Achlys looked up at her grandfather with terrified eyes. Every muscle in her body was tense as she slowly got to her feet. Her muscles were still shaky from being electrocuted. She took her hand away from her face to show a large, scorched scar like a spider’s web next to her left eye.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMsYBvUbJna
Memories of being exposed to dangerous chemicals for her to reproduce as a child flashed in her mind’s eye. Remembering waking up the day night her mother died from a nightmare, only to find it real. Her mother a clammy corpse in her bed, father beaten and sobbing next to her.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGhwBI2Z9L
She never watched it happen, but she remembered the image her mind crafted of seeing her mother in Zeus’ place.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoYOx8WluGX
Achlys remembered her father telling her she’d be next if they didn’t run from her grandfather, only to be called together for a family meeting. Her grandfather’s cold, alien eyes glaring down at her like she was a curse.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmBOoXuAHx8
Kronos’ voice snapped Achlys back to reality.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcb1TlWpeMt
“All the effort I put into taming you and you attempt to destroy my energy reserves. You’re a traitor, Achlys. You’re so disloyal to your own family. Don’t you remember what I told you would happen if you ever turned against me?”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMMt3UP8i6
“I remember,” Achlys choked out.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuCHDANoHx
“You did cause anarchy at the palace and cause the fall of PISTOL, so at least you fulfilled your purpose before you scarred my creation and began to burn my fuel.” He gestured to Abyss and the land around them. “But now, I have no reason to keep you around.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8BUPvGztB
Achlys was trembling and tears stung her eyes. “He... he’s not yours.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlimzfQbHid
“What?” Kronos stood up taller, towering over Achlys, nearly twice her size.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgdv7xsAYt2
“A-and I’m not either.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NK6R5TQRL
Kronos clenched his teeth and growled in frustration, lifting his hand to strike Achlys across her already injured face.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowAc8kdsyT
She was blown a yard away from the blow and a small line of neon green steam came up from her cheek, flowing steadily to Kronos’ face. He breathed in deeply, eyes turning from a cold grey to a menacing black.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfltwNKQ93
Coughing, Achlys choked back a sob. Her past had finally come for her before she could finish her destiny, before she could ensure the safety of the universe. She thought the hardest part of everything was over multiple times over now.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZFPpVlCP2
She thought Abyss was okay, but then he disappeared and left her behind. She thought she’d found him and be able to reason with him, but Volt came back and turned him against her. She thought she’d dealt with the one coming between her and her plans, but it just made Abyss come after her. She thought she’d dealt with Abyss and done away with any barriers or emotion that would keep her from global devastation. Instead, she was faced with an indestructible wall.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKeXuCAKk0Q
She was staring down death.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxng2Sskmf
He finally caught up to her.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJf2JjkUjf
The moment she dreaded facing every day over the last decade.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbvIgHeFdd
Kronos slowly approached Achlys again. “Get up.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7pyfzGxb6
Achlys closed her fists around a handful of ash and shook. Tears soaked the ground below her. “Please...” Achlys whispered her plea.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupTYK0BWNz
What am I doing? Please what? Please spare me? You were planning to turn the planet into a wasteland where you’d rot away slowly. You planned your own death. What makes this any different?37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0tdsE7blNP
“I said get up!” Kronos demanded, kicking her curled up from across the ashes and dirt.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1J85M4pPu
It took all her strength to finally obey. She saw no point in sitting around to be killed.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgW6VrDI27j
Kronos sneered mockingly, alien features communicating a sense of superiority. He again began to approach her. He reached down and grabbed her neck, lifting her with two fingers as she gasped for breath.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iF4PJ7Xcr
“No- no-” she meekly protested.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EhYL5dTEm
She felt her breath begin to be drawn from her body. The neon color seemed to flake away from her hair and the green streak began to turn white, shortly after the black hair followed. He lungs strained for breath and her vision blurred as the red fire in her eyes faded back to a deep green before it began to fade to an empty white.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrcFH6Z1Xp
Every muscle in her body seized up, desperate to flee but too afraid that they restricted their own movement.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nbMwSh7ZP
But then electricity surged through Kronos and Achlys respectively. The two let out cries of pain. The draining stopped and as the shock faded, Achlys was dropped to the ground where she saw Abyss grasping Kronos’ ankle.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENaq4V2FMl
Abyssal’s eyes stopped sparking and settled on the pure black color that signified his power at work.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzdLCHfVtM
“Abyss?... What are you doing?”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJNfCGSEBr
“Saving you,” he answered firmly just as Achlys faded into unconsciousness.
* * *
Achlys woke up in a hospital, the steady beeping pulse of a heart monitor sounded behind her.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX6jeyGxR3o
“How come you were able to be electrocuted multiple times without any powers and live, but he has to be gone?”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61NjnpC1Rb
Achlys’s eyes travelled to Abyss sitting at the bedside with his back turned to her.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNmc1JHqjSN
“How did you know I was awake?”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Np3mdZQAh
He just shrugged. “I can sense everyone’s lifeforce now... and I can’t feel others. I don’t know how or why.” He still wouldn’t look at her.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWtlAefRHN
There was a long moment of silence before Achlys spoke again.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaELY7P0mvD
“Why did you save me?”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWtQCYtswI
“Sometimes people just save other people, even when they shouldn’t.” 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCH0oD0Sti
Achlys didn’t know what to think of that. She knew she didn’t deserve to be saved. She thought she was dead. She thought she’d killed Abyss, and she did kill his brother. But it still didn’t make sense why. She stared at the plain, grey floor.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nKZsnJzmf
“Thank you.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5umVbjxfM
No response.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfscSLCyQ7
Achlys felt clamps lock around her heart.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxv7NfP3UUt
“And...” she added, “I know it doesn’t help anything... but I’m sorry. I didn’t plan to kill him.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDzy7MskHG
“But you did. Twice.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFku1Kkzf9Y
Achlys winced. She deserved that. She knew she did.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUlfJah2446
“I saved you because you happened to be there. Enemy of the enemy. Kronos had to be stopped, whether you were involved.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgSmVZrAwt
“How did you stop him yourself?”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOntuGp2rOU
“I had a head start. Not much you can do once you’re locked down by devour.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKh1Eghlbfo
“You can say that again.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFos3q7XGFE
Achlys saw Abyss’ shoulders tense.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyxkWvGEcV
His tone was quieter when he spoke again. “How did it feel?”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwA7zlSVhi
Achlys’ eyes widened and she grabbed her right arm. “It... was worse than I ever imagined.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYEutoPWpS
“You’ve imagined yourself in that position?”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd8dAZ4gFyI
“...More times than I can count.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxoqNVHb3p
Abyss turned around at last and looked at Achlys in the hospital sheets.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhUg9yJ9bL
“Why?”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4tosw0cZo3
“Kronos was the famil patriarch. I was in the line destined to kill him.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXyZbjTROA
Abyssal’s eyes fell to the corner of the bed. It was obvious he felt awkward looking at her. Achlys wished he didn’t.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklwpZqRrfV
“Why do you ask?”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiUCsKRjFO
“I... It was my power. It hurt others, but I never knew how bad it was.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVd94kspQHd
“We’ve both hurt people with our powers. I just wish I could undo it. I wish I could bring him back for you.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9q3x20qs5
Suddenly, the lights flickered and the monitor flatlined before everything powered on again. But for Achlys, the strange occurrence only became worse. The echoes of Volt’s dying screams repeated on an overlapping loop in her mind. She gripped her head and stared at the sheets, curling up into the fetal position.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0svThVdq4k
“Achlys? Achlys?” Abyss said, growing worried.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrt2nbDhhUi
Achlys didn’t hear him. The sound was growing to a crescendo. It was deafening. The screams pierced her ears and began to melt her brain. The world around her continued to flicker the way it did as the electricity fried Volt’s nervous system.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jI2p7Eqqk
Abyss touched her shoulder, and she jumped away as the earth split below them. A green light rose up and the ghost of Volt appeared. He was still tied to the chair screaming. Abyss leapt away in terror as he stared up, helpless at his brother for just a moment before the earth sealed itself again and he vanished.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAhD3yJP8A
“What was that?” Abyss asked, sitting on the ground at staring at the space where he literally saw a ghost.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHnzHylZty
“I- I don’t know,” Achlys stammered. “I think... it was my father’s power.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMxFsISDpM
“Hades?”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinoG65IcXJ
“Abyss,” Achlys said astonished, “I think we could bring them back.”
THE END
-To Be Continued-
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