took Anahira. He caught up with them on the roof, which they were trying to extract by means of a small merchant ship. Atlas charged up some energy into his right gauntlet and shot it towards the craft, destroying it and the soldiers only way out. He slowly killed all of the soldiers until one remained, with Anahira as a hostage, gun at her head. ¡°Don¡¯t come any closer. I¡¯ll do it, I will.¡± Atlas said, ¡°You do that, and you will release the single most terrifying thing you can¡¯t imagine. You would be the cause of the deaths of every man, woman, child, and any other species that lives to die and immeasurably painful death. You would be last to die, and in the most painful way.¡± The soldier said, ¡°Surrender now or I will shoot, I¡¯m not kidding either.¡± Atlas responded, ¡°Neither was I.¡±Atlas contacted Karee through his helmet and blocked all sound from escaping so only Karee could hear him. He said, ¡°Bring the Daedalus to my coordinates, I have a problem that arose and I need our target to be extracted with great speed, so move.¡± Atlas spoke to the soldier, ¡°On second thought, I should just kill you now, and spare the lives of quintillions. The choice is yours.¡± CHAPTER VII: Lust Brings the End in the End The building started to shake as the Daedalus screamed by the top of it, coming extremely close to it. Atlas never used Apochrimation on another without himself going as well, but he didn¡¯t worry about that too much. He focused greatly, he reached out and teleported Anahira aboard the Daedalus, leaving the soldier worried. Atlas yelled both into his radio and to where the soldier could hear, ¡°GET AWAY FROM THE PLANET NOW.¡± Karee punched the throttle on the Daedalus forward and the massive ship lurched forward out of the planets atmosphere and very far away. Atlas dropped to one knee, the building shook harder with every second. Atlas placed the power shielder and activated it, it wrapped around the planet in seconds and Atlas teleported it into a state of non existence and existence so it wouldn¡¯t be destroyed by what was about to happen. Atlas, when ready, brought the Fourth out from within him, using his power to manifest himself into a physical form. Once this was done, Atlas was still kneeled, but clearly visible in front of him was none other than the Fourth of the Three, Veruchion. The towering being stood tall, moving his arms and closing his hands only to open them again, getting a feel for once again being free. ¡°I have been restored¡­.¡± directing this towards Atlas, ¡°.....Thanks to you, Reaper. You have been much a greater Reaper than I. I gift you my life, my power, and my soul. You are now Veruchion, The Reaper of that which was sown. Take this gift willingly, and forcibly remove me and it from this plane. Show my brothers their mistakes have consequences, show them, my version of balance. You know what to do Reaper, it will be the most dangerous thing you will ever do or ever have to do so be prepared.¡± Atlas said, ¡°I accept this gift, thank you Veruchion, I will not fail.¡± Veruchion replied, ¡°It is good to hear my name with my own ears once again, and I know you will not fail.¡± Atlas reached out a hand, and used Soul Harvest on Veruchion the Fourth of the Three. As Atlas slowly absorbed Veruchion he felt the most power flow into him that he had ever felt. This was more than the entire planet, the Seer and all of the other¡¯s he soul harvested before put together, they paled in comparison to this moment, Atlas was near the point where he felt almost as if he would be ripped apart by this, torn into the thousands of pieces he felt sharding through him in the form of memories, experiences, feelings, and power. As Atlas watched Veruchion slowly being transferred through the familiar fiery red energy he was surprised to see the Fourth smiling. When the Fourth was nearly gone he said one last thing to Atlas, ¡°Show them your own Fate. Your own Destiny, And do it in your own Time. They will fall to their balance, and you will become more powerful than even He mayhaps. You¡¯ll find out soon enough, Farewell Reaper, good luck.¡± Suddenly the world went black, Atlas dropped unconscious. He awoke several minutes later, the air around him loomed with a very different weight to it, like something was as it should not be, something was missing. Atlas stood, feeling as though the universe around him, was so very small compared to himself, feeling as though he was excluded from it in a way he could not explain. His thoughts were interrupted by a fumbling noise behind him. He turned to meet the gaze of the soldier who threatened to kill Anahira. Atlas removed his helmet revealing his face, with a sly smile he said, ¡°I told you you should¡¯ve stopped did I not? Now the only one to blame is you, how would you like to die, extremely painful and extremely fast, or extremely fast and excruciatingly painful?¡± The soldier paused for a minute and said nothing so Atlas closed his helmet and said, ¡°Guess its a bit of both then.¡± He charged up immense amounts of energy, calling upon the Fire within to come and have a taste of some true power, making a deal with him in the process. The ability to use the power of Veruchion, with the duty to only be called upon when Atlas wanted and to always stay dormant within until needed. The soldier started to slowly back away, when Atlas started to float off of the ground, rising about 10 feet in the air. Atlas curled up into a ball, and started to burn with the intensity of thousands of suns but nothing near burned. At the height of this the Fire let loose a yell, releasing the charged energy in a planet devastating blast the ripped the planet into pieces, effectively killing all life on the planet and showing one hell of a sight to any who were watching. The Fire faded back, accepting the offer and Atlas returned, floating within the rubble of what once was a planet. He looked over towards the Daedalus, proud of what his once tiny ship had become. He teleported to the Daedalus from where he was which surprised him only a little bit. He asked but one thing when he got on board even thought he already knew the answer, ¡°Where is she?¡± Karee answered, ¡°She is in your private area, not the prison block but the other one. I¡¯m assuming your box worked as well, judging by that massive explosion but I could¡¯ve sworn I heard someone yell as it happened but that might just be me going crazy¡­.¡± Atlas replied jokingly, ¡°That job will do that to ya¡¯, but yes it worked great, hopefully it will continue to when I have more made, that one was a prototype. Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I must attend to something, I will return shortly with our next stop.¡± Karee nodded and kicked her feet up onto her flight console and Atlas teleported to his meditation room, which was also what he used as a sort of bedroom even though he never actually slept, he only meditated. As he appeared Anahira jumped and asked, ¡°how did I get here? Is this real? It can¡¯t be, Jack is dead, your not him, you can¡¯t be, you just can¡¯t be.¡± she sank to her knees, clearly not able to comprehend the real gravity of the situation. Atlas retracted his armour to seem less threatening and he said, ¡°I know it sounds like I am lying to you, but I am not. Look at what I showed you, and think about who I am, or who I was. Look at me, I did not change that much over the past several years.¡± ¡°Several years? It¡¯s been seven years since Jack died. He died and I saw him at the funeral, you can¡¯t fake those things.¡± Anahira interjected. Atlas replied, ¡°You were just teleported through space into a part of a spaceship that has enough firepower to level galaxies and faking a death is the part your still stuck on. This is real, I am real, I am not dead. You saw what actually happened, you know everything I know, so you can tell that I¡¯m not lying to you. Not that I would anyway, you know how I felt, how I still feel in fact. I never stopped thinking about you. There were times when I thought that I could disobey the Three to see you, but they would find out. I found a way to change that. I found a way to make them pay for all of the things they made me miss out on, for what they doomed you to, and for what they doomed me to do. So come one Anahira, don¡¯t fear the Reaper¡­¡± Atlas reached out his hand and continued, ¡°....Now take my hand, and let me prove to you that I am Jack.¡± She took his hand and he helped her up. He led her to a room that had a table and chairs in it. ¡°Take a seat here, I will explain everything you saw in some detail, sparing the gory parts. I know now that it may have been too much at one time, I¡¯m surprised you were able to handle it as well as you did.¡± ¡°Now, I will start with the Seer¡­¡± Atlas slowly explained to her in depth the reason why he was taken from Earth, and who he was destined to be by means of an uncontrollable fate. He explained the Three in great detail to her, and touching on Hebrechrion and Arcurion mildly describing them as bickering wives who sometimes went to a more violent way of solving a dispute. I can show you how I handled, well how the Fourth, handles one of their disputes if you want.¡± Anahira said, ¡°I mean, sure, this is still all a lot to handle.¡± Atlas replied, ¡°It is, even more so when it is you that is being told you are to become the most powerful being in existence. It is immensely heavy, but you get used to it eventually.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°I don''t even recognize you anymore, regardless of how you make me remember, your face is different, your body is different, your actions are different. You may have been Jack, but that was in the past, you are the Reaper now, and the things I have heard leave me in even bigger shock in trying to believe you were once Jack.¡± Anahira said after Atlas was finished explaining everything. Atlas responded, ¡°Yes, that is true. I have changed, as my fate has destined me to. This still does not change how I feel about you. I thought I would never get to see you again, and that I would not have to return to Earth after thousands of years until the Three tried to cover up their mistakes. Me and the Fourth have become one, we are one and the same, I have his power and then some which means I hold the cards now. I will get them all in one place and one by one take them from their thrones and cast them aside like they are nothing because they made a mistake.¡± Anahira asked, ¡°What mistake was that?¡± Atlas responded, ¡°They wanted me to destroy Earth, along with you, and I can¡¯t do that. I couldn¡¯t do that, and it made me angry. They also turned their backs on the Fourth, they failed to keep him in check and he brought about his own end and eventually to me.¡± Atlas continued, ¡°I saved the Fourth from a a fate he no longer wanted, I sealed his fate, in his own way. I will bring about true balance, in the sense that what happens will happen, and there will be no nudging from any other super powerful beings.¡± Anahira asked, ¡°Are the Three all powerful like we saw God?¡± Atlas responded, ¡°No they are not. The one who brought them into existence is part of a much large spectrum which I have yet to find and make sure nothing comes through from that into this Universe. This being made 5 other''s, the Three, Hebrechrion and Archurion. Theses 5 all had a fraction of their power, meaning together, the 5 equal the one. When the Three brought the Fourth into existence as a means of help they inexplicably brought on their own end. They pooled their power together, making the Fourth as powerful as all 5 of them together. Making him as powerful as the one who created them. This means, that I am more powerful than all of them put together, I can overwhelm them and obtain me and the Fourths envisionment of the Universe.¡± Atlas paused and asked, ¡°Sticking with me so far?¡± Anahira answered, ¡°Yes, it is all making a lot more sense when you can explain it like that instead of actually seeing it through the memory transfers thing you did earlier.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Good, that''s good to hear. This life is not at all what I had imagined for me, or you for that matter. I figured you would be able to live your life and be long gone before I had to add the Earth onto my list by command of the Three.¡± ¡°What do you mean on your list, like destroy it?¡± Anahira questioned. Atlas said, ¡°Sadly, yes. I also wouldn¡¯t recommend grieving their deaths, it is a waste of time, although difficult to bear. I felt the same when I first had to leave Earth, and leave you.¡± Anahira looked at him and said, ¡°You are not Jack anymore, you are Atlas. I cannot see you the same as what I used to, I cannot. You just aren¡¯t the same.¡± Atlas sighed and looked down at the floor and he thought to himself, ¡®I have changed haven¡¯t I?¡¯ He looked at his hand, he made a fist and opened it again. He said, ¡°You are right about me changing, but I still feel the same way, no matter what I have done in between. I can get you comfortable aboard this ship wherever you want. Or you could have this space, I don¡¯t sleep anyway.¡± She looked around the darker room and said, ¡°Whatever is easier for you, I don¡¯t want to be in the way.¡± Atlas said, ¡°You won¡¯t get in the way aboard the Daedalus, all here may go wherever they feel, except the southern door labeled with hazard signs, that leads to the construction wing, I¡¯m having more added on towards the rear to increase speed and reduce engine size. Feel free to wander around for a bit, make yourself at home, it¡¯s the only one we have left.¡± Atlas left Anahira alone, and walked to the bridge. When he got there Karee asked, ¡°What happened out there? We saw a large explosion and we thought something went wrong.¡± Atlas said, ¡°No, it all went to plan, the box worked great. We will need to make haste towards this Hypersystem¡­.¡± Atlas typed in some coordinates on the navigational directional chart and let Karee start off into that direction. Atlas continued, ¡°.....Get there as soon as possible, I must start preparing for something big nearing completion. A plan is in motion, and it will not stop, at least not soon.¡± Karee nodded and set off towards the direction Atlas put into the console. Atlas teleported into the research lab and asked, ¡°Any new inventions in need of testing, preferably ones of mass destruction and capable of extreme power.¡± Gerault chuckled at that and asked, ¡°Did the box not work?¡± Atlas shook his head and said, ¡°Yeah it did, this is for the rest of the plan, mainly the build up to the final blow.¡± Gerault said, ¡°Then we got you covered¡­¡± Gerault led Atlas over to a firing range near the rear of the complex which was near infinite in size and Gerault continued, ¡°.....Pick your poison, we got a nice grouping for you to select from.¡± Atlas surveyed the bench in front of him, seeing about 2 dozen weapons laying on it. He looked over every one of them before choosing one, going down to the first on in line and he said, ¡°I¡¯ll start from the bottom. And work my way up.¡± Atlas walked around the table and up to the shooting bench and took aim at several targets downrange. He shot several short burst from the rifle he picked up to get a feel for the kick and power of each shot. Impressed he let loose the rest of the clip on the largest of the targets, firing full auto. He fired until the clip was empty, he walked back to the table and set it down opposite of what it how it was sitting before he shot it. He did the same thing for the rest of the weapons on the table. Once he was through all of them he went back to the first one and said, ¡°I will rate these weapons now on five things, Boom, Accuracy, Feel, Kick, and Look. They will be out of 10 so 2 in each of the things. Let''s start from the beginning again shall we.¡± Gerault said, ¡°We shall, we are eager to know how you like our weapons.¡± Atlas began at the first gun, then moved to the next and so on and so forth. After Atlas had finished rating the weapons he removed all of the ones with scores less than 7/10. This removed about 80% of the weapons from of of the table leaving only 7 weapons left. There were 3 rifles, 2 carbines, a pistol and a lmg. Atlas once again went through the weapons left, testing their concealability and ease of carrying. The rifles were not concealable or easy to carry so he threw them aside. The carbines were somewhat concealable but not at all easy to carry on account of their awkward shapes so he threw them aside. The pistol was by far the easiest to conceal but due to the slopes of his armour he could not comfortably place it in an easy to reach spot so he tossed it aside. He lastly came upon the lmg. This was the worst to conceal but the easiest to carry as it fit very well with the type of sling and was not too heavy to become a problem. Atlas chose the lmg after a little deliberation of the weapons. He told Gerault, ¡°Make some holders for this instead of the sling, I want ease of access and I prefer they are able to be controlled by the suit so I can easily activate and deactivate them. Place some on the gun as well, on both sides as to not unbalance the weapon. Atlas once again departed from his research realm and arrived upon the bridge of the Daedalus, all eyes were on him. He stared out of the frontal viewport for a couple minutes before saying, ¡°To the Realm of the Three. I have news to tell the Three.¡± CHAPTER VIII: The Greatest Beginnings Come From the Worst of Ends Atlas teleported out of the bridge to where Anahira was. When he arrived she seemed to be distant from what she used to even more, day by day she strayed far from what she once was as Atlas had. Atlas began by saying, ¡°Times are about to change, my plan is going smoothly so far, now comes time for the hardest part.¡± She answered, ¡°What might that be?¡± Alas said, ¡°I must leave you again, to go through with a plan that may end up tearing apart the Universe and everything in it. I will do everything in my power to stop that from happening but I cannot ensure my own safety. I never can, with the power I am responsible for.¡± Anahira asked, ¡°What happened at the planet, the one with those rebels?¡± Atlas replied, ¡°They angered me, and the paid the price. If you want to go anywhere on the ship let me know, I can allow you access to all parts of it, there are more scenic parts than this dreary room.¡± Anahira said, ¡°I¡¯ll think about it, just hope that your plan is truly what you want. You don¡¯t want to end up regretting things you should¡¯ve done, or should not have done. You¡¯ve done it before with me right. I hope this is really what you want.¡± Atlas turned and walked away, thinking to himself, ¡®I hope so too.¡¯ Atlas walked a far way and thought of a better place to walk, his prison. He teleported to the massive complex hidden within his ship only he could go. He came upon one of the cells and opened it revealing an all too familiar face to him, The Blademaster of the temple where he was first sent. This cell was nicer than the other''s and was less, evil. The Blademaster looked at him and said, ¡°You have indeed exceeded my expectations Reaper. You have taken the gifts we taught you and enhanced them in your own way, with your inherited power. You are immensely strong now, far more than you were before, scarily I might add.¡± Atlas said, ¡°You can feel my power?¡± The Blademaster replied, ¡°Aye, it is hard not too. I barely felt it when we first met but now it reeks from you like a stench that one cannot be rid of. How has your bladework been since last we spared?¡± Atlas said, ¡°Exceptional, I cannot be beaten, not even by mountain sized lizards.¡± The Blademaster responded, ¡°Good, good. So you are filling in nicely to your role I see.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Yeah, something like that. I would very much like you to leave your current living quarters and help my research department craft blades, they are good, but they lack perfect balance.¡± The Blademaster said, ¡°What if I don¡¯t want to?¡± Atlas replied, ¡°It wasn¡¯t a question.¡± Atlas brought the Blademaster to the research division and introduced him to the team and to Gerault who had just finished perfecting the magnetic back holster for the lmg. Atlas said to the group once they all had gathered, ¡°This will be your new blade designer and tester. No other in this Universe I have found yet better understands a blade than this man, he is also the one that taught me to first use a blade. Listen to what he has to say, he knows what he¡¯s talking about. Now let''s test this magnetic holster out.¡± Atlas grabbed went to grab the machine gun when Gerault said, ¡°Wait, I should probably put them on the gun first, and these are the armour ones for the back plates.¡± Atlas put the back ones on first and waited for Gerault to put the other''s on the gun. When Gerault was done Atlas grabbed the lmg and placed over his right shoulder and onto his back where the back holders held the gun in place solid as a rock. Atlas then went to take the gun back over his shoulder and it released with ease at the slightest thought. He then thought of it only works when he has a hand on it, he made the changes to the devices and tried it again. Satisfied with the work he said to Gerault, ¡°Fine job, we are almost ready to continue on with the plan. No weapon you can make will be strong enough to do what I need it to do, which is why I will offer my blade, which is not even strong enough. Recreate my blade using a material that is listed at the bottom of the list, very hard to find, and very dangerous to get. The Nebrechions are masters at getting this material, which is also why they are my crew.¡± Gerault asked, ¡°The Nebrechions? Oh you mean those little guys.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Yes, the little guys. They could tear you apart and would if they heard you say that. They are pretty much the best at everything, except for intelligence. On a Universe scale they are geniuses, but as far as their planet goes, they were not so lucky. Now I must return to the Daedalus, I will come back when the Realm of the Three is in sight and see what progress you¡¯ve made.¡± Atlas teleported out and came to the bridge. He asked Karee, ¡°How long do we have?¡± Karee answered, ¡°You have a while don¡¯t worry, we are a few Hypersystems away still.¡± Atlas replied, ¡°Good, I need to downsize our prison. I¡¯ll return shortly.¡± Atlas teleported to the prison and he hit a button, which released every single thing that was held in there. Atlas held out a hand, and one by one in blind rage from the madness every prisoner gained from being in darkness for so long with nothing, always hungry and thirsty, every want just out of reach, they were angry. Atlas soul harvested each and every one of them. He did not stop until the prison was empty, nothing remained. He teleported back to the bridge and said, ¡°That is done, there was little resistance.¡± Atlas walked over to the head Nebrechion and said, ¡°I have a new task for your builders, the blueprints are already there and follow them to a T. This must be perfect if it¡¯s going to work. I have faith in you, you have never failed or disappointed me. So don''t start now eh?¡± Atlas opened a way to the prison complex and let the Nebrechions in, they started to build following the blueprints to the best of their ability. Atlas went back to the bridge and sat in his chair the same one he once thought was so comfortable but now gave him no feeling of comfort or of discomfort, no feeling at all. This concerned him, not only the fact that he could feel nothing from the chair he could not even feel the touch of the chair, he wondered if it was his armour preventing him from feeling it. He stood and took his armour off and sat back down. He still felt nothing, he thought of all the other things he has not felt in a long time, the wind for one, bark on trees, water, or even the icy embrace of winter. He thought back to the moment he absorbed Veruchion, that was the start of the loss of his feeling for most things. Like the mass power gain of one who was by all means a god in this Universe, and not to mention the most powerful being in the Universe. He thought of the feelings he no longer felt and he was indifferent than when he felt them for the first time. He sat in his chair, staring our into the expanse of space, nothing to some people, everything to him. He could see not only the black, but the white. He could feel the ever existing energy flowing through and around everything, he could see it if he looked hard enough. He saw perfection, until he saw the smallest flaw in the equation, a glitch in the theoretical matrix of the Universe¡¯s core. He saw only a small mistake, but added up over millennia it grows worse and worse. It was him. He searched through the memories of Veruchion in search of the answer and he found it very quickly. In the beginning the Five brothers made the Universe and all energy in it, they made it equal as well, a definite amount never to change, grow, or lessen. When Veruchion was created and brought into the Universe by the Five, he was made using outside energy, thus unbalancing the equation. Upon his creation, a thing so needed by the Five and so overlooked by them that they brought upon their own deaths by doing so. This made Atlas realize, he should not exist, he should not be here if the Five had not created Veruchion, he would not be sitting in his chair within the bridge of the Daedalus, he would not be needing to fix the problems of the Five, he would not need to be the Reaper. He was, no, he IS, The Reaper of That Which Was Sown, and he would no longer play by the Five¡¯s game, he will show them their mistake, he will make them know they were their own murderers. As wise as the Five are, for all of their power, seen as infinite throughout the Universe, this was the single easiest thing to overlook, and the single hardest thing to fix. Atlas stared on and on into the expanse of space, seeing everything, realizing everything he missed before. He did not miss those things because he was not able too but he was too ignorant to. It is the same ignorance that kept Earth in constant fighting and disagreement, the same ignorance all species and races have. They all think they are the top of the food chain and they might be on their planet, but there is only one on the top of the food chain, Atlas. His thoughts were disrupted by a large explosion from the rear of the ship which only Atlas noticed at first as he was aware of all happenings on the Daedalus. He got up suddenly and teleported to near where it happened. He arrived and saw it was the Nebrechion who had accidentally dropped a volatile chemical that was a byproduct of their methods of building, which Atlas used as fuel for the Daedalus and the prototype fighter. He surveyed the damages and they were not severe, he yelled several orders at them and held out a hand, sucking the flames towards him and turning their heat into power for himself. Once the flames were gone and the Nebrechions went to work rebuilding and continuing Atlas¡¯s request, no Nebrechions were hurt by the explosion. Upon returning to the bridge Atlas was greeted by Korvan who began, ¡°Something is off about you Atlas. Its as if the more power you gain the further you stray from yourself, the more Fourth you become.¡± Atlas answered, ¡°I have changed only in power, nothing else, maybe as well as knowledge. You need not worry about that, only the Helios Beam and keeping that little promise of yours.¡± Korvan glanced at Karee who was busy checking systems and keeping an eye that their course is not strayed. Korvan said, ¡°I will keep it, that you can be sure of.¡± Atlas added in with a laugh, ¡°It¡¯s just a question of when though right?¡± Korvan smirked and said, ¡°I¡¯ll do it when I do it ok, it¡¯s not like we aren¡¯t immortal.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Don¡¯t let that go to your head, or you¡¯ll always say ¡®I have forever¡¯, trust me, I¡¯ve been through it before. I went through with it as well. The question now is, are you man enough to go through with it.¡± Atlas left Korvan in deep thought and he continued to peer into the expanse of space, feeling his life¡¯s biggest challenge looming in the distance. He stood up and said, ¡°I¡¯m going for a walk, let me know when we are close.¡± He started to walk out of the Daedalus when yet another explosion went off. He teleported to the scene and this time it had claimed a few Nebrechions in the blast and injured several others. Atlas kneeled beside the bodies and wondered if he could make their byproduct less volatile, he retrieved a barrel and teleported into the research area where he was met by Gerault who asked, ¡°What¡¯ll it be this time, a fine blade perhaps?¡± Atlas said, ¡°Not this time, What I need is a fix for the Nebrechions constant exploding byproduct of their building process. I have a barrel here, and try not to drop it, it will explode. I have a build ongoing and they¡¯ve dropped four barrels of it already, it is very tiring. I don¡¯t want it to happen, if you can find a way do de volatize it then do so, if not, then find a way to easier transport it or safer store it.¡± Gerault said, ¡°We will do our best, just let us know if you want anything else as well.¡± Atlas teleported out and restarted his walk through the Daedalus. After about an hour he teleported back to the research are to see if Geralt had finished his work and he had. He found a compound which stabilized the byproduct which was very unintensive and the Nebrechions needed only store the waste in it. It was a new type of barrel which easily fit more of it and was guaranteed to prevent any explosion. Atlas was satisfied by his work and returned the barrel to the Nebrechions to have them reproduce and mass produce these new barrels and to trash the other ones so they would reduce explosion risk and return to their work. Atlas teleported to where he stopped his walk and continued on his pacing. He walked for several hours around the Daedalus, passing thousands of Nebrechions, which was the main reason the ship was so large, to fit his crew and workforce. He looked upon them all, seeing them happy to not be dead was really the only thing they showed. He reached the rear of the ship where the massive engines were, remembering what they were like last he was here, smaller that''s for sure. He started to walk back when he felt something, a pain, an extreme pain deep within his head. He dropped to one knee and grunted. He searched for the cause and it was the Fire. The Fire was dying within his mind and Atlas felt all of the pain from his life. Atlas asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡± The Fire answered, ¡°My time has come, I am doing nothing. My sentence is up and I am free, free to die.¡± Atlas answered, ¡°We are not done yet, we have more to go, you want to bow out early from the fate which we both wanted. Do you not want revenge for the Seer, I know I do. I was forced to end him, and I aim to end the ones who told me to. I want you to be there and know, so you may rest well and not in pain.¡± The Fire said, ¡°I do want revenge, but I do not have the strength for it¡­.¡± Atlas cut him off, ¡°Yes but I do, lend me your strength for one final battle and we both will have the revenge we needed and wanted. You can rest when they are dead and only then.¡± Atlas focused his power, freeing the Fire from his mind. Atlas created a physical form for the Fire to manifest within, a body for a new soul. As the Fire took shape His fleshly memories flooded back, everything the Fire had done, had seen, rushed through him. Once he was whole again the Fire dropped down to his knees, not used to standing on his own legs, he looked around, eyes hurting because he hadn¡¯t seen through them in so long himself. Atlas stood up and offered him a hand up. Atlas said, ¡°We must finish what we started, with no excuses, and no slowing down¡­.¡± The Fire said with a voice he hadn¡¯t heard with his own ears in ages, ¡°......and no mercy.¡± Atlas brought the Fire to the research area to get him some armour and a weapon. Once Atlas arrived Gerault noticed the Fire in tow and asked, ¡°Who might we have here? Another to add on to our crew?¡± Atlas said, ¡°No, he is in need of armour and a sword, Have him design it and you will build it, no questions only progress.¡± Gerault answered, ¡°Yes Atlas¡­.¡± he directed at the Fire, ¡°......Let''s see what you want, we can do anything you wish.¡± The Fire said, ¡°I shall start by saying my name¡­...my name is¡­.¡± As the Fire searched his thoughts for his name, which he had not heard in so long, he forgot it as he became what everyone called him. Atlas looked into his mind, into the Seers memories to find the name. Atlas said, ¡°Vesuvius, that was your name, Vesuvius.¡± The Fire looked at him and asked, ¡°How would you know that?¡± Atlas responded, ¡°It was in the seers memories, and he very much wanted to say your name every time you met but he knew he couldn¡¯t, until the masters found out. It is a fitting name.¡± The Fire heard his name, and he liked to hear it said. He said, ¡°I should like to be called Vesuvius from now on, I want to stray from my time as the Fire, I want to return to what I was before my mistake which led to my brothers death.¡± Atlas nodded and said, ¡°Gerault I¡¯ll leave you to it then, come up with something I¡¯ll be back in a bit.¡± Atlas teleported out leaving the Fire, now called by his name, Vesuvius and Gerault to work out armour and a weapon for Vesuvius. Atlas waited about 5 minutes and teleported back in and he was met with a plan for armour and an axe were made and had been started being built. Atlas saw Vesuvius in his armour which was a dark red underlaid with black and gold accents. His sword was a finely crafted, perfectly balanced tool of destruction. It had bloodlets down the blade and was serrated for most of it. The pommel was not very flashy aside from a deep sea blue gem which was interlocked with a fiery red gem resided at the very end of the pommel. Atlas recognized this as a gem from the Seer which was on an amulet around his neck which Atlas kept. Atlas said, ¡°You look fitting, like a real wielder of flame. Now let us take a walk.¡± Atlas and Vesuvius teleported to where the prison block was, and what now was the home to an immensely large central cannon. The cannon spanned the back 75% of the Daedalus and was about as tall as it. Atlas said, ¡°This part will prove to be difficult, but I should be fine. Vesuvius asked, ¡°What is this for, you have the Helios Beam, you don¡¯t really need a bigger gun.¡± Atlas answered, ¡°Ah, that''s the fun part, I don¡¯t need one, but I want one. Besides this is for the Helios Beam, this will not replace it. That is the difficult part thought. Transferring the energy into this cannon and hoping it withstands the power, which I will have to do myself. So let''s hope this works.¡± Atlas teleported out of the Daedalus, position in front of it and in front of the Helios Beam. He radioed the Nebrechions to release the cannon from its confining walls, which he then radioed Korvan to shoot at him, with the Helios Beam. Atlas began, ¡°I need you to shoot the Helios Beam.¡± Korvan asked, ¡°What do you mean? There¡¯s nothing to shoot at it with.¡± Atlas replied, ¡°There is however¡­...me.¡± Korvan exclaimed, ¡°What? You want me to shoot you with the Helios Beam, Why?¡± Atlas said, ¡°Because I told you to, now get on with it.¡± Korvan hesitated, he then went to the Helios Beam control console and powered it up which caught Karee¡¯s attention. Karee asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡± Korvan said, ¡°I¡¯m shooting the Helios Beam at Atlas.¡± Karee said, ¡°Why are you doing that?¡± Korvan stopped what he was doing, looked at Karee and said, ¡°Because he told me to.¡± Karee just as confused as Korvan looked out the front of the bridge and saw Atlas floating in the vacuum of space. Karee looked on as Korvan hit the button, sending the massive beam of energy towards Atlas. Atlas floated, waiting for longer than he wanted to and started to get impatient. He looked towards the bridge and saw Karee appear, and he knew she could see him, but she did not know he could see her. Atlas looked up to see the Helios Beam charging up, the cooling coils flared and shot boiling coolant into space. This was the moment of truth, can he move the thing which he himself was not sure he could. The Helios Beam was within seconds of releasing and Atlas thought, ¡®What if this doesn¡¯t work¡­¡­.ehhh¡­..too late to turn back now.¡¯ As the Helios Beam erupted, Atlas was truly terrified of its power, he saw it rip through space, the coolant that was floating was immediately vaporized and the Beam Hummed with power. This confused Atlas, he could hear the beam traveling through space, not just the energy either, he could hear a hum, like electricity but on an immensely larger scale. He snapped out of the thoughts and only focused on taking the power and transferring it to the other cannon. He held out both hands and felt the energy racing towards him. As it met him he started to absorb the power, the view from the bridge was one of amazement, the Helios Beam was no longer moving, then it started to move, backwards. Atlas closed his eyes as he was almost blinded by the immense light given off by the Helios Beam, even through his pure black visor. He slowly moved the beam to where it could travel into the cannon, and by his guidance he led it straight into the cannon which was barely able to stand the power. Once the beam stopped, and was fully absorbed into the cannon Atlas teleported to the bridge and fell to one knee, his armour glowed red hot, near melting point. Altas removed the armour and was pouring with sweat. He walked around the bridge trying to catch his breath and he said, ¡°Nice shot Korvan, couldn¡¯t be more perfect¡­..whew¡­...I don¡¯t want to do that again.¡± He got back into his armour and he teleported to the cannon to see how the trapping of the power went, and it went flawlessly. The cannon held together long enough for the Nebrechions to make slight changes and enhance the weapon. Vesuvius noticed Atlas was back walked over and asked, ¡°How did you do that?¡± Atlas answered, ¡°Very carefully. Now, there is a planet a little ways away that is in need of balancing, so I will make sure we get there, would you care to come along, and smell the air of an actual planet again?¡± Vesuvius thought for a little and said, ¡°Yes, I would, being myself again after so long is, difficult to get used to.¡± Atlas said, ¡°I know how you feel.¡± They teleported to the bridge and Atlas told Karee, ¡°There is a planet in that direction over there, you can see the faint outline of it, it is in need of balancing, let us stop there first. We need to test out our new Helios Beam.¡± Karee nodded and asked, ¡°What was the point of all of that.¡± Atlas said, ¡°With the beam? That was simply to move it to a new home, and a much more powerful home, an upgrade essentially, now it will take half the time to clear a planet and reseed it. I¡¯m fine before you ask, I am after all me. Korvan might be a bit shaken up though, so you might want to talk to him a little bit. I would prefer we reach that planet within the hour if possible. I will take a short walk, radio me if I am not back before then.¡± Atlas teleported out and started his daily walk around the Daedalus. Atlas was deep in thought, mainly about how much raw power the Helios Beam actually gave out. Karee radioed him and said, ¡°The planet is in clear sight, head on up.¡± Atlas teleported into the bridge and he saw the planet immediately. He told Karee to stop the ship where it was, he would take the prototype ship in from here. He cared little about the dangers on the planet, they would prove no match to his power now. He teleported both himself and Vesuvius into the hangar by the prototype ship and they entered it. Atlas opened the Hangar doors and said, ¡°You think that the Daedalus can move, get ready for this.¡± Atlas threw full throttle and the ship shot out of the hangar at full speed. Vesuvius was not prepared for it either, the feeling of G-force once again affected him. Atlas steered the ship towards the plant which was unaware of what was about to happen when Atlas recognized the planet, as did Vesuvius. This was the planet where Atlas first learned the Soul Harvest ability. Atlas landed the ship near where he landed the Daedalus when it was an ant to what it is now. He and Vesuvius exited the ship and they were met by a small militia group whom were led by the head of their army. The Commander of their army asked, ¡°Who are you and what are you doing here?¡± Atlas said, ¡°We are here to¡­.oversee some things.¡± The Commander asked, ¡°Oh, are you the new drill instructor. We didn¡¯t get a memo you were bringing another along.¡± Atlas said, ¡°He was dropped on me at the last minute but I assure you he will not get in the way, I will follow you Commander.¡± The Commander led Atlas and Vesuvius towards the temple, which used to be a pristine beacon of the planet and is now a trashed site of war and ruin. Atlas learned that when he killed the Headmaster and the other''s the planet fought for many years to find out who would succeed them and rule, there were many disagreements all which ended with a different war. The planet was currently in a state of ¡®peace¡¯ in which negotiations were merely hiding another war about to erupt. Atlas knew he was to blame for this, and he felt unhindered and indifferent, he did not care they could not agree and find peace. They are unbalancing and he must keep his job going or the Master¡¯s would guess on his true intentions and he would need to try a little harder than he wanted to, as they would not be caught off guard. Atlas got off of those thoughts and looked around the temple. The Commander noticed this and asked, ¡°Have you been here before? You seem to be remembering and doing a lot of looking.¡± Atlas answered, ¡°Yes actually, many years ago, this was where I was taught and I was one of the best. I didn¡¯t want to leave here actually but I needed to travel back to home and save my planet¡­¡­¡± he grew quiet and said, ¡°.......but I was too late.¡± Vesuvius cut in, ¡°Well, enough of that, don¡¯t want to sour the mood do we? Let us continue.¡± They continued walking, and Atlas grew restless, he wanted to test his new improvements on the Helios Beam, but he had to play it out, or he would be caught by his Master¡¯s. On the way the Commander asked, ¡°When you were here did you now one by the name of Atlas by chance?¡± Atlas said dismissively, ¡°No, I do not think I did, why?¡± The Commander led them into a room which Atlas knew only had one way out, nudging Vesuvius quickly and to where no one would notice Atlas whispered, ¡°Ready your blade.¡± The Commander led them in a room and said, ¡°That¡¯s funny, because I did.¡± As he said that the door slammed shut and he turned and removed his helmet, Atlas clearly remembering his face said, ¡°Ah, Clay. Long time no see.¡± Clay smirked and said, ¡°You will pay for driving this planet into the ground, I will avenge the Headmaster and the Blademaster, my father.¡± Atlas said, ¡°Why avenge him, he lives. He resides in my ship which is in orbit over yonder, and he works for me believe it or not. I will tell him you said hi.¡± Clay grew angry and drew his sword, which Atlas in turn drew his when Vesuvius held a hand out in front of Atlas and said, ¡°I haven¡¯t had a fight in a long time that wasn¡¯t with you, let me handle this one.¡± Atlas sheathed his blade and said, ¡°Alright, Vesuvius, let him have it.¡± Vesuvius drew his blade and charged at Clay. they spared for several minutes, one not really gaining an edge over the other. While watching Atlas said, ¡°Clay, you have improved, but you are not perfect. Your style is lacking something¡­.It lacks, discipline.¡± With that Vesuvius threw in a spinning swipe which caught Clay off guard and Vesuvius took advantage of this. He staggered Clay then drove his sword through his chest. As Clay died, Atlas walked over to him and said, ¡°Balance consumes you Clay, your father would be proud.¡± Atlas Soul Harvested Clay as he died and took his power and memories in an instant. It felt as easy to him as lifting his hand, and the influx of power barely affected him. The both of them drew their swords and traveled through the ruined temple to where the denizens fought for every scrap. Atlas looked on, and he knew he was to blame, Vesuvius noticed Atlas was beginning to show his human qualities said, ¡°It may have been by your sword that the world turned to this, but it was not by your hand it was seen done.¡± This brought Atlas back from his thoughts a little, but not entirely. They reached the makeshift town hall and entered with blades drawn, Atlas asked, ¡°Where is you leader? We will have a word with them.¡± One of the soldiers jumped up and rushed him with a spear. Atlas swiped the spear away with his sword and grabbed the man by the throat and lifted him off the ground. Atlas said, ¡°Do not make me ask again.¡± The man he was choking pointed in a direction down a hall to the left. Atlas said, ¡°Good¡­.¡± and snapped his neck with a crisp crack. Atlas dropped his body and it crumpled to the ground. Atlas said, ¡°You go that way, I¡¯ll go this way, kill the leader if you find him first and come find me.¡± Vesuvius nodded and they split up. Vesuvius quickly found that the soldier was not lying as he was met with at least 40 guards who all stood and went towards him. Vesuvius raised his blade and felt a familiar feeling to him, his hatred. The thing that earned him the nickname The Fire. he let it fill him and embrace him, he let his power flow, his armour glowed an even deeper fiery red and his arms and blade burst into flames along with his eyes. He met the gaze of the soldiers who were all scared beyond belief. Vesuvius asked, ¡°So who¡¯s first to fight The Fire?¡± The soldiers hesitated then they all charged towards him. Vesuvius lost control and blacked out. When he came to he only saw flames all around him, and charred bodies of what once was men. The shanty he was in was scorching and burning brilliantly.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. He heard a clapping suddenly begin behind him, it was Atlas. Atlas said, ¡°Now that is something I have not seen in a long time. You still have the gift my friend, now let''s leave before this collapses, we have a cannon to test. Atlas and Vesuvius walked out of the flaming building, all onlookers watching them both casually stroll through the flaming building brought eyes of both fear and admiration. They reached the prototype ship as Atlas took out a small device and Vesuvius asked, ¡°What is that for?¡± Atlas said, ¡°This¡­¡± As he hit a red button on the device a large spotlight shot out of the top of the temple, the light shone fiercely and it traveled through space towards a single place, the Realm of the Three. Once back aboard the Daedalus Atlas said, ¡°Korvan, let loose the new and improved Helios Beam.¡± Korvan asked, ¡°Do you know if it will work?¡± Atlas said, ¡°I trust in the Nebrechions, so yes it will.¡± Korvan hit the button and they heard what at first was a dull whirring which turned into a steady scream. After about 10 seconds an immense beam, much larger than the other Helios Beam ripped through space, distorting not only space but time along with it, twisting and contorting them both beyond belief. Atlas watched as the beam hit the planet and instantly killed all life on it, and the beam within seconds wrapped the entire planet and stopped as quickly as it started. Korvan hit the button to reseed the planet and Atlas said, ¡°Now to the Realm of the Three, and make haste.¡± Altas and Vesuvius stood on the bridge as the Realm of the Three steadily came into view, Atlas knew the light reached but he did not know what they thought of it if anything at all. He looked to Karee and Korvan, then to the Nebrechions hard at work monitoring the Daedalus¡¯s systems. Atlas thought, ¡®What if I fail? What happens to them? Will a new Reaper be crowned or will they all be killed?¡¯ He quickly shot away those thoughts, he could not fail, he will not fail. Karee broke the silence by asking, ¡°What are we doing back here so early, did they call you back?¡± Atlas said, ¡°No, they did not call me back, another told me to go. I am here simply to find a few things out, and settle something once and for all, the less you all know the better.¡± Vesuvius cut in, ¡°They are not the nicest of Master¡¯s, but they are true and they will tell us what we must know in order to continue on this task. It makes it much easier.¡± Karee nodded and turned back to the control console and said, ¡°We should be there within seconds.¡± Atlas said, stop here actually, we¡¯ll take the prototype ship.¡± Korvan cut in and said, ¡°I got a name for it, Grimm¡­.¡± Atlas chuckled and asked, ¡°As in Grim Reaper? I like it, Grimm, to The Grimm.¡± Korvan nodded and said as Atlas and Vesuvius walked away, ¡°Exactly like the Grim Reaper.¡± Altas and Vesuvius teleported to the hangar to get aboard the newly christened ¡®The Grimm¡¯. Atlas took his blade out and scratched into the side of it the name in all caps, ¡®THE GRIMM¡¯ and he did the same on the other side to match. He and Vesuvius climbed aboard and powered it on. Atlas opened the hangar doors and sped out at near top speed, Vesuvius still not used to flying this fast held on tight to his swords hilt and he tensed up. As they raced toward their hardest battle yet Atlas said only one word over and over again in his head, ¡®Vengeance, Vengeance, Vengeance,.......¡¯ He let his mind focus only on the atrocities the Five have committed, especially those against their own brother Veruchion. The countless quadrillions of species that suffered because of their lack of anything caring, only wanting more and more power for themselves and an absolute rule. That ends today, no longer will they gain off of the misfortunes of others even if they created them and the Universe, they will pay dearly for their mistakes and Atlas would see to it that they are punished in the most excruciating way possible, Soul Harvest. Atlas knew that if he could handle the Fourth he could handle the Five but not them all at once, or could he? He knew the Fourth was the strongest of them all but he was their equal as he had a little of them all within him, the Fourth was more of a son than a brother to them because of this but they considered him their brother. They forsook Veruchion, they did not try to save him from his fate they simply let it happen, this was a mistake and out of this mistake they began something, they wrote their end in this beginning, and Atlas was that end. He is that end, and the time has come. They entered the Realm of Three, Atlas and Vesuvius looked out at the vast fields of white, Vesuvius a little speechless at the sight. Atlas noticed and said, ¡°It is something to see is it not? Look ahead for a better one, where it will all go down within minutes. If you want to turn around you may, but if you want to go through with the plan and get your revenge then you may. I will go on as it is how it was supposed to be. You have a choice to leave or to stay, and I am giving you a chance to choose one. So what¡¯ll it be, a fiery end, or a smoky retreat?¡± Vesuvius looked forward towards the Obsidian black towers and looked back towards Atlas while smirking and said, ¡°A fiery end, and no other way.¡± Atlas smirked under his helmet and looked forward to the towers which seemed less like dedications to the ones they were made for and more like thrones of a corrupt court. Atlas brought The Grimm in to land and they both got out, Atlas turned The Grimm¡¯s return protocol and and it sped off towards the Daedalus. Vesuvius asked, ¡°Why is the ship leaving?¡± Atlas answered, ¡°Should everything go well, we will need a faster escape then that ship will carry us. Also if we fail I told Korvan everything and that is actually the reason I moved the Helios Beam to the larger cannon. If we fail he is to fire the cannon into the Realm so I may absorb its power like I did when I reflected it but this time I will enhance its power with mine to ensure the destruction of all, and I will look to you to have a smart enough idea to teleport out into the Daedalus and take over my ship. You know it well and you know my crew well and I leave it to you should that happen because I will be trapped in here should that happen in an eternal fight with the Masters, one where neither side will win. Got it?¡± Vesuvius nodded and said, ¡°I got it. Now let us ascend and face what lies ahead.¡± Atlas nodded and walked towards the elevator platform and stood on it. Once Vesuvius stood on it it shot up, startling Vesuvius. Alas quickly said, ¡°There will be one more at the top so be ready.¡± Vesuvius got his foothold and stood steady. The platform reached the top and stopped suddenly which brought Vesuvius a little sway but nothing major. They both turned to see the Three in deliberation about a certain anomaly they felt when they noticed Atlas had arrived at the top. Fate demanded, ¡°Why are you here, we did not call for you, you have a job to do Reaper, return to it.¡± Atlas answered, ¡°I have answers for you in fact, it involves that anomaly you question.¡± Destiny said, ¡°Speak.¡± Atlas stepped forward, Vesuvius stood still. Atlas said ¡°Veruchion was freed from me and I was told something by him, I was ordered by him and I followed it.¡± Time asked, ¡°What did he order you to do Reaper?¡± Atlas started to levitate, Vesuvius flinched by the amount of power Atlas was letting out, radiating like a heatwave beating down on him. Atlas said in a voice that emanated power, ¡°He told me how you let him succumb to his fate, you did not try to help. He gave me an idea of who you really are and how good of brothers you have been. He and I have become more one that you had originally thought, He granted me his power and knowledge, Veruchion is no more. His task for me was to¡­..make you pay for abandoning him.¡± The Three looked at Atlas and became enraged at what he said. They threw their power towards Atlas in an attempt to subdue him, this only dropped him to one knee and he stood up to their amazement. He yelled with the same voice which thundered with power, ¡°You gave me one job, balance. There is unbalance here, one stronger than the other, I will do what I was destined to do. I will bring you to your fates. Your...time...is¡­.up.¡± With that Atlas let loose his power which hit the Three harder than they had ever been hit before and they were not ready for it. Atlas yelled, ¡°Sad is the day when the servant becomes the master. An even sadder day when the peasant becomes the king. The end of all things when an orphan becomes the emperor. The beginning of a new end when the man becomes the god.¡± The Three fought back with all they had but they could not hold Atlas on their own. The Three called upon Archurion and Hebrechrion to their aid. As he two towering figures warped into form they felt the surge of power from Atlas almost immediately. Archurion yelled, ¡°Reaper? What are you doing?¡± Atlas yelled back, ¡°Veruchion sends his regards.¡± Atlas held out a hand and Soul Harvested Archurion, but with a twist. Atlas took his power, and sent all the pain from everyone he Soul Harvested before into Archurion, he funneled all the negative into him and took only the positive. As Archurion burned with the fierce fiery red energy he screamed, a scream which seemed to shatter the air in the Realm of the Three. Hebrechrion was enraged by this and charged at Atlas who was now seething with power. Atlas threw the towering mass aside like he was nothing laughing all the while. He turned to the Three and yelled, ¡°You brought this upon you when you forsook Veruchion. You brought your own end, and I am the vessel that sees it done.¡± He stuck a hand out to Hebrechrion and did the same thing he did to Archurion, but it was much worse this time as it added Archurions pain into it as well which effectively tripled the pain Hebrechrion felt. Once more air shattering screams filled the Realm and echoed only by Atlas¡¯s maniacal laughs. The Three yelled at Atlas, ¡°You cannot kill us, the Realm and this Universe will fall into chaos, one cannot rule this plane.¡± Atlas yelled back, ¡°Watch me.¡± Atlas rushed forward and drew his sword, he gathered his power and charged it into himself and his sword and he grew, a blinding light flashed throughout the Realm stunning the Three and even Vesuvius who was currently hiding in the back away from the fight as to not get crushed by the immense power being thrown about by Atlas and the Three. Once the light died down the Three saw charging at them Atlas, but he was larger, much larger. He was as tall as Hebrechrion and he was glowing a multitude of shades of red going from the fierce fiery color of Vesuvius¡¯s armour to the dark scarlet of blood. His eyes shone a fierce fiery yellow and his body was engulfed in flames of immense heat. Atlas laughed and said, ¡°Let me show you the face of true balance.¡± He slammed into Fate and threw him back, Destiny and Time both attacked from the side but Atlas was not worried, he had won the fight as soon as he Soul Harvested Hebrechrion. Atlas swung around in a full circle at a blinding speed, Time managed to duck out of the way but Destiny tried to block it with a blade of his own. As Atlas¡¯s sword collided with Destiny¡¯s it sent a ripple through space and time. A skipped beat through the Universe which disrupted the flow of Destiny. Atlas swung again and again into Destiny¡¯s blade, sending ripple after ripple throughout the Universe. Fate and Time both realized what Destiny was doing and they drew their respective weapons and went to help their brother. Fate had a war hammer and he charged at the back of Atlas and he slammed it into his back, which sent a ripple throughout the bindings of Fate across the Universe. Time rushed in with an axe as he chopped at Atlas¡¯s back alongside the slams of Fate¡¯s hammer. With each cleave from the axe a ripple was sent through the shards of Time across the Universe and their final plan was being attempted. After about 10 seconds of ripple after ripple being sent through the Universe Atlas caught on to what they were doing, he laughed and delivered a final blow to Destiny¡¯s blade and it shattered. He threw Fate and Time off of him and he Soul Harvested Destiny, delivering pain beyond recognition to him. Atlas grew the more power that went into him, and the air around him sparked and warped, seeming to break the very reality around him. He turned to Fate and Time and smirked. He started to walk towards them and they stood, weapons drawn ready to give their all but they knew they would not win, Atlas had too much power. They rushed Atlas as he did them, they clashed for what seemed like eons in a timeless realm. They knew Atlas was toying with them by the effortless blocks of every blow they tried to strike. Atlas yelled during their fight, ¡°Good try on the ripples, too bad I stopped them from reaching the end of this Realm. You had tried but in vain. Balance always win, you all taught me that, but you did not believe it. Do you now?¡± With that he sent out a massive shockwave which cracked the floor he was standing on and caused the two towers on either side to fall. As the towers fell the Realm seemed to as well, the sky started to warp and distort from a greyish white to black splotches. The fields of white corrupted to black and the way out started to close. Atlas yelled, ¡°It would be nice to finish this fight but we all know the outcome¡­..¡± He held out both hands, his plan was to Soul Harvest them both at the same time, ¡°....Balance has come to take you, succumb.¡± When he finished that sentence he Soul Harvested both Fate and Time in unison. Atlas felt the surge of power enter him and he looked at them both slowly being taken by the fiery red energy when he heard Time yell to the rear of the Realm, ¡°Vaar kahn min nerr, fuur kier kahn mahn noir.¡± Atlas knew what he said and he was not worried about the outcome of it, he would be strong enough to contend with the one who would come from it, should he choose to arise that is. Atlas said to both Fate and Time, ¡°You may call, he may not answer. You are beating around the proverbial bush. Succumb and let the end embrace you. Farewell Master¡¯s, Veruchion has his vengeance.¡± Immediately after Fate and Time were dead Atlas reverted back to his normal form and teleported back to Vesuvius, grabbed him, and he teleported to the Daedalus. Once their, Atlas watched the Realm of the Three waver, warp, and eventually close. Karee asked, ¡°What happened in there?¡± Atlas teleported away and left Vesuvius to answer that question. Vesuvius said, ¡°The Five tried to kill us.¡± Karee asked, ¡°What happened to them?¡± Vesuvius said proudly, ¡°Atlas killed them, all of them. He is now the master of this Universe, he is now the One.¡± Vesuvius walked out of the bridge leaving Karee and Korvan speechless, and looking back towards what once was the entrance to the Realm of Three. Atlas was deep in meditation when he was approached by Anahira. He stopped his meditation and said, ¡°Before you say anything, first let me. The plan went awry, the Five tried to kill me and well, you can see how that turned out for them. They will no longer be bothering us, we are free, You are free, you may go where you want and do what you want forever. How does that sound?¡± She answered, ¡°Your lying.¡± Atlas asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡± Anahira glared at him and said, ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯m stupid. I know when your lying, even with that damned helmet on. This was your plan wasn¡¯t it. Kill the Five and take their power.¡± Atlas stood and said, ¡°No it was not, how could you say something like that?¡± She yelled, ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me Atlas. You have already lied to me far more than a person should be lied to. I was right about you, you changed. You changed so much you aren¡¯t even Atlas anymore, you¡¯re something else, something worse. You¡¯re power hungry and evil. You say I can do anything I want, I wanted to stay on Earth, I wanted you to stay dead, I wanted to live my life and not the life someone chose for me. You think you saved my life, you ruined it. Thanks for that.¡± She stormed out leaving Atlas alone. Atlas felt every word she said, each one hurting him more and more. He thought through all she said until he realized, she was right. Atlas removed his helmet and looked at the front vizor. A pure black vizor with a crisp white skull detailed into the front of it. This helmet was Atlas¡¯s helmet, this armour was Atlas¡¯s armour. He removed his sword and scabbard from his belt. This was Atlas¡¯s sword. He realized out of he and Veruchion¡¯s quest he had become the very thing he strove to stop, unbalanced. He removed his armour and looked at his hands. He walked over to a mirror and looked at himself. He had not done this in what felt like eons. He could not recognize his own face anymore, he only saw a stranger in the reflection. He started his walk through the Daedalus. He looked at all those aboard, not knowing who they were working for and who he had become. Atlas stopped at the bridge which at the moment only had Korvan and Karee in it. They gave him a weird look as he walked in without his armour or sword, only the clothes he left Earth with. Karee asked, ¡°You alright Atlas?¡± Atlas shook his head and said, ¡°No. We lied.¡± Korvan asked, ¡°About what?¡± Atlas answered, ¡°Everything. I killed the Five out of bloodlust and in the name of Veruchion. They did not betray us, I betrayed them. I¡¯m going to finish my walk and I¡¯m not sure what I¡¯m going to do so I¡¯ll see you later.¡± Atlas left them all speechless once again and they said nothing as he left and sat in silence even after he left for a long while. As Atlas walked he could not think straight, all he had done was destroyed within seconds with words no more real than the floor he walked on. He looked around a the halls which he walked through and saw nothing, he took a few more turns and came upon a section of the Daedalus he had not gone to since he first upgraded it all those long years ago, or what felt like it anyway. That''s the thing about space travel and immortality, time no longer has you under its control, you no longer fear your end and thus you become something more than a simple living being. You become empty, false, nothing like what you were, never able to go back. That''s when Atlas thought, ¡®Go back. Back to before Atlas, before all of this, give her the wish, go back to him being dead.¡¯ Atlas walked into the room which had not changed, nor had it been visited since the Seer first woke him up in it. He looked around at the small room, which used to be the largest on the Daedalus, before he chose to call it that. He found a small book hidden in one of the corners. He picked it up and dusted it off and read the cover to himself, ¡®Reaper of That Which Was Sown¡¯. He opened to the front page and began to read. After about 20 minutes he closed the book and knew who wrote this, the Seer. this book was about who Atlas was to become and what good he would do for the Universe. He not only let Anahira down, but the Seer as well. All because of his quest for more power, and because of Veruchion¡¯s quest for power and vengeance. Atlas walked to the hangar where Vesuvius was busy wandering around and trying to help some Nebrechions figure out a lighting issue when he approached Atlas. Vesuvius started to say something when Atlas held a hand up and shook his head, Vesuvius stopped. Atlas got into The Grimm and said, ¡°I will most likely not be back for a while, I have a little trip to make. Your in charge until I get back, so do pretty much whatever. Also the fixtures loose.¡± Vesuvius looked back at the light and the Nebrechions tightened the fixture and the light resumed normal functions. The Nebrechions quickly exited the hangar and Vesuvius soon followed. Atlas exited the hangar and took off in the direction of where the Realm of Three was once located, toward a part of space so black it felt like it was not possible. Atlas placed a hand on the engine and supercharged it, he also used his power to keep the engine together as the ship shot forward at near 100 times the speed of light. He could not feel the acceleration from the ship which he thought odd but then remembered when he was on the last planet. He could not feel the wind or the air around him, only the energy given off by it. He was too powerful to have feelings of a normal being, he was for lack of better words, a god. He was the most powerful being in the Universe and he thought this would make him happy. He was far from it however. He arrived at his destination within a couple hours, deep within the inky black space which technically did not exist, but since he had the Five¡¯s power within him he tricked the Universe into letting him through, which he thought was funny. The ones who made this exit, never planned on someone going back through it. Atlas kept his course, the entire time he felt the energy around him dropping and rising extremely fast and often. He kept on this course for another couple hours and eventually came upon a single tower. A stark white tower in an interdimensional plane which Atlas recognized from the Five¡¯s memories, only one of them actually from each. He remembered the one whom he seeked, and then remembered only the deep dark endless abyss cast out, which he just traveled over from the Universe they created. Atlas felt a presence, far greater than the Five combined, a presence that loomed within the white tower, the presence he was searching for. He landed The Grimm on the top of the tower and started descending it. The tower was nearly 10 times the size of all three towers from the Realm of Three combined, and he had only a scarce amount of memories to find his way. Atlas reached the bottom of the steps he was descending. He arrived at a small room, with a single door on the wall opposite the stairs. This door was large, nearly stretching to the ceiling, falling only feet short. The room itself was very tall, and not very wide. It was a white room as well, there lacked any other color except the dark grey shadows cast by light that seemed to just exist and had no clear source. Atlas opened the door and entered a very long, what he thought was a hallway, but was instead a throne room. At the very end of the room sat a solitary figure sitting in a chair, deep in thought. The figure was leaning on one fist while the same arm rested on his knee, he did not look up until Atlas came within 20 feet. Atlas quickly realized this figure towered over him, far more than the Five had, and far more than he had when he released all of his power. The figure straightened themself in the chair, sitting up taller. Atlas was about to speak when the figure said with a deep thunderous voice that echoed throughout the room and Atlas¡¯s mind, ¡°Do not speak, I know who you are¡­¡± The figure stood up and continued saying, ¡°.....I know what you have done to my creations. My Five are dead, but their energy has remained. I knew this day would come. You, Reaper, are here for redemption are you not? To return the Universe my Five created to it¡¯s true state, its balanced state? I can help you but first you must prove to me something.¡± Atlas asked, ¡°What do I need to prove to you if you already know who I am? I don¡¯t even know who you are even though I have the memories of your ¡®Five¡¯.¡± The figure said, ¡°You do know me, even though you think you do not. You will show me your power, strike me with everything you have, so I know you are in fact the one who will finally show me.¡± Atlas thought that last comment was weird. What does he mean by finally be the one? Were there others beside himself that had followed this path, other Reapers? He tossed these thoughts aside and gathered his strength. Atlas charged all of the power he could muster into himself, causing him to take on the form he had when he had ended the Five¡¯s reign, his final form. Atlas closed his eyes as he first took on the shape, then opened them once he was fully empowered. The figure looked on and said, ¡°Impressive, but I said strike me with everything you have, not put on a new mask. Hit me.¡± Atlas threw his power at the figure who did not flinch when it hit him, he merely laughed and said, ¡°Is that all you¡¯ve got, I want to see you angry. Anger is the only fuel for true power. NOW GET ANGRY.¡± The figure threw him aside effortlessly and this actually enraged Atlas, none had stood up against his power, why was it failing him this time. He knew this being was strong, but could he have been lied to about exactly how strong. Atlas kept throwing himself at the figure who constantly taunted him and provoked him. Atlas finally reached his breaking point, he let loose all of the anger, not only from his memories, but from the memories of those he had Soul Harvested. As he gathered this anger the figure took several slow steps back, and started to watch. Once Atlas had gathered all of his anger he looked at the figure and shot a beam of energy towards him. This beam sent a torrent of energy screaming towards him, and he did not move. The figure yelled over the sound of the beam of energy, ¡°You wish to know who I am Reaper, I am Reicurion, Creator of All, your tongue would call me¡­..¡± He paused as the beam reached him. A split second followed by a blinding light which resulted in Atlas hearing only one thing being yelled by the figure, ¡°.....REALITY.¡± With that flash Atlas¡¯s mind went black, he awoke in the same hall, the figure, Reicurion, was back on his throne. Atlas thought, to himself, Reality? This is the creator of everything he could see, hear, feel, touch, everything. This being was the one called god, the center of everything, the single architect of this¡­..reality. That¡¯s when it hit him, this is what he was destined to do. The Five where simply pawns in a much bigger game, and he would find out how. Atlas stood, Reality said, ¡°Take your time getting up, you are indeed the one I have been seeking. I assume you will need an explanation for all of this, I will give it to you. I come from a distant plane, one I have not visited nor do I plan on ever again. This plane was immense, and is the source of all energy that has ever and will ever exist. It was constantly at war, never ending and every peace was only planning for another war. I had become fed up with it and so I made this Plane, one of my own making, as you have with your research area, but well as you can see on a much larger scale. I created a set amount of things in the beginning, One being this tower, and the other being the Five. I also created single being, one whom you met early into your days as Reaper for my Five. He is the one that taught you your Soul Harvest ability and it is he who gave you your true destiny. I may not return to my plane, but you will. You have been the only one in the immeasurable attempts at this planes life cycle, if you will, to ever prove you are ready. You are to be placed into my plane, and balance it. I will however help you in returning this plane to its rightful status, returning everything back to what it was, when you died on Earth.¡± Atlas cut into this, ¡°So you¡¯re saying I was meant to do all of this and reach you?¡± Reality said, ¡°Yes you were, are you surprised of this? You think that you beat the Five merely on your power, no. It was I that allowed you to be taught the ability to take the energy and power from anyone and anything native to this plane, which is why it will not work on me, I am not native to this plane.¡± Atlas said, ¡°So how will we go about fixing this plane? I failed in the one promise I lived my life by, I will take the punishment of my fate and follow it, unfaltering and unwaveringly.¡± Reality said, ¡°I know about your promise, to see how passionate you are, or were, about keeping it impresses me. You threw her life before yours, and you sacrificed many things for her, admirable.¡± Atlas said, ¡°I will do one more thing for her before I go to the next plane.¡± Reality said, ¡°You are going to grant her the wish are you not?¡± Atlas said, ¡°Yes.¡± Reality nodded his head and said, I will start the process, but you will feel everything you have made others feel, once you are in the plane you must start wherever you deem fit and never stop in your quest.¡± Atlas said, ¡°I cannot fail again, failing her was the last time I will fail anyone or anything, that I swear.¡± Reality held out a hand towards Atlas, he reached out with his power and grasped Atlas. Atlas closed his eyes, slowly being exposed to all of the pain he caused to all of those he had effected. Atlas¡¯s mind exploded with pain and misery, the entire time he said to himself, ¡®I am deserving, I am deserving,....¡± He repeated this to himself through the entire process, and as he neared the end of it his vision slowly faded to black. The last pains that ripped through his mind were those of Anahira, and he said for one final time but aloud, ¡°I am deserving of the fate that befalls me, no other destiny but the one that now bides my time¡­..¡± This was finished by Reality, ¡°.....in a reality no longer fit for the Reaper of That Which Was Sown.¡± Rain poured down, just as the tears did. She stood, alone, by the stone that showed the final resting place of him. Upon the smooth face of the stone read a solitary statement, ¡°One day all must succumb to the end, even the Reaper himself, as the end is written in the beginning, and none can escape it.¡± She read this and looked towards the sky and knew. She knew he was somewhere, looking down on her. He was in a place, a place better than where she was currently. She looked back at the stone, the stone who had a single, solitary name etched into it above the statement, Jack L. Mors. She looked at the name and shed a final tear, holding her hands over her heart. She would never forget him, and eventually she knew, somehow, someway, she would see him again. She turned away from the stone and walked away. With every step she took it sent a ripple through the Universe, through the nothing beyond, and directly into the plane beyond. The ripple went straight towards a single being. When this ripple reached him, he smiled and he knew who it was, and he sent one straight back. He closed his eyes and followed the ripple back to her. She stopped and closed her eyes as well. They both stopped moving, and not for the final time, connected with each other. This moment lasted only for a few seconds but each of them knew, they each knew the other was there, and that they were waiting. As the ripples died away and each went their separate ways, the feeling slowly went away. On that day Atlas, Jack, and any other name given to the being died. His final act was one following his promise. He is, no he WAS the, Reaper of That Which Was Sown.